There are a few core tenets to a good party: flattering lighting, enough booze to keep guests teetering between tipsy and blackout, music that’s a mix crowd favorites and deep cuts, a guest list of certified cuties who are addicted to having fun, and a few good gags to activate the hippocampus and lock it in as a fabulous night to remember.
And believe it or not, these same rules apply to a reading — especially one celebrating a novel that’s essentially a 333-page ode to Lana Del Rey.
When it came to throwing the New York release of Anna Dorn’s latest novel, American Spirits, we knew exactly what needed to be done at Nightclub 101. This shit had to feel as close to hearing Born to Die for the first time as humanly possible. Cue the cinematic blue and red lighting, a custom cocktail menu with drinks inspired by songs in the novel, like “God Is A Gemini” and “A Vape Cartridge Named Desire,” and a stacked list of writers reading about all things music, fanfic, obsession, and duh, sapphic.
Rec League — a new recommendation app that’s like if Tumblr and Substack had a very chill and beautiful baby — made the vision come to life in a manner most major; not only was there an open bar, but guests could take home limited-edition bookmarks, get temporary tattoos of American Spirits’ protagonist, Blue Velour, and rip unlimited cigs with some custom matches. Obviously, they were blue American Spirits. The only things missing were brooding Gen X biker dudes and crushed up cans of Monster littering the floor, but a lot of people got Blue Velour tattooed on their necks and/or tits, which is more or less the same vibe.
Below you’ll find photos of the party, shot by the one and only Dev Bowman. (Beyond being a beloved friend of Language Arts, he also runs one of our favorite Substacks, ONE HOUR PHOTO. Thank you to our iconic readers Peyton Dix, Riska Seval, Darcie Wilder, Crissy Milazzo, and eliza mclamb.
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