A non-profit organization called Electric Literature, which supports writers and promotes literature, is holding its 2nd annual Genre Ball next week in New York City. In a promotional posting, they name what they deem to be the 11 greatest parties in literature. Among those are the parties in Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies which are attended by the Bright Young People and summarized by Adam Fenwick-Syme in the much-quoted paragraph that begins: “Masked parties, Savage parties, Victorian parties…etc.” Some of the other literary parties on the list include those in The Great Gatsby, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Less Than Zero and The Sun Also Rises.
On America’s other coast, another event next week will have a Waugh connection. Two Willamette Valley rock bands have scheduled a joint performance in Salem, Oregon, on October 28 to mark Evelyn Waugh’s birthday. The bands, based in Salem, are Buttfrenchers and Face Transplant. The Salem Weekly News has announced the event, and details are available there. Aside from the coincidence of Waugh’s birthday falling on the date assigned for their gig, there is nothing to explain why the bands have made this connection.
