Group Dinner #1 – Neil deGrasse Tyson & Jay McInerney
This dinner begins with a lively collective cocktail hour, followed by an intimate dining experience hosted across two beautiful neighboring homes. To cap off the night, we will gather together for the ultimate grand finale: a private, mind-expanding journey through the cosmos led by legendary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The minimum ticket price for this dinner is $1,000.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter

In this New York Times bestseller, Neil deGrasse Tyson combines science, humor, and pop culture in an entertaining exploration of humanity’s fascination with extraterrestrial life. Drawing on physics, history, literature, movies, and UFO lore, he considers what alien visitors might be like, how they could travel across the universe, and how humans might react to first contact. Along the way, he offers practical (and often amusing) advice for handling an interstellar encounter. Accessible and thought-provoking, the book invites readers to rethink one of humanity’s oldest questions: Are we alone? “Close encounters of the hilarious kind.” —Kirkus Reviews

Jay McInerney
See You on the Other Side: A Novel

In the final installment of Jay McInerney’s Calloway series, Russell and Corrinne Calloway confront aging, uncertainty, and the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. What begins as a celebration among longtime friends becomes a poignant reflection on mortality, marriage, and the fragility of modern life. Set against a period of unprecedented social and personal upheaval, See You on the Other Side combines sharp social observation, humor, and emotional depth. It is a moving portrait of enduring relationships tested by extraordinary circumstances. “McInerney’s always-sharp insights on social strata and human nature guarantee that in the midst of sadness we are also entertained.” —Los Angeles Times

Group Dinner #3 –Leslie Gelb & Patrick Markee

Leslie Gelb
Wake the Bear

This powerful memoir chronicles C.R. Liles’ survival through extreme childhood abuse, foster care, and lifelong trauma. Passed through more than thirty homes, he endured neglect and violence while struggling to find his place in the world. Art became both refuge and resistance, helping him endure unimaginable hardship. As he navigates adolescence, military service, and adulthood, Liles confronts the lasting effects of PTSD, shame, and loss. Told with honesty and resilience, Wake the Bear is a moving testament to survival, creativity, identity, and healing.

Patrick Markee
Placeless: Homelessness in the New Gilded Age

Drawing on more than two decades as a housing advocate, Patrick Markee challenges common misconceptions about homelessness and examines its deeper structural causes. Through stories from shelters, streets, parks, and public institutions, he reveals how housing insecurity is tied to economic inequality, policy decisions, systemic racism, and rising housing costs. Combining firsthand experience, history, and research, the book argues that homelessness is neither inevitable nor unsolvable. It is a compelling and humane call to address one of America’s most urgent social issues. “Eye-opening . . . underscores that homelessness is an affordability issue, not a moral failing.” —Publishers Weekly

Group Dinner #5 – David Netto & Paul Goldberger

David Netto & Paul Goldberger
Rosario Candela & The New York Apartment: 1927-1937 The Architecture of the Age

This richly illustrated volume celebrates Rosario Candela, the architect whose luxury apartment buildings helped define New York’s residential landscape during the Jazz Age. Focusing on his celebrated work along Park and Fifth Avenues, the book examines the design principles, floor plans, and interiors that set enduring standards of elegance and sophistication. Featuring archival photographs, original drawings, and contemporary images, it explores how Candela’s vision shaped both the city’s skyline and its idea of refined urban living.

David Netto is a Los Angeles-based interior designer and author who writes the “Case Studies” column for Town & Country.

Paul Goldberger, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, is contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

Group Dinner #7 – Heidi Evans, Johs Getlin, & Andrew Lownie

Heidi Evans and Josh Getlin
Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!

In this candid autobiography, entertainment icon Liza Minnelli reflects on an extraordinary life shaped by fame, family, triumph, and hardship. The daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, she shares her journey from Hollywood royalty to becoming a legendary performer in her own right. Along the way, she discusses addiction, relationships, artistic success, personal setbacks, and activism. Warm, humorous, and deeply personal, the memoir reveals the woman behind the spotlight and celebrates resilience, love, and the healing power of honesty. A #1 New York Times Bestseller written by journalists Evans and Getlin, Kids is based on conversations Minnelli had with her confidant and sometime-accompanist Michael Feinstein.

Andrew Lownie
The Rise & Fall of the House of York

Based on years of research, interviews, and previously undisclosed information, Andrew Lownie’s bestselling biography examines the lives of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Moving beyond public image, it explores
their upbringing, marriage, divorce, finances, business dealings, and enduring relationship. The book also investigates Andrew’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and the controversies that reshaped his reputation.
Detailed and revealing, Entitled offers a broader look at privilege, power, and accountability within the modern British monarchy. A Sunday Times #1 Bestseller and Financial Times Book of the Year. “The biographer
who brought down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor” —The Observer

Nicholas Boggs
Baldwin: A Love Story

Drawing on newly uncovered archives, original research, and interviews, Nicholas Boggs presents the first major biography of James Baldwin in more than thirty years. Focusing on the writer’s most influential personal and artistic relationships, the book reveals how love, friendship, collaboration, and desire shaped Baldwin’s life and work. Following his journey from Harlem to Paris, Istanbul, and beyond, Boggs offers a richly detailed portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most important literary voices, illuminating the private experiences behind his enduring impact on civil rights, Black history, and queer culture. A Time Top 10 Book of 2025 and instant New York Times bestseller.

Bobbi Brown
Still Bobbi

Bobbi Brown, beauty mogul and visionary, opens up in her first memoir about the true story: reinvention, resilience, and the power of staying real. In Still Bobbi, she shares her inspiring journey—from a socially thriving, academically struggling suburban girl to a trailblazing entrepreneur who redefined makeup by championing natural beauty. With honesty and warmth, she reflects on family, business, resilience, and the power of staying true to yourself. A New York Times bestselling author of nine makeup tutorial books, Brown is the founder of both her namesake beauty brand, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and her clean beauty brand, Jones Road.

Harriet Newman Cohen
Passion and Power: A Life in Three Worlds

One of America’s most celebrated divorce attorneys recounts her remarkable career and personal journey through decades of social and legal change. Harriet Newman Cohen reflects on balancing family, navigating a male-dominated profession, and helping shape modern family law. With candor, humor, and insight, she shares memorable cases, encounters with notable figures, and the realities of a legal system that often rewards conflict. Part memoir and part social history, the book explores the evolving roles of women, marriage, and power in contemporary America. “A wise and riveting memoir.” ―Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Ken Davidoff
101 Lessons from the Dugout: What Baseball and Softball Can Teach Us About the Game of Life

Baseball and softball are more than games—they are classrooms for life. Veteran sportswriter Ken Davidoff and parenting expert Dr. Harley Rotbart use 101 short lessons to reveal the character-building wisdom hidden within every pitch, swing, and play. From perseverance and responsibility to judgment, self-control, and resilience, each chapter connects an aspect of the game to everyday challenges young people face. Written for players, fans, parents, and coaches, this inspiring guide shows how lessons learned on the field can help shape success off it. “A delightful read.” ―New York Post

Florence Fabricant
Salty, Not Sweet: A Life in the Food World

For more than fifty years, Florence Fabricant chronicled the changing world of food for The New York Times. In this engaging memoir, she reflects on a lifetime of culinary exploration, from childhood food memories and travels abroad to encounters with celebrated chefs, restaurateurs, and food innovators. Along the way, she traces the rise of modern dining culture, celebrity chefs, and farm-to-table cuisine. Filled with wit, insight, and recipes, this book offers an intimate look at a remarkable career and a lifelong passion for food.

Tom Freston
Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu

Tom Freston’s unconventional journey took him from global wanderer to media executive and cultural innovator. Before helping launch MTV and eventually leading MTV Networks and Viacom, he traveled extensively, built a clothing export business in India and Afghanistan, and embraced a life of adventure. This memoir recounts those experiences and the creative risks that shaped his career. Blending travel stories, business insights, and personal reflection, Unplugged celebrates curiosity, independence, and the rewards of forging a path outside traditional expectations. “A brilliant business book wrapped inside of a wild adventure story.” —Walter Isaacson

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries

In this New York Times bestseller, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. examines America’s national anniversaries as moments that reveal the country’s ongoing struggle with race, freedom, and historical memory. Drawing on literature, history, and political thought, he challenges familiar myths and asks readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the nation’s past. Centered on key commemorations across 250 years of American history, the book explores who gets to shape the national story and why. Thoughtful and provocative, it is a powerful call for honest reckoning and meaningful change. “No one understands the excruciating interiors of our ‘original sin’ better than Eddie Glaude.” –Ken Burns

Luke Goebel
Kill Dick: A Novel

A darkly satirical literary thriller set in Los Angeles from Luke Goebel, an author and screenwriter celebrated for his honesty and innovative storytelling. Kill Dick follows Susie Vogelman, an aimless NYU dropout whose privileged life begins to unravel amid a series of murders targeting addicts. As revelations emerge about her father’s connections to an opioid fortune, a secretive society, and her own role in a corrupt system, Susie becomes entangled with Peter Holiday, a disgraced professor running a dubious rehab scheme. Sharp, provocative, and unsettling, the novel explores addiction, wealth, exploitation, and moral decay. “A love letter to LA’s darkness and light.”—USA Today

Bianna Golodryga
Don’t Feed the Lion

When a famous athlete posts an antisemitic message online, siblings Theo and Annie Kaplan find their lives suddenly affected by prejudice, confusion, and difficult choices. As antisemitism spreads through their school and community, both children must decide how to respond. Through relatable characters and real-world challenges, this middle-grade novel by Emmy-award-winning journalist and CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga explores hate, allyship, courage, and empathy. Thought-provoking and accessible, it encourages young readers to consider what they would do when faced with injustice and why speaking up matters. “This book gives kids the tools to recognize and stand up to hate.” ―Jake Tapper, CNN

Harrison Hill
The Oracle’s Daughter: The Rise and Fall of an American Cult

“Terrifying, gripping, all true. I couldn’t put it down.” —Stephen King. This deeply reported work examines the rise and collapse of a woman-led religious cult in the New Mexico desert. Through the intertwined stories of founder Deborah Green, early follower Maura, and Deborah’s daughter Sarah, who ultimately escaped, Harrison Hill reveals a world shaped by manipulation, extremism, and abuse. Beyond its shocking details, the book explores the enduring appeal of cults and the broader forces that allow fringe beliefs to flourish. “Hill is an extremely skilled writer, and his conscientious, measured reporting is a gift.” —The New York Times Book Review

Steve Israel
The Einstein Conspiracy

Set in 1933 as Albert Einstein arrives in America, this historical thriller imagines a chilling plot to abduct the famed scientist. FBI agents investigating the threat uncover a hidden network of Nazi sympathizers operating across the United States. Drawing on real events, Steve Israel creates a suspenseful story that blends espionage, politics, and history while exploring a time when fascist ideas gained alarming traction on American soil. Fast-paced and atmospheric, the novel offers timely reminders about vigilance, democracy, and extremism. Steve Israel is a former U.S. Congressman, who represented Long Island from 2001-2017.

Aphrodite Jones
Michael Jackson Conspiracy

In Michael Jackson Conspiracy, Aphrodite Jones (reporter, author, and TV host of the ID series, True Crime with Aphrodite Jones) offers an account of Michael Jackson’s 2005 criminal trial based on her experience as one of the few journalists with a permanent seat in the courtroom. Jones examines the evidence presented during the proceedings and argues that media coverage often emphasized allegations and speculation over trial testimony and facts. First published in 2007, the book also explores broader questions about celebrity journalism, media influence, and public perception, while presenting Jones’s perspective on the factors that led to Jackson’s acquittal.

Nancy “Vincenza Careri” Kulik
This Panther Wears Lace: Poetry & Prose from a Wise Matriarch

Nancy “Vincenza Careri” Kulik has been a creative thinker her whole life. She pioneered an after-school activities initiative for children in her hometown, called The Enrichment Program, which impacted hundreds of children. Her documentary, What Would Sophia Loren Do? (32 min), is currently streaming internationally on Netflix and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Her writing touches all aspects of real life and provides wise insights on marriage, family, friendships, and the role of a matriarch. In addition to being a dedicated wife celebrating her 66th year of marriage, mother of four, and grandmother, she trained as an architectural drafter, and is a creative collage artist, writer, and poet.

Nancy has been journaling and writing poetry for decades, and at almost 88, is now sharing selections of her work in her first book, This Panther Wears Lace: Poetry & Prose from a Wise Matriarch.

Carol Leifer
How to Write a Funny Speech… for a Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Graduation & Every Other Event You Didn’t Want to Go to in the First Place

Emmy and Golden Globe-winning comedy writer Carol Leifer co-authored this practical, entertaining guide to writing and delivering memorable speeches for any occasion. Packed with tips, examples, and easy-to-follow advice, showing readers how to craft speeches that are heartfelt, engaging, and genuinely funny. From overcoming stage fright to mastering timing and comedic delivery, the authors share lessons drawn from decades in comedy and television. Complete with annotated sample speeches and fill-in templates, this accessible guide helps transform even reluctant speakers into confident and successful presenters. “A masterpiece that will come to your rescue.” —Carole Burnett

Don Lemon
I Once Was Lost: My Search for God in America

Journalist Don Lemon reflects on faith, identity, and resilience during a transformative period in his life. Raised in the Southern Black church, he long struggled to reconcile his spirituality with religious rejection of his identity as a gay man. After losing his high-profile television position, he embarked on a personal search for meaning, grace, and renewal. Blending memoir, cultural commentary, and spiritual reflection, Lemon explores the role faith plays in modern America and the possibilities for healing, understanding, and connection. “A story all of us can benefit from in these divisive and sometimes dark days. Amazing grace indeed.”―Kara Swisher

Connor Martin
The Silver Fish

In this fast-paced espionage thriller, journalist Danielle “Dani” Moreau arrives in Ghana investigating corruption in the oil industry and uncovers a far more dangerous story. Drawn into a high-stakes struggle involving American operatives, double agents, and the global race to control underwater fiber-optic cables, Dani finds herself at the center of an international power contest between the United States and China. Moving through bustling cities, remote jungles, and tense political landscapes, The Silver Fish combines suspense, intrigue, and timely geopolitical themes in a gripping debut that keeps readers guessing until the final pages. Connor Martin is a former senior US national security official; this is his first novel.

Hassan Nemazee
Persia, Politics & Prison

Hassan Nemazee recounts a life marked by extraordinary success, dramatic downfall, and personal reinvention. After his family fled revolutionary Iran, he built a successful business career in the United States and became a prominent political fundraiser. His achievements came crashing down with a bank fraud conviction that led to a lengthy prison sentence. Reflecting on politics, immigration, justice, and redemption, Nemazee offers an insider’s perspective on American public life, the prison system, and the lessons learned through failure and accountability. “An absorbing account of international intrigue, power, and corruption.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Chris Pavone
The Doorman

Named one of the Best Thrillers and a Notable Book of 2025 by the New York Times, Chris Pavone’s The Doorman is an adrenaline-pumping, Tom Wolfe–style social satire and thriller set in a storied Central Park West co-op in New York City. The story revolves around one volatile night of class, privilege, sex, and murder where the intersecting secrets of ultrawealthy urbanites unravel. The Doorman is a pulse-pounding novel, from the New York Times bestselling author of Two Nights in Lisbon and The Expats. “Cynical, tender, sharp, dense, funny… The Doorman is a Bonfire of the Vanities for the twenty-first century.” —Stephen King

Adam Ross
Playworld: A Novel

Set in Manhattan in 1980, Adam Ross’s acclaimed novel follows fourteen-year-old child actor Griffin Hurt through a year of confusion, desire, ambition, and self-discovery. Balancing television fame, elite school pressures, family tensions, and a complicated relationship with an older woman, Griffin navigates a world where adults are often unreliable guides. By turns funny, heartbreaking, and deeply insightful, the novel captures a vanished era while exploring the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood. It is an expansive coming-of-age story filled with humor and emotional depth. Named a Best Book of The Year by The New Yorker, New York Times, and Washington Post.

Aziz Abu Sarah
The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land

Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon, both of whom lost family members to the conflict, share a powerful vision for reconciliation. Through a journey across Israel and the West Bank, they explore history, grief, identity, and the possibility of a different future. Rejecting hatred and retaliation, they advocate dialogue, empathy, and partnership as paths toward lasting peace. Honest, hopeful, and deeply personal, the book challenges readers to believe that reconciliation is not only possible but essential. “A short but immensely poignant account of a shared journey… bravely insistent on the imperative of hope.”—The New York Times

Julian Zelizer
The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden: A First Historical Assessment

Edited by historian Julian Zelizer, this collection brings together leading scholars to provide the first comprehensive historical assessment of President Joe Biden’s administration. Examining issues ranging from the economy and climate policy to reproductive rights, foreign affairs, immigration, and the culture wars, the essays explore both the achievements and challenges that defined Biden’s single term. Written for a broad audience, the volume moves beyond daily political coverage to place Biden’s presidency within the larger story of twenty-first-century America, offering a balanced evaluation of its accomplishments, controversies, and lasting significance. “This is contemporary history at its finest” —Jonathan Alter