Two weeks ago, I jokingly suggested President Bush should read Sway, a book by Ori and Rom Brafman about “the deep-seated forces that influence behavior and cause people to make irrational choices.” That prompted an email from Ori, who told me the book actually does have a section dealing with the Bush administration—and since we all know how this White House reacts to criticism, which is to say ignoring it completely, I guess we can scratch the book off W’s reading list.
But the book’s still a NY Times bestseller, and to celebrate its publication Ori (far right) came to town last Wednesday night for a party thrown by friends Dina Kaplan and Juliette Powell held at, appropriately enough, a downtown restaurant named Sway, where he was joined by, among others, Doubleday/Currency editor Sarah Rainone, ICM agent, Esther Newberg, and Currency editorial director Roger Scholl.
A few blocks south, Philip Carlo (center) was celebrating the impending publication of his biography of organized crime figure Anthony Casso, Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss, at Ago with a guest list that included celebrities like Tony Danza (right), Chuck Zito, and John Ciarcia. (That’s Rusty Shelton of Phenix and Phenix, the Texas-based PR firm that’s promoting the book along with Morrow, on the left.)