Early last night, I made my way to Velo, a bicycle shop in the East Village, where Perigree publicist Lisa Mondello (left) introduced me to J. P. Partland, who was celebrating the release of Tour Fever, a duffer’s guide to the Tour de France. Partland had put the party together by recruiting several of his bike racing buddies, from the owner of Velo to the vintners of Wimbledon’s Cycle Gladiator wines and the proprietess of Saxelby Cheese, a new Lower East Side shop specializing in American artisanal cheeses (the alpeggio is nice, but the ouray is scrumptious).
Then it was off to the Chelsea nightclub Marguee, where Ian Spiegelman was celebrating the publication of his second novel, Welcome to Yesterday. I caught up with him just inside the entrance with Miramax Books publicist Katie Finch, and then just a few yards away was able to snap a photo of Candace Bushnell flanked by Miramax publisher Judy Hottenson and CEO Rob Weisbach. And since Ian had invited me to come to his book party while fellow Post veterans Bridget Harrison and Deborah Schoeneman never so much as sent a postcard, I like Ian’s book the best out of all the current batch of tomes from ex- and current Post-ies.