# Eve, do you know the author of the book I'm reading?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 20, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330 "2004-01-20T15:48:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330/1 "2004-01-20T15:48:52Z")

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I’m reading Toby Young’s memoir titled _How to Lose Friends and Alienate People_ (with a title like that there’s no way I could have left it in the store). It occurred to me that you might know the author, have crossed paths with him or, at the very least, know someone who knows someone who…

He’s a balding British guy who had a brief stint as a contributing editor for _Vanity Fair_ in the mid-90s. He seems to have made enemies out of just about everybody he’s ever met (my kind of guy).

So, do you know 'im?

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330/2 "2004-01-20T17:25:10Z")

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I am friends with one or two _Vanity Fairies_, but he doesn’t ring a bell. Guess he didn’t alienate me enough, if we met at a publishing bash.

How’s the book?

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**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330/3 "2004-01-20T20:17:26Z")

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> [@Eve](#):
>
> How’s the book?

meh. It has its humorous moments but he’s dropping a lot of names that, while I know them, don’t really do much for me. In other words, it’s got a high whoosh factor for me.

You might get a kick out of it, though.

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**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-do-you-know-the-author-of-the-book-im-reading/225330/4 "2004-01-20T20:51:04Z")

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Dang! I thought this was going to be a game where **Eve** deduced what books we were reading, using only her awesome psychic powers and finely honed reasoning skills.

**Eve** : “I see a brown simulated leather cover with embossed gold lettering. It’s _Tom Sawyer_, New American Library Edition, 1974.”