It's Lit: A New Year's Eve Reading List
Photos by Raquel Reyes.
“Full of glittering possibility and wide-eyed mystery, that exact moment between the disillusions of last year and inevitable struggles of next have always felt like a miracle to me, a momentary faith in our own possibility.”
Once upon a time, I was exactly the type of girl you’d find roaming the city on New Year’s Eve, searching for, yet also possibly avoiding, any potential stranger to kiss just as the clock struck twelve and a shiny new year began. Full of glittering possibility and wide-eyed mystery, that exact moment between the disillusions of last year and inevitable struggles of next have always felt like a miracle to me, a momentary faith in our own possibility. It’s like a second Halloween, where the magic in the air palpably surrounds us and anything can happen, you just have to be out there and willing to take it. I could win a million dollars or fall madly in love.
I’m not usually one for resolutions or the dead-set belief that everything does change in the matter of a day — I’m not even a religious person — but the existence of a previously agreed-upon moment, where just about everyone has decided to believe, is what in my opinion makes it truly magical. There’s just something about gathering to celebrate an occasion, unlike a birthday or wedding, where we are all democratically full of our own chance at whatever success we most painfully desire and the confidence that this time, this time for sure, it might actually come true.
“I do cherish those days of my youth [...] but I can’t deny the luxury of homemade cocktails, flowing silk nightgowns under oversized knits, and a fabulously decadent read.”
But as I do feel myself getting older, that yearning to be surrounded by a wild crowd yet again can feel… uncertain. Nowadays the ideal party might be something held with friends and lots of champagne on a weekend away, the quieter sort of thing you might see in a period drama, though for my sanity still hopefully with at least a few unpredictable moments. I do cherish those days of my youth, after all, and wouldn't even be that surprised should I find myself under a familiar ceiling of flickering lights and glitter once more come that precious night, but I can’t deny the luxury of homemade cocktails, flowing silk nightgowns under oversized knits, and a fabulously decadent read. I once mentioned to Olivia my favorite genre in literature is anything involving emotionally messy people throwing irresponsible parties, and I’ve had the best time compiling this list. Sometimes hearing the party gossip is more fun than making it.
✦
“...all of us were drunk to some degree. We launched ourselves into the evening like satellites and orbited the city two miles above the Earth, powered by failing foreign currencies and finely filtered spirits. We shouted over the dinner tables and slipped away into empty rooms with each other’s spouses, carousing with all the enthusiasm and indiscretion of Greek Gods. And, in the morning, we woke at 6:30 on the dot, clear-headed and optimistic, ready to resume our places behind the stainless steel desks at the helm of the world.”
Rules of Civility
Amor Towles
New York, late 30s, characters that will take up your heart... my favorite. A fateful New Year's Eve takes Katey Kontent and her cohorts by the collar and propels them into a whirlwind year of adventure, parties, love, and fate that none of them ever forget. The beginning, the end, so many moments in between… Even the black and white photos between each seasonal section is a perfect delight. I could talk of it for ages (and usually do) but in short, a novel I could eat whole I find it so delicious.
✦
French Exit
Patrick deWitt
I would recommend this “tragedy of errors” at any point in the last few weeks of the year; Olivia has previously described it as spooky, but being partially set in December there was also something understatedly festive about it to me. If winter really is as depressing as we feel it to be, wouldn't we also want to spend it running away to Paris? Definitely not for the faint of heart, per its tragic ending, but its motley gathering of friends, lovers, strangers, and family in the third act reminds me all too well of some haphazard holiday celebrations of my own. Sometimes it's the family you’re born into, sometimes it’s the family you choose, and sometimes it’s both.
✦
Social Creature
Tara Isabella Burton
Like Rules of Civility, Social Creature starts in New York City on New Year’s Eve. This fable follows young Louise Wilson for one rollicking year of life as she tries to climb her way up the social ladder, only for it all to come violently crashing down (I won’t spoil the how or why, but the back cover alone owns up to the book’s main catastrophe). If you live for the truly dramatic, or thrilling, or even spend just a little too long on Instagram, this is the one for you. I did find it a bit slow in the second half, (all of the best parties occur in the first hundred pages and the plot moves on from there) but I’m not that torn up about it. For more on it, check out contributor Rachel’s nuanced review here.
✦
“Oh, Bright Young People!”
Vile Bodies
Evelyn Waugh
Like the flappers and philosophers, the bright young things of 1920s London captivated the world with their real life hijinks and happenings (oh, to be in on one of those historic city-wide scavenger hunts!). As a bonafide member, Evelyn Waugh had a front row seat and the witty expertise to write all about them in several works, though none as iconic as Vile Bodies. While Waugh has been one of my favorite writers in the past, the language of the 1930s is obviously not the socially aware one we use today, and I struggled on the decision to recommend this one due to its frequent usage of racial slurs. I’ll admit I enjoyed this book for its various parties and the aesthetic of moments like, “He awoke again a little later to find Miss Runcible dressed in pajamas and a fur coat sitting on his bed” but wouldn’t blame anyone for choosing to skip it.
✦
The Edwardians
Vita Sackville-West
A 1930s satire if you’re into high society, family sagas, and the English countryside. As a fan of sibling stories as well, this one sits close to my heart, following an aristocratic brother and sister as they fight their way to individuality and independence amongst the slings and arrows of their own outrageous fortune; cowered by duty, surrounded by their mother’s superficial and opulent parties... finding love and purpose, losing love and purpose, and ultimately finding themselves along the way. As in other favorites we find the wry, self-possessed little sister figure it all out first, and thank goodness for that. Let us all take every inspiration for the New Year as a chance to finally pull ourselves together. But this is a list about parties, of course, so rest assured Sackville-West doesn’t disappoint. Like any good tale, it’s during all of its best parties that the story unfolds.
✦
“The party poured out into the Paris night like dice shaken from a cylinder. The pink flare from the streetlights tinted the canopy scalloping of the trees to liquid bronze: those lights are one of the reasons why the hearts of Americans bump spasmodically at the mention of France; they are identical with the circus flares of our youth.”
The Collected Works of
Zelda Fitzgerald
Yes, I’ll admit (later in this very article even) The Great Gatsby is arguably the more quintessential party tale. But you’d be doing yourself a disservice to choose one Fitzgerald over the other. Where Scott is classic and scintillating, Zelda is soft and surreal, full of sensuous descriptions that flow like honey. Together they offer multiple perspectives to a shared history in a way literature probably hasn’t seen since and may never see again. I like to see Gatsby as the beginning of a party where things are still shining in technicolor, while Save Me The Waltz captures the dizzying fog-filled essence later in the night, of having been overserved but still feeling good as heck.
This style permeates her work consistently, and a story or article will do if you’re too sleepy for the full novel. Personally I like to reread her Eulogy on the Flapper from time to time, as a sort of manifesto or how-to guide, with its cynicism at the flapper’s being blamed for society’s failings of the time reminding me all too well of the ongoing feud between millennials and the generation blaming us for the continual ends of all that they hold dear. Like the flapper, we are merely applying all that they have thrown at us to the business of being in this brave new world, and looking fabulous while we’re at it.
✦
You Were Perfectly Fine
Dorothy Parker
There is no party list without Dorothy Parker. While I’m more ensconced in her poetry, I found a good laugh in her slim Penguin volume The Custard Heart earlier this year. For a cautionary tale of sorts, and a quick read while you get dressed and decide to go out at the last minute, its final short story follows a young man through the hangover of his life, all the while his beloved sits across the drawing room and confirms his drowsy memories and regrettable exploits. We can all only hope our loves would be so forgiving, even if the headache can't promise to be.
✦
She Regrets Nothing
Andrea Dunlop
My own planned date this New Year’s Eve. A Christmas gift I haven’t read yet, this bright and glistening tome touts descriptions likening it to iconic New York stories such as The Emperor’s Children, The House of Mirth, and yes, even The Great Gatsby. Centered around twenty-something midwestern Laila’s coming of age as she discovers and joins an estranged socialite family in New York, this seems like a decent follow up to last year’s Social Creature and a good lead into whatever Wharton title I choose for January. I’ll report back later.
✦
Still from Phantom Thread.
Special Mentions
“‘Have some champagne, quick,’ Bunny said. ‘It’s going flat.’ ‘Where is it?’ ‘In the teapot.’”
There are so many more I could offer, as in my humble opinion a party doesn't need to be holiday-related to be just as fun and emotionally reckless.
That favorite of ours, The Secret History, with perhaps the most chaotic party in literature, or more classically, the obvious choice of The Great Gatsby. What better way to ring in the return of the 20s than through the exploits of some well-dressed criminals and carefree flappers?
For those in a time crunch I’d recommend The Rich Boy — an early draft of Gatsby and in my opinion not only the actual love story of the two but the better as well.
For those in want of a highlight reel, A Curious Invitation is a spectacular resource, featuring the best parties in literature, collected as encyclopedic entries with everything from context to menus and social fallouts resulting.
And finally, my first party, Alice in Wonderland. A perfectly festive confection for a party of one, and a good excuse as any to celebrate every un-occasion in sight.
And for visual inspiration the night of?
There’s nothing so decadent as cuddling up with a classic on a festive night, though for a lively pairing I’d be remiss not to recommend, in no particular order, a few of my favorite parties in film:
Much Ado About Nothing (2012) — Say what you will about modernisations, there is no true Benedick and Beatrice like Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker.
When Harry Met Sally (1989) — A party for every holiday! If you’re only in it for a minute, just fast forward to the final scene this once, I won’t tell.
Bright Young Things (2003) — Based on Waugh’s novel, and a dashing good watch if you haven’t time for the book.
Pride and Prejudice (2005) — If you’re going for classics there’s truly nothing like a ball. Except maybe mountains.
The Great Gatsby (2013) — Another “watch if you don’t feel like reading,” this one captures the 20s as dizzyingly decadent as Fitzgerald himself may have seen them. Make sure you stick around for the costumes.
Bees Make Honey (2017) — A 1930s-set murder mystery party with debauchery and mayhem aplenty. For fans of Agatha Christie and Gosford Park.
Marie Antoinette (2006) — Masquerades! Casino themed birthday parties and staying up to watch the sunrise! The OG cautionary party girl, where would we ever be without her?
Phantom Thread (2017) — Arguably a bad party at first, but that ending montage and its slow dance alone on New Year’s guts me in the best way every time.
✦
Happy New Year my loves! Here's to us all and the hope that that glittering moment brings us whatever magic we may need.
Raquel Reyes is Creative Director at The Attic on Eighth. She enjoys styling photo shoots, dramatic hair accessories, and old fashioned cocktails.
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