FAME—THE JOURNAL

The latest issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, the history-minded literary journal, reads like a dignified version of People magazine. Its 224 pages draw on essays, letters, poems, quotes, and book excerpts from writers as varied as Dylan, Proust, Warhol, and Ovid to expound upon the topic of “celebrity.” And what better way to explore the fame monster than by indulging in it? The Lapham’s Quarterly Celebrity Event brings together editor Lewis Lapham in conversation with the Public Theater’s artistic director, Oskar Eustis, and then welcomes the celebs themselves for readings from the publication—Alec Baldwin and Philip Seymour Hoffman among them. Most intriguing of all is the odd coupling of Broadway star Mandy Patinkin and drag star Taylor Mac on a duet of “Unworthy of Your Love,” from Assassins.

Thu., Jan. 20, 7 p.m., 2011