Does anyone know about book parties?

[aliceinwonderland]

A professor friend of mine wrote a book and now they're hosting a party for him...I already know I'll be completely out of place if I go: Haven't read the entire book (philosophy), and these are all older proffesors, Harvard types hosting this thing...But if I wanted to go(e went to great lengths to invite me)...what happens at these things? I feel so ignorant...
Thanks in advance!

eri
Mother to Erik James, April 29th 2004

[californiagirl]

In my experience, it's a pretty standard cocktail party experience. People stand around and drink and gossip. Traditionally, philosophers drink like fish, but the quality of the drink may be iffy particularly if the university is paying. Academic gossip can be mind-bendingly dull, mostly without being any more intellectual than any other kind, but there's always an assortment of spouses and the like to talk to. Plus some of the sweetest, best conversationalists I know are professors. They're used to dealing with students, who are often just as shy and out-of-place as you feel. Probably only a handful of people there will have read the book, but the philosophers in other fields will feel absolutely no guilt about this, and may well be more interested in discussing how the publisher behaved than what the book is about.

(My father is a professor, in linguistics not philosophy, but the fields are related.)