{"id":93708,"date":"2016-01-22T16:13:49","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T21:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=93708"},"modified":"2016-01-22T17:29:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T22:29:43","slug":"let-me-entertain-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Me Entertain You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Larry Salk,\u00a0Summer Cocktail Party with English Butler<\/i>, 1961, watercolor, gouache, ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

Among my other compulsions, I have an addiction to books about entertaining. Specifically, I suck at cooking but here are my tricks for impressing everyone<\/em> books. This category encompasses titles like Peg Bracken\u2019s classic\u00a0The I Hate to Cook Book<\/a><\/em>, but my favorites are less defiant and more conspiratorial. I think it all started with a copy of the food stylist Kevin Crafts\u2019s\u00a0Desperate Measures: 90 Unintimidating Recipes for the Domestically Inept<\/a><\/em>, which was in my house when I was growing up. It contains fabulous chapters like \u201cEntertaining Is a Self-Inflicted Wound,\u201d \u201cRemedial Entertaining,\u201d and \u201cPatsy Cline Memorial Chili Dinner.\u201d The pictures are, needless to say, outstanding, and I still like his ice-cream-cake recipe. My addiction was hastened by Sally Quinn\u2019s\u00a0The Party<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(in which she\u2019s always passing bought food off as her own) and over the years bolstered with any title containing the words entertaining<\/em>, secrets<\/em>, trickery<\/em>, and stylish solutions<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I should admit here that I\u2019m a pretty decent cook, and I like an elaborate recipe as much as the next guy. But there\u2019s something about the\u00a0panache<\/em>\u00a0of serving up onion dip on good china or hiding a bunch of Popeye\u2019s boxes that speaks of stylish confidence. (I think, growing up in the eighties, I always assumed classy people were wildly mendacious and treated fellow humans with disdain.) I know buying a how-to book\u00a0seems<\/em>\u00a0like the antithesis of stylish confidence, but just as dreaming of KonMari-ing one\u2019s closet can spark a feeling of virtuous joy, so too can such a manual make you feel like you\u2019re the life of the party.<\/p>\n

In any case, my newest acquisition is a book irresistibly called\u00a0Confessions of a Serial Entertainer<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0by the designer and bon vivant Steven Stolman. He\u2019s an excellent companion, and the pretty book is\u00a0full of good humor and endearing family and slightly retro party food and sensible advice. I like books by people who seem to really love people, and he\u2019s just that. And he\u2019s opinionated: on hours (short and early), flowers (send them after, if at all) and dietary restrictions. Of the last, he writes,<\/p>\n

\n

I believe that when one is preparing one\u2019s own food, it\u2019s fine to be as persnickety as one wishes. Every little allergy or sensitivity or dislike can be addressed privately and effectively. But when one is an invited guest and makes such a big deal about their food rules, I tend to believe that it\u2019s really one big smokescreen for a lack of sparkling wit. A little nibble won\u2019t hurt you, and it\u2019s easy to push food around until the plates are cleared. Children do it all the time. My wonderful grandfather found religion later in life and became kosher just as everyone else was discovering shrimp with lobster sauce. But he never complained and never explained. He simply brought along a cream cheese sandwich in his pocket.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Another of Stolman\u2019s good sandwich tips: always slice tea sandwiches with an electric knife.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review and the <\/em>Daily\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among my other compulsions, I have an addiction to books about entertaining. Specifically, I suck at cooking but here are my tricks for impressing everyone books. This category encompasses titles like Peg Bracken\u2019s classic\u00a0The I Hate to Cook Book, but my favorites are less defiant and more conspiratorial. I think it all started with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[17,10239,20868,17440,13540,20869,20872,450,20871,18423,20870,20873],"class_list":["post-93708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-books","tag-cakes","tag-cocktail-parties","tag-desserts","tag-dinner-parties","tag-entertaining","tag-kevin-crafts","tag-parties","tag-peg-bracken","tag-sally-quinn","tag-steven-stolman","tag-trickery"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLet Me Entertain You: The Best Books About Throwing Parties<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on her favorite guilty-pleasure genre.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let Me Entertain You by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 22, 2016 \u2013 Among my other compulsions, I have an addiction to books about entertaining. Specifically, I suck at cooking but here are my tricks for impressing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"891\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\"},\"headline\":\"Let Me Entertain You\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\"},\"wordCount\":547,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"books\",\"cakes\",\"cocktail parties\",\"desserts\",\"dinner parties\",\"entertaining\",\"Kevin Crafts\",\"parties\",\"Peg Bracken\",\"Sally Quinn\",\"Steven Stolman\",\"trickery\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Our Daily Correspondent\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\",\"name\":\"Let Me Entertain You: The Best Books About Throwing Parties\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sadie Stein on her favorite guilty-pleasure genre.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Let Me Entertain You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\",\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sadie Stein\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let Me Entertain You: The Best Books About Throwing Parties","description":"Sadie Stein on her favorite guilty-pleasure genre.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let Me Entertain You by Sadie Stein","og_description":"January 22, 2016 \u2013 Among my other compulsions, I have an addiction to books about entertaining. Specifically, I suck at cooking but here are my tricks for impressing","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":891,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sadie Stein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sadie Stein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/"},"author":{"name":"Sadie Stein","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9"},"headline":"Let Me Entertain You","datePublished":"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/"},"wordCount":547,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg","keywords":["books","cakes","cocktail parties","desserts","dinner parties","entertaining","Kevin Crafts","parties","Peg Bracken","Sally Quinn","Steven Stolman","trickery"],"articleSection":["Our Daily Correspondent"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/","name":"Let Me Entertain You: The Best Books About Throwing Parties","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-22T21:13:49+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-22T22:29:43+00:00","description":"Sadie Stein on her favorite guilty-pleasure genre.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/norton_cocktail_culture.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/22\/let-me-entertain-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Let Me Entertain You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9","name":"Sadie Stein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sadie Stein"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93708"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93734,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93708\/revisions\/93734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}