Par-tay!

The official launch of Orwell in Tribune takes place tonight at the Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place, W1. Be there or be square, dahlings! And remember, the more books are sold, the more free beer there will be. See you by the bar.

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UPDATE: Smoky, noisy, jam-packed, full of people I hadn't seen in ages. And many more who I had never seen at all. Michael Foot was a no-show, but I suppose that was to be expected. Tribunites, ex-City students, ex-girlfriends, Little Atoms co-hosts, journalists of all stripes. All packed into a tiny upstairs room where Orwell himself would have once sat. Man-of-the-evening Paul Anderson did the honourable thing by splitting all the proceeds from books sold on the night between the beer fund and the Tribune Fighting Fund, and left the pub feeling full of love. A grand evening all in all, marred only by my impeccable comic timing (read: full-on klutziness) of dropping my half-full glass of beer in shock when someone told me they had actually read my blog. Sigh. Do finishing schools still exist?