As I See It

In many parts of the world, dinner parties are a time honored tradition. Self-respecting men and women open up their homes to regale friends with home-cooked food and stimulating conversation. The cultural significance of these gatherings is evidenced by the prominent role they play in literature and films. In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf devotes an entire book to describing a house party. In the 1967 classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the taboo subject of interracial marriage is dealt with at one of Hollywood’s most memorable suppers. A time-honored tradition Dinner parties are also a source of endless intrigue. They provide the perfect setting for a “whodunit” murder mystery, as they do in Agatha Christie’s Thirteen at Dinner, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope and more recently in Gosford Park. The tradition has even made it to the list of most frequently asked questions at job interviews... _______________________ Read the rest of this essay in No City for Slow Men , avai...