A night with Tony Parsons.
My knowledge about Tony Parsons or his works does not go beyond Man and Boy, Man and Wife, and page 16 of One for My Baby, all of which I read over 6 years ago. However, when BB suggested that we attend a literary dinner with him, I was quick to say yes. After all, I have never been to a literary dinner before, and the mere words “li-te-ra-ry dinner” sound sexy and posh enough (shallow I know). Plus, lately I have been reading nothing but Hello!, Elle and Marie Claire (plus more than my share of Next Magazine, Sudden Weekly and other local trash gossip magazines), and therefore a literary dinner sounds a timely and much desired cultural fix.
So we found ourselves sitting inside Grappa’s at 7.30pm last night, waiting to meet the international bestseller (Man and Boy sold over two million copies worldwide). Dinner was from 7.30 to 9.00. At the price of $500 per person, dinner was, at most, mediocre. I had a Caesar salad and duck breast while BB went for the onion soup and chili spaghetti. When my dessert came (chocolate semifreddo with summer fruits), there was fruit juice all over the plate – obviously the kitchen staff did not bother to wipe the rims of the plates before serving the dish. I wonder what Chef Ramsay would say (apart from the two dozen F-words) if we were in Hell’s Kitchen. BB and I calculated that the cost of our 3-course meal plus a glass of wine would be less than $80. What a rip-off. But then again, we came for Tony, not the food; besides, who in the first place would have any expectation about Grappa’s food?
At 9pm, Mr. Parsons came to the podium. He was a lot funnier than his books (or at least my memories of them). He took questions from the audience and gave witty and very honest answers. For example, when asked what prompted his transition from being a music journalist to a novelist, he said without blinking “Unemployment!”. He is a huge fan of Hong Kong too, having visited the city many times over the past 10 years and having made some good friends here. According to him, Shanghai, the place where his latest novel (My Favourite Wife) is set and where he spent a lot of time over the past three years doing research, can never beat Hong Kong.
Despite having met him in person and coming home with two nicely autographed books, I still cannot say that I am tempted to start reading his latest work. BB, on the other hand, is busy reading The Family Way, a present from BB's dad that has been sitting on our book shelf for more than a year before finally finding its way into the light again.
It got me thinking – which writer would I want to meet most? This year, I think my answer would be him.
