Elaine’s Library

Elaine’s, which has its last last call this Friday morning at 4 a.m., got its start as a writers’ haunt, and more than 100 framed book covers serve as its primary décor. Here, a breakdown of the titles gracing its walls when news of its impending closure went out, along with examples of the works that make up the eclectic collection.

Photo: Michael Allin/New York Magazine

22 BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF ARTISTS, RACONTEURS, AND TORTURED GENIUSES

Memoirs, Tennessee Williams

Is Salami and Eggs Better Than Sex? Memoirs of a Happy Eater, Alan King and Mimi Sheraton

Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis, Howell Raines

1 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A RELATIVELY WHOLESOME INDIVIDUAL

I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This, Bob Newhart

1 NOVEL THAT INSPIRED A BRITISH SITCOM

Bless Me, Father, Neil Boyd

1 EROTICA BY A FORMER NEW YORK MAGAZINE RESTAURANT CRITIC

Blue Skies, No Candy, Gael Greene

6 MUSINGS BY OR ABOUT THE CULTURATI

The White Album, Joan Didion

A Kiss Is Still a Kiss, Roger Ebert

12 EXPLOITS OF ALPHA MALES

Cop Without a Badge: The Extraordinary Undercover Life Of Kevin Maher, Charles Kipps

Business Lunchatations: How an Everyday Guy Became One of America’s Most Colorful Ceos … And How You Can, Too!, Bo Dietl with Bob Bly

Blood on the Street: The Sensational Inside Story of How Wall Street Analysts Duped A Generation Of Investors, Charles Gasparino

1 L.A. MEMOIR

This Terrible Business Has Been Good To Me: An Autobiography, Norman Jewison

1 MAGIC AND SPELLS

Tales of Magic and Spells, Corinne Denan

1 DUPLICITOUS PARENTING

Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road, Susan Konig

17 CAPITAL-L LITERATURE

Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes, Terry Southern

Speedboat, Renata Adler

True North, Jim Harrison

12 SPORTS DISPATCHES FROM, OR NOSTALGIC FOR, THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback, George Plimpton

The Zen of Zim: Baseballs, Beanballs, and Bosses, Lou Piniella and Don Zimmer

Namath: A Biography, Mark Kriegel

10 POP HISTORY

The Final Days, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

Man of the People: The Life Of John Mccain, Paul Alexander

5 OLD-FASHIONED SHOE-LEATHER REPORTING

One Very Hot Day, David Halberstam

The Cell: Inside The 9/11 Plot, And Why The FBI And Cia Failed To Stop It, John J. Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell

Thy Neighbor’s Wife, Gay Talese

2 SOCIETY SCANDALS

Palm Beach Babylon, Murray Weiss and Bill Hoffman

Lindbergh: The Crime, Noel Behn

1 WITNESS-PROTECTION MEMOIRWITNESS-PROTECTION MEMOIR

Never Tell Our Business to Strangers, Jennifer Mascia

7 HERSTORY

It Changed My Life: Writings on the Women’s Movement, Betty Friedan

Very Much a Lady: The Untold Story of Jean Harris and Dr. Herman Tarnower, Shana Alexander

An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick, Hannah Pakula

1 MISSOURI MEMOIR

White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal, Ron Powers

28 AIRPLANE READS

The Sicilian, Mario Puzo

Murders & Acquisitions, Haughton Murphy

New York Dead, Stuart Woods

Have good intel? Send tips to [email protected].

Elaine’s Library