You can bring a whore to culture...

March 12, 2008 9:19 PM

Are there any groups like the Algonquin Round Table around today?

It seems like groups of famous friends and visionaries used to be common in the past (Anais Nin/Henry Miller/Picasso, Lewis/Tolkien, The Vicious Circle, ) but it doesn't seem to be the case today. Are there any groups like that today?

I am also accept groups of interesting friends who might be on the horizon of becoming famous in whatever field they are involved in, with their friendship helping their sucess.

posted by thebrokenmuse to society & culture (8 comments total)

Some of those groups may seem more obvious years later when all their doings have been described by biographers.

But a lot of the actor/director/writer relationships seem similar to the groups you name (throw Bloomsbury in there too, why not). Say for instance, Wes Anderson/Owen Wilson/Jason Schwartzman/Bill Murray etc, George Clooney/Brad Pitt/Stephen Soderburgh, Tim Burton/Johnny Depp.
posted by padraigin at 9:50 PM on March 12

How about the McSweeney's-Believer-This American Life cabal?
posted by one_bean at 10:27 PM on March 12

I think Padraigin is correct: at the time, these were just groups of friends getting together to hang out. They had no particular claim to imminence. They're only famous or important in retrospect. Who knows? Maybe you and your buds will be looked upon as The Broken Muse Round Table in 50 years...
posted by jdroth at 10:42 PM on March 12

The Algonquin Round Table was not only famous in retrospect. Many things said at the table were published contemporaneously in newspapers and magazines. A certain legendary status built up later on, but the populace was just as aware of them then as they are of, say, Wes Anderson now.

I do think the McSweeneys etc. group compares the most in that if you follow one or two members you're constantly being reminded of the fact that they both work and socially interact with other members. It's still not quite the same, though. There's no regularity to any get-togethers, or even a checklist of core members that are in the same place at the same time. Maybe the Rat/Brat/Frat Packs would be more apt.
posted by aswego at 4:51 AM on March 13

The Flophouse
posted by decathecting at 10:37 AM on March 13

Oulipo?
posted by mattbucher at 11:34 AM on March 13

(not current, but semi-recent) Fort Thunder?
posted by Bigfoot Mandala at 6:22 PM on March 13

Aswego is correct in that the ART was, indeed, famous even in its own time. In fact, its own fame partially became its undoing, as its members began getting annoyed that they couldn't just eat their god damned lunch in peace. Though a larger factor was just that its members, like many groups of friends, just plain drifted apart after a while.
posted by KantGoOn at 5:56 AM on March 14