LDM100: NYC

October 21, 2010 — On a historic night for Literary Death Match — and a historic evening from wire to wire — the LDM100: NYC celebration concluded in a knock-down drag-out Literary Name That Tune that ended with Team Rick Moody out-guessing Team Amanda Filipacchi by a narrow 7-5 score to claim the LDM crown. 

But well before the DJ pressed play for the first time, the night opened with Arthur Phillips (Prague, The Song Is You) telling the tale of his involvement with Shakespeare's new play (out next year), and finishing off by reading the bard's own words. Next up was Moody who read a beautifully written star-specific excerpt from The Four Fingers of Death. 

The mic was then handed to the megastar trio of judges: ESPN funnyman Kenny Mayne (Mayne Street; author of An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport), comedian-we-love-best Jena Friedman and the endlessly booksmart New York Times book critic Liesl Schillinger.  Referring to Phillips, Schillinger was thrilled her Shakespeare reading group would be blessed with a new text, Mayne knew he was "a badass writer," and Friedman found perfection in his newly shined boots. About Moody, Mayne said the stars made him painfully recall his never-achieved desire for a telescope, while Friedman felt Moody's hat reminded her of a kind of creepy-but-cool graduate professor who might try to date students. 

After a painful deliberation, Moody was announced the night's first finalist.

After a brief intermission in the packed Bowery Poetry Club, Round 2 kicked off with co-host Ann Heatherington introducing author/supermodel Paulina Porizkova, who read French-infused excerpts from her novel A Model Summer, followed by Filipacchi who read a crowd-beloved and vagina-laden excerpt from her hilarious novel, Love Creeps. 

The judges again took center stage, with Schillinger recalling that she was happy to indulge in the voyeurism of the model's life, while Friedman liked how Porizkova's boots were Columbine-y (then credited both women with points for wearing black, since Friedman admitted she, too, is a witch). For Filipacchi, Schillinger said she was laughing too hard to judge, and expressed her unbridled love for the writing, while Mayne couldn't wait to go home and tell his wife that he "came to NYC to sit in a dark room with 74 people and talk about vaginas." 

Another difficult deliberation, before the judges narrowly voted Filipacchi as the night's second finalist. 

Then LDM creator Todd Zuniga brought Moody and Filipacchi on-stage for a festive LDM100 Literary Name that Tune finale. The crowd was split in half, with each half tasked with naming the artists of the songs that the DJ played — all songs with literary references in them. It was a slow burn, at the start, with Moody and Filipacchi scoring early, then having to rely on their crowd halfs to win them the title. With the score tied at four, Team Moody lit fire, and won in a wild finish 7-5, winning Moody the LDM title, and with it: literary immortality.