Inside The Sally Rooney Launch Party

Something in the air changes when a new Sally Rooney novel is published. Branded bucket hats start popping up on the heads of people on the train carrying The Drift tote bags. Numbered galleys — more exclusive than Fashion Week invites — circulate. Readers start seeing the world in a singular color palette: In this case, the goldenrod and slate gray comprising the chess board Intermezzo cover, landing in nail-bitten hands everywhere any day now. Unlike the many authors taking marketing and publicity into their own hands Sally Rooney has made it clear she wants to be left alone to write. Belletrist, the book club helmed by Karah Preiss and actress Emma Roberts – which is, for the record, Language Arts’ favorite celebrity book club, listened.