Hymnary.org

Hymnary.org is covered here in 6 connected parts: Hymnary.org, Guest of a Guest, The Guest (novel), Ordinary People (Guest novel), The Guest List, Cornelia Guest.

Hymnary.org

Hymnary.org is an online database of hymns, hymnodists and hymnals hosted by Calvin University's Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The searchable database contains over one million hymn tunes and texts and incorporates the Dictionary of North American Hymnology. The oldest hymnals in the database are from 1640.^[1]

Related: Guest of a Guest · The Guest (novel) · Ordinary People (Guest novel)

External references: ^[1][2][3]

Guest of a Guest

Guest of a Guest is a website founded by Cameron Winklevoss and Rachelle Hruska that covers high society events, people, and places. Since its inception, Guest of a Guest has grown to include a picture database of thousands of people and events all over the world, with concentrations in New York City, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Miami. Business Insider has described the site as "the new Page Six." The site has about 12 full-time employees and dozens of editors and photographers who cover local and international cultural events in places such as Miami, Chicago, London, Paris, and Berlin.^[4]

History

Hruska met Winklevoss in 2005 in New York City while writing a blog about the city's nightlife when Winklevoss convinced her to take on Guest of a Guest as a full-time company. The name Guest of a Guest originated when Rachelle Hruska noticed that many people on the party circuit did not own their own houses in the Hamptons. Instead, they crashed at other people's houses.^[4]

Expansion

Guest of a Guest launched a Hamptons-centric site in the summer of 2008 with Los Angeles following in March 2010. Guest of a Guest first launched a daily newsletter in the summer of 2009. In 2012, the website began to cover global cultural events such as Cannes, Art Basel, Paris Fashion Week, and the Oscars.^[4]

Related: Hymnary.org · The Guest (novel) · Ordinary People (Guest novel) · Guest of a Guest · Guest of a Guest

External references: ^[4][5][6]

The Guest (novel)

The Guest is the second novel written by Emma Cline. The story takes place over five summer days. A 22-year-old woman named Alex, working as a professional escort from New York City, sojourns through the moneyed enclaves situated in the Hamptons of Long Island, New York.^[7]

Plot

The novel begins with the protagonist, Alex, as a woman in her early twenties and who is the companion of fifty-five year old Simon in a Long Island area predominantly inhabited by the exceedingly wealthy. Alex's error in judgment during a social function, along with her damaging his car, prompts Simon to kick Alex out of his house, instructing his assistant to take her to the closest train station and purchase her a one-way ticket back to New York City.^[7]

Critical reception

The New York Times said: "... under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force. And not just for her hosts, but for the novel itself." Ron Charles of The Washington Post compared the grift and grifter narrated throughout this novel with Jay Gatsby "who a century ago imagined he could insinuate himself into these people’s lives."^[7]

About the book

The narrative expresses Alex's perspective throughout the story from a third person point of view. In May 2023, an exclusive excerpt from Cline's second novel The Guest appeared in Vogue. The author, Emma Cline, has said that part of the novel was inspired by John Cheever's short story "The Swimmer." The Guest was a national bestseller and was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award.^[7]

Film adaptation

In October 2026, it was announced that A24 and Square Peg were in negotiations to purchase rights to a film adaptation of the novel. They beat out multiple buyers for the novel which was set up with Sadie Sink to star and Lorene Scafaria as writer and director.^[7]

Related: Hymnary.org · Guest of a Guest · Ordinary People (Guest novel) · Guest of a Guest · Guest of a Guest

External references: ^[7][8][9]

Ordinary People (Guest novel)

Ordinary People is Judith Guest's first novel. Published in 1976, it tells the story of a year in the life of the Jarretts, an affluent suburban family trying to cope with the aftermath of two traumatic events. Although it won critical praise and awards upon its release, it is best remembered today as the basis for the 1980 film version, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture.^[10]

Title

They are ordinary people, after all. For a time they had entered the world of the newspaper statistic; a world where any measure you took to feel better was temporary, at best, but that is over. This is permanent.^[10]

Synopsis

Life is seemingly returning to normal for the Jarretts of Lake Forest, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) in September 1975. It is slightly more than a year since their elder son Buck was killed when a sudden storm arrived while he and his brother Conrad were sailing on Lake Michigan. Six months later, a severely depressed Conrad attempted suicide by slashing his wrists with a razor in the bathroom.^[10]

Characters

Conrad Keith Jarrett, the son of Beth and Calvin, "Con" or "Connie" to his family and friends. He celebrates his 18th birthday midway through the novel. Like his late brother, he is a good swimmer, but quits the school swim team because being around water reminds him too much of Buck.^[10]

Major themes

Loss and the different ways people deal with it are a major theme of Ordinary People. Conrad loses not only his brother but a good portion of his then-self when Buck dies. His father finds himself re-examining his life and seeing it more the result of random chance and accident than any ability on his part.^[10]

Technique

Guest's chapters alternate between Conrad and Calvin, in third person limited omniscient narration entirely in the present tense. Readers are privy to their thoughts but not those of the other characters in the scene, not even Cal or Conrad if they happen to intrude. The narrative frequently goes into patches of italicized interior monologue and stream of consciousness.^[10]

Origin

Guest began Ordinary People as a short story, but found herself writing more and more as she explored the characters in greater depth, wanting to know more about their backgrounds. "Before I knew it," she says "I was 200 pages in". It took her three years to write, after she gave up her teaching job and decided to concentrate on actually finishing a novel.^[10]

Publication

Guest did not have an agent initially. The first publisher she sent it to, Ballantine Books, rejected it. The second sent a rejection letter that read in part: "While the book has some satiric bite, overall the level of writing does not sustain interest and we will have to decline it." An editor at Viking Press bought the manuscript, but the company waited eight months before putting it out, the first time in 26 years it had published an unsolicited manuscript.^[10]

Legacy

In the wake of the film version, the novel has been assigned in many American high school (and sometimes middle school) English classes due to its young-adult protagonist. This has led to some challenges to its inclusion on reading lists and curricula due to not only the subject matter but a short scene near the end of the novel in which Conrad and Jeannine make love. The American Library Association ranked it 59th on its list of the 100 most frequently challenged books in school libraries during the 1990s.^[10]

References to other works

At the beginning of the novel, Conrad is reading Jude the Obscure (in which Jude attempts suicide, Jude's mother has died by suicide, and Jude's son commits murder-suicide) in English class. Later, he reads an exam question that mentions Lord Jim and Of Human Bondage as other works he might have read.^[10]

Related: Hymnary.org · Guest of a Guest · The Guest (novel) · Guest of a Guest · Guest of a Guest

External references: ^[10][11][12]

The Guest List

The Guest List is a 2020 mystery novel by British author Lucy Foley. The story takes place at the wedding of Jules Keegan and Will Slater, which is being held on an island off the coast of Ireland. The plot has been compared to the works of Agatha Christie, as a murder occurs with limited suspects and each guest has a secret which will be revealed.^[13]

Plot

Set on a remote, windswept island off the coast of Ireland, The Guest List centres around the glamorous yet tension-filled wedding of Jules Keegan, a successful London magazine publisher, and Will Slater, a handsome and charming television personality. The couple has chosen to hold their wedding at “The Folly,” an isolated venue owned by the wedding planner Aoife and her husband Freddy. As guests begin to arrive by boat, a storm rolls in, cutting off all communication with the mainland and heightening the island's ominous atmosphere.^[13]

Background and publication

Lucy Foley published her previous thriller novel The Hunting Party in 2019, which was a bestseller. Foley originally intended to set the novel on a Greek island but while on Inishbofin, an island off Connemara in Ireland, she decided that it would be a better setting. Many reviews compared the novel to the works of Agatha Christie, particularly And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express.^[13]

Reception

The Guest List received generally positive reviews, including a starred review from Library Journal.^[13]

Adaptation

On October 24, 2023, it was announced that Hulu was adapting the novel into a television miniseries. Liz Tigelaar will be the executive producer as well as Lucy Foley. There has been no new information since then.^[13]

Related: Hymnary.org · Guest of a Guest · The Guest (novel) · Guest of a Guest · Guest of a Guest

External references: ^[13][14][15]

Cornelia Guest

Cornelia Cochrane Churchill Guest (born November 28, 1963) is a New York socialite, author, actor, and the Debutante of the Decade for the 1980s of the International Debutante Ball in New York City. She is a vegan, and known for her advocacy of animal rights.^[16]

Early life and education

Cornelia Cochrane Churchill Guest was born on November 28, 1963, in New York City. Cornelia Guest is the daughter of the British polo champion Winston Guest (1906–1982) and socialite Lucy "C.Z." Douglas Cochrane (1920–2003). She was the fourth and last child for Winston Guest and the second and last of C.Z.^[16]

Debutante years

Cornelia made her debut in the winter of 1981–1982 at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Her 18th birthday party included author Truman Capote (a family friend), Prince Egon von Fürstenberg (1946–2004), supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, John Bowes-Lyon who is Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, Andy Warhol (another childhood friend), make-up artist Way Bandy, heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke, and Jerry Zipkin, a socialite, escort, and confidant of First Lady Nancy Reagan, as guests. Capote, a Guest family friend, explained to People magazine why Guest's soiree attracted so many celebrities, royals, and powerful people: "Cornelia has a No.^[16]

Career

Soon after the publication of her memoir, Guest headed to Hollywood for an acting career, quickly securing the services of both an agent and a much-in-demand acting coach, Sandra Seacat. Guest scored mostly small roles, beginning in 1989. In the early 2000s, she served as a spokeswoman for the upscale LaPrairie skin-care line.^[16]

Animal rights

Guest is a vegan and has been a spokesperson for animal rights. Her line of upscale handbags for Bloomingdale's and 50 other stores includes no leather purses. In 2011, Guest posed nude as part of the ongoing "I’d rather go naked than wear fur" campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).^[16]

Published works

In 1986, she published a memoir, The Debutante's Guide to Life. As part of the book tour for The Debutante's Guide to Life, Guest crooned "It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To" on Late Night with David Letterman.^[16]

Related: Hymnary.org · Guest of a Guest · The Guest (novel) · Guest of a Guest · Guest of a Guest

External references: ^[16][17][18]