Café Luxembourg appears in the diary as a place where several strands of New York’s social and cultural life briefly share a room. During one visit, the narrator notes Carl Bernstein, David Byrne, Keith Haring, and Martin Burgoyne; the scene’s significance lies in this quick survey of who is present and how readily some connections remain out of reach.

A Cross-Section of the Room

The narrator went to Café Luxembourg by cab, recording the fare as four dollars. Carl Bernstein waved from across the room while sitting with three women. David Byrne was also there, but the narrator did not know how to speak with him. The brief contrast between Bernstein’s wave and the narrator’s uncertainty around Byrne gives the scene its social texture: recognition does not automatically make conversation easy.

Companions and Conversation

Martin Burgoyne was with the group. The diary describes him as twenty-one, wearing his hair up, and looking jaded. Keith Haring spoke about Madonna, who had stayed at his place and slept on his couch, remarking that he could write stories about the people she had been involved with. The account does not develop the remark further; it captures, instead, how a casual restaurant conversation could turn a private stay into prospective material for a story.