BOSTON--When Paul S. Grogan talks, Beantown listens.

More than 200 of the Harvard Vice President's closest friends assembled at the Boston Public Library last night for a lecture and cocktail party celebrating Grogan's new book.

The guest list read like a Boston Who's Who: Mayor Thomas M. Menino, President Neil L. Rudenstine, Bay Partners General Partner Chris Gabrielli, Globe columnist David Nyhan--and many of Boston's other most well-known citizens.

Because of its location at the Boston Public Library, the event was open to the public, but, as Grogan joked, it was unlikely that many in the crowd happened to stumble into the library while wandering around Back Bay.

The occasion for the celebrity gathering was Grogan's new book, Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival, which he co-authored with journalist Tony Proscio.

The book argues that in spite of persistent poverty, America's inner cities have become livable, safe and business-friendly over the last two decades.

Grogan argues that while people are still poor, big steps have been made towards recovery.

"The American inner city is rebounding--not just here and there, not just cosmetically, but fundamentally," he writes in the book.