A collection of the author's most noted short works includes ""The Romantic Egoists,"" ""Skinny Island,"" and ""Tales of Yesteryear,"" and features the author's non-traditional style of the passage of time.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Spanning Auchincloss's distinguished career from the first story to appear under his own name up to the present, this hefty collection displays consistent excellence in observing the spheres of art, law, money and society. In the tradition of Henry James and Edith Wharton, even the briefest pieces, "The Reckoning" and "The Novelist of Manners," offer a novel's richness of character and plot, as people and art, morality and etiquette mix uneasily. Auchincloss adds historical and aesthetic twists to the psychologically ambiguous ghost story "The Prison Window" and to "They That Have the Power to Hurt," about the late-blooming affair between a lady novelist and a writer manque. Many entries contain enough material for two or three narratives, such as the stories of the law clerks of "The Mavericks" or of the pre- and post-Civil War careers of a Virginia aristocrat in "Ares." Conversely, the novella "The Stoic" effortlessly compresses a great deal of history into a small space of literature through a financier's life. Only the author's portraits of ethnic outsiders among his WASPs are occasionally flawed, and the two weakest pieces, "The Money Juggler" and "The Fabbri Tape," where he makes central use of such characters, are thinned with essay-like tendentiousness. Overall, though, this superb collection evinces a master's sure touch for both the intimate and the social.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Auchincloss doesn't write legal fiction exclusively, but his best work is law-related. In contrast to colleagues John Grisham and Scott Turrow, he focuses on law firm culture and office politics, not on high-profile crime and courtroom drama. In the typical Auchincloss story, a talented outsider tries to gain, or to maintain, access to an exclusive in-group. In "The Mavericks," a rebellious junior associate begins to date a senior partner's daughter. In "The Fabbri Tape," an Italian immigrant's son jeopardizes his law career for a country club friend. In "The Novelist of Manners," a lawyer with artistic ambitions becomes obsessed with a novelist client. Written over a 45-year period and arranged in the order they were published, these stories have a distinct 19th-century feel. This is a world where men are "cads" and a working woman is an anomaly. Recommended as an excellent introduction to this prolific author.
Edward R. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Edward R. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Reading,
By Patrick O'Hare "Pat" (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Collected Stories of Louis Auchincloss (Hardcover)
I have never really understood why the work of Louis Auchincloss does not enjoy greater popularity. It may have to do with the relatively narrow social and geographic context in which he develops so many of his plots and characters. Putting aside those arguable limitations, however, few American authors - and no lawyers I can think of - write with such precision or insight. Auchincloss exploits the descriptive depth and wealth of written English, and it is a delight to read. While I have enjoyed many of John Grisham's stories, their appeal certainly does not stem from the obvious quality his prose. It is difficult to imagine Grisham using a word like "machicolated" with the unfeigned and unpretentious ease of Auchincloss. Not every story in this collection is great, the standard Auchincloss achieves in most of his writing, but enough of them are to make this book well worth the reader's time.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
