Best Selling Books by Louis Auchincloss

A history of the growth of the J.P. Morgan collections and an examination of the quality of Morgan''s eye and the impulses behind his purchases. More than 130 illustrations present a survey of Morgan''s treasures, which include the Fragonard panels and Vermeer''s A lady writing.

Twelve stories observing modern American life and morals in the twentieth century, from the National Medal of Arts–winning author of The Cat and the King. With this collection of short stories, Louis Auchincloss will delight his already devoted followers and win many more into the ranks. The stories, which range from studies of family manipulation to the secrets of artistic inspiration, are in fact subtle fables that probe the heart of modern American life to examine the moral confusion that exists there. In the title story, a wealthy muralist and patroness of the arts succumbs to the near compulsion of posing in the nude for a fellow artist who then blackmails her. In other tales, a clergyman conceives of adultery as a valid means of sharing Christian charity; a socially prominent family conspires to entrap a girl into a “front” marriage with their homosexual son and heir; an art student writes his thesis on some startling theories as to why a famed painter of elegant interiors never includes a human figure in his pictures; a federal judge sells his opinions to the highest bidder with a recklessness that seems, almost suicidally, to invite detection. Combining his powers of storytelling and observation, Auchincloss creates in Narcissa and Other Fables a penetrating glimpse into the ethical malaise of our century. Praise for Narcissa and Other Fables “This book of short stories by America’s leading novelist of manners is a textbook in how to write fiction in miniature. It begins with “fables” of normal short story length and ends with tour de force one-pagers . . . . The confused ethics of Americans in the dying years of a revolutionary century are put under the microscope for a moment of breath-taking clarity.” —Frederick M. Winship, UPI “Auchincloss is a worldly philosopher who writes with confident authority of the law office and the board room, but he is also a social historian and an amused observer of the prosperous at play. The venue may be a cruise ship or a minor stately home in Virginia, an urban chateau on Fifth Avenue or a great bibliophile’s private library overlooking the East River. His characters tend to be “tribal creatures” who pay lip service to social taboos but who live by the laws of self-interest.” —Frances Taliaferro, New York Times

The offices, penthouses, and suburban chateaux of New York are the setting for Louis Auchincloss''s The Dark Lady. Spanning three decades from the 1930s to the McCarthy era, the novel chronicles a powerful woman''s rise and the human toll it exacts. In a world where birth and style count nearly as much as wealth, Elesina Dart is supremely equipped to star. Lovely, well-born, bright, even moderately talented as an actress, Elesina seems perversely bent on canceling out these advantages. After two destructive marriages and an affair with alcohol, she is close to low ebb when Ivy Trask takes her on. Ivy''s business is the exercise of power, as editor of the fashion-arbitrating Tone magazine and in her own loveless life. In Elesina, she finds material worthy of her best efforts. Stage-managed by Ivy, Elesina makes a widely successful and equally scandalous match with Judge Irving Stein, banker, connoisseur, collector—and old enough to know better, as all who are close to him point out. Mistress of Broadlawns, Irving''s Westchester estate, and caretaker of his fabulous art collection are roles Elesina takes in stride. For all his riches and influence, Irving is a man of deep sensibility, a romantic—as is David, his attractive youngest son, whose passion for his stepmother leads to tragic consequences. Inevitably, husband, lover, and friend all fall victim to Elesina''s need for the center stage, which she has come to see as her manifest destiny. In this major novel, Louis Auchincloss examines the many faces of ambition and desire that rule both the schemers and dreamers of fashionable society. It is a story that only Auchincloss, with his exceptional knowledge and insight, could write.

A portrait of a century?s greatest political mastermind Our tw ent y-eighth president was, says Louis Auchincloss, ?the greatest idealist who ever occupied the White House.? Now, in Woodrow Wilson, Auchincloss sheds new light on Wilson?s upbringing and career, from the grim determination that enabled him to overcome dyslexia to the skillful dance of isolationism and intervention in World War I to the intransigence that?despite his most cherished vision?caused the Senate?s rejection of the League of Nations. From the dynamic figure whose ringing speeches hypnotized vast crowds, to the gentle voice reading poetry to his children, Auchincloss presents all the triumphs and the final tragic irony of this flawed apostle of world peace.

This volume reveals Louis Auchincloss as a writer of unusual brilliance. In it he combines a Henry Jamesian knowledge of upper-class New York society with an economy of style, an alertness of eye, an artful disarming modesty reminiscent of the stories of Christopher Isherwood.

A collection of stories about rich Wasps. In Ars Gratia Artis, a railroad baron becomes a patron of the arts in a bid to atone for a life of money grabbing, while in Geraldine, a woman chooses dignity over money.

Critical discussions of American women authors.

In this witty historical novel by the author of Watchfires, a poor woman joins the eighteenth-century court of Queen Anne and ends a war. On the Continent, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, is laying waste to the lowlands in a bloody combat with Louis XIV. Meanwhile at the British court, Queen Anne, aging, ill, and surrounded by sycophants, is coping with the intrigues of those who wish to promote Marlborough’s dangerous ambitions. Chief among the plotters is his headstrong wife (and court favorite), Sarah Churchill. Into this tense and steamy environment comes young Abigail Hill, Sarah’s impoverished cousin. Sarah has arranged for her to be a maid to the Queen. But Abigail will discover that she has been marked by destiny for a special mission, which is nothing less than to bring to a halt a destructive world war. How she accomplishes this is the subject of this unusual but historically justified tale . . . The drama of court life and high politics, the growing antagonism between Sarah and Abigail, and an engaging cast of characters make for a lively narrative. And the portrait of Queen Anne is a tour de force that lends further depth to this vivid and engaging book. Perfect for fans of the Yorgos Lanthimos film, The Favourite, starring Olivia Coleman and Emma Stone.

33-year-old woman is divorced by her husband, under scandalous circumstances.

Poverty-stricken Amy Hunt hopes that marriage will enable her to escape from her dependency on her wealthy relatives, but marriage becomes a nightmare when her past mistakes come back to haunt her and her husband.

Witty and ironic picture of New York society and society people in rear-eschelon desk jobs in the Canal Zone and at sea. Beverly Stregelinus, a young, upper-class New Yorker, is a charming young man, but aware of his ingratiating deficiencies. At the eve of World War II, his days are filled with charity and committee work after losing hisart gallery job. Pearl Harbor shatters all this and catapults him into a desk job in the Canal Zone as a lieutenant. Under these strange and bewildering circumstances, a court-martial scandal entangles Beverly and his Navy friends and marks the beginning of the real education of Beverly Stregelinus.

Edith Wharton - American Writers 12 was first published in 1961. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

The American century opened with the election of that quintessentially American adventurer, Theodore Roosevelt. Louis Auchincloss''s warm and knowing biography introduces us to the man behind the many myths in this edition of The American Presidents Series. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

In this new collection of biographical profiles combining literary and social history, Auchincloss aims his polished and finely pointed pen at the authors who have most fascinated him over the years, from Shakespeare''s contemporaries to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gore Vidal, and Tennessee Williams.

Ellen Glasgow - American Writers 33 was first published in 1964. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

Henry Adams - American Writers 93 was first published in 1971. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

In 1953, the wealthy coastal enclave of Glenville is shaken by scandal when it is revealed that Rodman Jessup, junior partner of a prestigious law firm, has become embroiled in an adulterous affair with a society woman.

With its ranks limited to 250 members, the American Academy of Arts and Letters is counted among the foremost honors an American in the arts can receive. For this tribute to the Academy, eleven of its current members provide illuminating insights into those artists whom members have held in high esteem--and those they have not. 85 photos.

Socially prominent and wealthy New Yorker forsakes the family law firm, his wife and children, and his Long Island estate in order to find a new life on his own merit.

Two hundred years after his birth, Nathaniel Hawthorne remains one of America''s most important and influential writers. To celebrate that bicentennial, this new collection gathers essays by novelists, critics, historians, and biographers that explore aspects of Hawthorne''s life and work. It is published by the Lenox Library in Lenox, Massachusetts, the Berkshire town where Hawthorne spent two productive years and where he formed his friendship with Herman Melville. The writers and subjects here range from Louis Auchincloss and Elizabeth Hardwick on The Scarlet Letter to Paul Auster on Hawthorne''s journals and what they reveal about his family life; from Harrison Hayford''s previously unpublished exploration of Hawthorne''s influence on Melville to Carol Gilligan''s experiences adapting Hawthorne''s work for the stage; from Wendell Garrett''s evocation of nineteenth-century Salem to a sample of Hawthorne''s own journalism--"Chiefly About War Matters by a Peaceable Man," written for The Atlantic Monthly in 1862. Also in these essays, curators of Hawthorne historical sites explore the influence of physical environment on the writer; biographer Brenda Wineapple examines the author''s political views, including his controversial disdain of abolitionists; journalist and novelist Tom Wicker offers an appraisal of Hawthorne''s skills as a war correspondent; and journalist Neil Hickey considers the author''s ongoing cultural influence through film and television adaptations of his work. The heavily illustrated volume will also feature a range of visual materials, including original, full-page silhouettes in a nineteenth century style by Scherenschnitte (papercutting) artist Pamela Dalton.

The story of a dedicated young lawyer in Manhattan and his reaction when disillusioned by the dishonesty of his firm.

Pre-publication review proof copy.

Traces the fictional life of Dr. Francis Prescott, the founder and head of a New England prep school