Skinny Island: More Tales of Manhattan

by Louis Auchincloss

Spanning a century in twelve beautifully written stories of Manhattan life, Skinny Island conveys Auchincloss's inimitable eloquence and style with slices of life that are an enduring and timeless part of American culture. "Sparkling and assured".--Time.

Genres: Short Stories, New York

319 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American novelist, historian, and essayist.

Among Auchincloss's best-known books are the multi-generational sagas The House of Five Talents, Portrait in Brownstone, and East Side Story. Other well-known novels include The Rector of Justin, the tale of a renowned headmaster of a school like Groton trying to deal with changing times, and The Embezzler, a look at white-collar crime. Auchincloss is known for his closely observed portraits of old New York and New England society.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 1 out of 5]

Odd stories, oddly told. A wee bit too patrician for my taste. I don't mind reading how the upper-crust live, but I want some critique to go with it. But I picked the book up in a nursing home, abandoned. It would have merely gone to the recycle bin; I donated it to a church jumble sale after finishing.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little stiff but not bad...it's a series of vignettes, all set in NYC, and occurring at successively more modern historical periods. All the characters are white and rich, though, which will not be surprising given the author, and a surprising number of the male ones die in various wars.

[Suzanne Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could read Auchincloss all day! His stories are full of rich people behaving badly, gossiping about eachother, hugging & smiley facing while planning to destroy those in the way. It's basically reality TV but in a more genteel presentation. He never fails to disappoint me!

[Janet Bird · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too clever for me, did not enjoy it at all but determined to finish it and did. Dunno why as life's too short.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There developed a legend that he had one dismissed a class because he seemed on the verge of tears in a lecture on the death of Keats."