The Man Behind the Book: Literary Profiles

by Louis Auchincloss

Twenty-three biographical essays on writers admired by the National Medal of Arts–winning author of The Education of Oscar Fairfax.For Louis Auchincloss, life and letters are not two things but one. It therefore comes as no surprise that when he writes about writers, their lives are considered as closely as their works. He takes what today is a refreshingly unpopular that the artist and his art cannot be teased apart, that biography of criticism and criticism biography. For Mr. Auchincloss, it all boils down to that maxim of Buffon’ “the style’s the man,” the man behind the book.The twenty-three writers discussed here are a mixed lot—English, American, and French; novelists, poets, and playwrights; Jacobeans, Victorians, and moderns—yet each has meant a great deal to Mr. Auchincloss as a reader and a writer. Some of them are classics, and familiar Auchincloss Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James, Ivy Compton-Burnett. Others, among them Prosper Merimee, Harold Frederic, and Amy Lowell, were famous once but are now obscure. In their cases it is Mr. Auchincloss’s self-described task “to explore the reasons for their fall from grace,” reasons that prove to be unfailingly personal as well as artistic. But as Mr. Auchincloss would rather praise and share than damn and dismiss, it is also his task “to seek the portions of their work that may still merit attention.”Alfred Kazin once noted that Mr. Auchincloss’s essays are marked by “perfect literary grace and wit.” These qualities have never been so evident as in this volume, an informal study of some of the author's favorite books and the fascinating artists behind them.

Genres: Books About Books, Biography

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

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

[Kevin A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of brief literary profiles of men and women (despite the title!) admired by the prolific author and trusts and estates attorney, Louis Auchincloss. Most of these writers were at least somewhat unfamiliar to me, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of this book. Whether Auchincloss could convince me of their importance varied greatly, and he admits having outgrown many of them. Even so, it remains an engaging work and if one finds some of the writers tiresome, no matter, for he is soon on to the next.