Kirjahaku

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.

From one of America's greatest men of letters, our sublime master of manners, comes his novel, Her Infinite Variety. Louis Auchincloss has been called "our most astute observer of moral paradox among the affluent" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.), and his fiction described as that which "has always examined what makes life worth living" (Washington Post Book World). Now he brings us the rollicking tale of an unforgettable woman of mid-twentieth century America: the devilish, forever plotting, yet wholly beguiling Clara Hoyt. A romantic early in life, Clara gets engaged--much to her mother's horror--to the lackluster Bobbie Lester. Soon after her Vassar graduation, however, Clara sees the error of her ways, spurns Bobbie, and slyly enthralls the well-bred and fabulously wealthy Trevor Hoyt, the first of her husbands. Soon she lands a job at a tony magazine, and so begins her wildly entertaining course to the inner sanctum of New York's aristocracy and into the boardrooms of the publishing world. In a world where women still had to wield the weapons of allure and charm, above all else, to secure positions of power, Clara, one of the last of her kind, succeeds marvelously. Auchincloss gives us, in Clara, an irresistible Cleopatra, lovely, wily, and mercurial. As Shakespeare wrote of that feminine creation, "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety."

Regarded as one of Louis Auchincloss's most accomplished novels, THE RECTOR OF JUSTIN centers on Frank Prescott, the founder of an exclusive school for boys. Eighty years of his life unfold through the observations of six narrators, each with a unique perspective on the man, his motivations, and the roots of his triumphs and failings.

Louis Auchincloss's warm and knowing biography introduces us to the man behind the many myths of Theodore Roosevelt. From his early involvement in the politics of New York City and then New York State, we trace his celebrated military career and finally his ascent to the national political stage. Caricatured through history as the "bull moose," Roosevelt was in fact a man of extraordinary discipline whose refined and literate tastes actually helped spawn his fascination with the rough-and-ready worlds of war and wilderness.

The House of the Prophet is Louis Auchincloss's searching novel of Felix Leitner, one of the most influential men of his time. Political philosopher, columnist, adviser to American presidents, Leitner will doubtless bring to many readers' minds the late Walter Lippmann, portrayed in the fine biography by Ronald Steel. Indeed, in his new introduction, Auchincloss makes plain that "the idea of writing a novel inspired by, though by no means based upon, the life of Walter Lippmann was unlike any fictional idea that I have had before or since." He candidly adds, "I was always perfectly aware the Felix Leitner, the protagonist of The House of the Prophet, would be instantly related to Walter Lippmann, and I had no objection to this." Whether considered on its own merits or as a major statement on Lippmann, this volume deserves close scrutiny.

The House of the Prophet is Louis Auchincloss's searching novel of Felix Leitner, one of the most influential men of his time. Political philosopher, columnist, adviser to American presidents, Leitner will doubtless bring to many readers' minds the late Walter Lippmann, portrayed in the fine biography by Ronald Steel. Indeed, in his new introduction, Auchincloss makes plain that "the idea of writing a novel inspired by, though by no means based upon, the life of Walter Lippmann was unlike any fictional idea that I have had before or since." He candidly adds, "I was always perfectly aware the Felix Leitner, the protagonist of The House of the Prophet, would be instantly related to Walter Lippmann, and I had no objection to this." Whether considered on its own merits or as a major statement on Lippmann, this volume deserves close scrutiny.

In this concise but pointed volume of ruminations on writers, literary icon Louis Auchincloss considers the inextricable link between a writer's personality and the fiction he or she creates. The acclaimed novelist examines the works of two dozen writers from his canon of personal favorites, ranging from the seventeenth century's Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine to the twentieth-century's E. M. Foster and Ernest Hemingway. Auchincloss suggests that great art flows from the expression of a writer's unique personality - and that, in keeping with this, the stifling of the personal self, as in the case of Anne Bronte, may forestall consummate artistic achievement. Taking an expansive approach to the notion of ""personality,"" Auchincloss provides concise assessments of the lives, temperaments, obsessions, and interests of his subjects. He explores how their personalities materialize in the fiction they produce. He proposes that even Gustave Flaubert, who believes in a strict separation between novelist and story, can be seen lurking behind the pages of Madame Bovary. In lively prose as engaging as the best conversations we may be privileged to enjoy, Auchincloss's observations offer an expanded appreciation of these vaunted writers and of the acuity that has earned the author his dedicated following. His commentary testifies not only to his affection for the writers but also to his astute understanding of what constitutes effective fiction.