The Man Behind the Book: Literary Profiles

Rating:
Summary: Splendid vignettes on forgotten literati
Review: If you revel, as I do, in learning about the lives, works and milieus of mostly forgotten literary figures, then this is most certainly the book for you. These essays are, happily, far too short to be called "resurrections" of these figures. Auchincloss realizes that it takes a well-received, deeply researched book on just one subject to achieve such a mammoth task. So, he urbanely unveils to us these mostly forgotten writers, briefly explaining why he thinks they deserve recognition and then moves on to the next subject...One of the finest things about this book is that Auchincloss does not beat his head against the wall trying to convince you of the writers' worth. Either the artist catches on with you or not. For instance, in his piece on Sarah Orne Jewett, he concludes, "And some persons are never going to believe that two semiliterate old farmers' widows sitting on a crumbling back porch in a decayed Maine coastal village are going to have much to say that will interest them."-It's this urbanity and ease-of-style that make this little book so pleasant a read.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid vignettes on forgotten literati
Review: If you revel, as I do, in learning about the lives, works and milieus of mostly forgotten literary figures, then this is most certainly the book for you. These essays are, happily, far too short to be called "resurrections" of these figures. Auchincloss realizes that it takes a well-received, deeply researched book on just one subject to achieve such a mammoth task. So, he urbanely unveils to us these mostly forgotten writers, briefly explaining why he thinks they deserve recognition and then moves on to the next subject...One of the finest things about this book is that Auchincloss does not beat his head against the wall trying to convince you of the writers' worth. Either the artist catches on with you or not. For instance, in his piece on Sarah Orne Jewett, he concludes, "And some persons are never going to believe that two semiliterate old farmers' widows sitting on a crumbling back porch in a decayed Maine coastal village are going to have much to say that will interest them."-It's this urbanity and ease-of-style that make this little book so pleasant a read.