Skinny island: More tales of Manhattan

by Louis Auchincloss

Twelve stories contemplating destiny and detailing the life of Manhattan's upper class over the course of one hundred years, from the author of Honorable Men .It's only twelve miles long and two miles wide, but it has more money for its area, more history packed into its relatively brief settlement, and more emotional and intellectual energy coursing through its streets than any other place on earth. Manhattan is the setting for all of Louis Auchincloss's fiction, and it is the stage on which those New Yorkers whose roots go down to its bedrock play out the drama of their lives.From the turn of the century to our present urban follies, these stories follow the fortunes of the socially secure and powerful as they try to cope with the changes shaped by the momentous events and growing anxieties of recent decades. Taken together, the tales weave a larger pattern of human strengths and foibles that bemuses the mind and touches the heart.The elegant prose, crystalline dialogue, immense insight into the mores, preoccupations, and afflictions of the rich, and the connoisseur's sense of both art and life that are characteristic of Auchincloss--all are here, but with a depth of passion and irony exceeding anything he has accomplished in the past.Praise for Skinny Island"Many of Auchincloss' wealthy and Waspy protagonists, caught in such fine conflict, find it difficult to defend their dwindling kind or, conversely, to rebel against their confining values . . . . With this, his 40th book, Auchincloss has yet to exhaust his art, or his loyal readers." -- Kirkuks Reviews

Genres: Short Stories, New York

230 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."