Okay. First off, when it comes to the rich and… richer, how much can we really care about this insular world most of us will never be a part of?
Auchincloss (author of over 60 works) died last January, unfortunately occurring the day before J.D. Salinger’s death. Overshadowed then by Salinger’s death, Auchincloss still remains largely unnoticed for his peculiar contribution. According to an article in the The Guardian, he is described as “the only one who tells us how our rulers behave in their banks and their boardrooms, their law offices andtheir clubs.”
Auchincloss received flack from critics throughout his life for his choice of subject matter, but one should note he does not indulge the social elite with glittering descriptions of how fine it is to be apart of their subculture—despite what may be assumed by novel titles like East Side Story. He also does not engage in malicious gossip for cheap entertainment. It was said that he indulged in “the kind of curiosity on which Truman Capote overdosed, though Auchincloss had nothing of Capote's cruel taste for hurting people through gossip.”
It’s an endearing quality that is hard to pinpoint exactly that Auchincloss, in the midst of a world frequently depicted in literature for its elitism and occasional viciousness, was a man of habit and consequence often leading to his own seclusion away from the literary world, “Auchincloss writes in good humor about how, as a young American novelist, he rarely fit in. He kept orderly habits, and thus Norman Mailer’s parties, when he was invited to them, started too late for him.” While literary society may not of known what to do with him, members of his own society were just as puzzled categorizing his passion for writing in the same likeness as a “fondness for yoga”. Despite what may have been thought, Auchincloss would not be deterred from writing, continuing to write up until his death at 92.
It’s an endearing quality that is hard to pinpoint exactly that Auchincloss, in the midst of a world frequently depicted in literature for its elitism and occasional viciousness, was a man of habit and consequence often leading to his own seclusion away from the literary world, “Auchincloss writes in good humor about how, as a young American novelist, he rarely fit in. He kept orderly habits, and thus Norman Mailer’s parties, when he was invited to them, started too late for him.” While literary society may not of known what to do with him, members of his own society were just as puzzled categorizing his passion for writing in the same likeness as a “fondness for yoga”. Despite what may have been thought, Auchincloss would not be deterred from writing, continuing to write up until his death at 92.
This is very good. The authority in the voice of your columns has increased and increased over teh semester. You seem really comfortable in the role now. Good work!
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