Tales of Yesteryear (Fiction - General)

Literature & Fiction

Louis Auchincloss

Contemporary

Constable

Portrait in Brownstone.

Penquin Books

An aspiring politician finds his family life and career threatened when his investments in the stock market are linked with organized crime

I Come as a Thief

Weidenfeld and Nicolson

House of the Prophet

Houghton/Mifflin

The Rector of Justin

Literary

Random House~trade

ISBN of my copy is 0-395-07361-8 but has a different cover illustration than that shown. My copy, on copyright page, indicates "Houghton Mifflin Company paperback 1980". This novel is the story of Dr Francis Prescott, founder, headmaster and rector of the famous Justin Martyr School for boys.

Rector of Justin

The Embezzler, first written in 1966, uses conflicting narrative voices and viewpoints to illuminate the fabled dimensions of American economic history as it was then understood. Inspired by the documented facts of the Wall Street fraud case that led the United States government to take control of the American stock market, Auchincloss then describes the case and its main players with credibility and skill, reinventing the facts of this historical event with skill. Given the financial crisis of 2008, and similar fraudulent schemes that have been exposed since, this is must reading. The Embezzler tells the life story of Guy Prime, who was born into wealth, enjoyed his youth, and eventually ended up in prison after he tried to secure loans against money he did not have and his embezzlements were revealed. Whatever the reasons for his gradual lapse into crime and his eventual disgrace, Guy Prime remains one of Louis Auchincloss's most engaging characters. Guy's gravest flaw appears not to be greed but rather a chronic tendency to misread human character. The story itself is told from three different viewpoints and narrators. Auchincloss's multi-narrator technique allows the reader to have a vivid sense of what transpired. This is classic Auchincloss, on a subject that illumines current events.

The Embezzler

Mariner Books

Powers of Attorney

World of Profit

Victor Gollancz

Louis Auchincloss has been celebrated as one of the best American novelists of our time. The Rector of Justin, originally published in 1964, is widely considered to be his most ambitious novel and his greatest achievement. The terrain is familiar, vintage Auchincloss, in its astute dissection of the social mores of the Northeast's privileged establishment. The story centers on a prestigious Episcopal school for boys and its commanding, charismatic founder, Frank Prescott, a man whose lifelong goal was to head such a school. With laser-sharp insight, Auchincloss portrays the evolution of this man and the sources of his virtues and failings, his successes, and his crises of faith. Seamlessly interweaving multiple points of view—from an adoring teacher to that of a rebellious daughter—Auchincloss captures the brilliant totality of a man. Through the personalities and memories of six intense observers, a psychologically complex social history of the eighty years of his life emerges. This new edition contains an Afterword by the author.

The Rector of Justin (Modern Library)

Modern Library

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Books by Louis Auchincloss