The Young Apollo and Other Stories

by Louis Auchincloss

Book Overview

An evocative and elegant collection of new stories from an American master. Bringing together twelve previously unpublished pieces, The Young Apollo and Other Stories sparkles with Auchincloss's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618551158
• ISBN13: 9780618551156
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Auchincloss Never Changes---I Mean That As A Compliment

"Living Landmark" Auchincloss Never Changes---I Mean That As A Compliment Beneath its striking Frank Duveneck-esque cover, the dozen stories gathered in 2006 into Louis Auchincloss' The Young Apollo reveal the sensibilities of a segment of our society hardly any Americans know of or believe truly exists: our nation's upper classes. These New York bankers and brokers, lawyers and their bored or scheming wives populate Auchincloss' works like brightly colored baubles on a debutante's tiara, some of them glittering jewels, others merely colorful paste. In the title (and best) story of this anthology, "The Young Apollo", a subtle tip of the hat to Benjamin Britten's famed between-the-war-years symphonic composition as well as an allusion to classical mythology, we are introduced to Lionel "Lion" Manning, much-treasured "golden boy" son of a powerful Senator, and a young man dead, we are told, by age thirty-one. Of Lionel it might be quipped "his life itself was his genius." Manning's posthumously-gathered writings reveal him to have been perilously lacking as a poet, and yet as a would-be biographer and firmly admiring family friend discovers, he was inspirational to so many others in the arts---a novelist, a sculptor---all of whom rose to greater heights merely from their associations with him. Very like Apollo of old, this Lionel Manning, patron of arts but not seemingly a creator in his own right, is either a figure of renown or a mediocrity with talented acquaintances around him. This theme begs a worthy question subconsciously repeated again and again among these tales: which is more important, beauty or truth? Following the clever opening piece, Auchincloss moves through eleven more titles that range across the twentieth-century, with "Pa's Darling", the penultimate story, alone covering from the 1920's to the Kennedy years. Often Auchincloss' stories meld together so that they stand as less distinct in hindsight than they do enjoyable as read in the present. An exception is "Lady Kate" one of the short stories herein. In this piece the machinations of a would-be figure of the social elite are chronicled so painstakingly by Auchincloss that when the inevitable "resolution" to the tale comes, it unfolds as nothing less than a delight. "Lady Kate" was definitely a story that grew on me as I reflected on it. (Perhaps because it reminded me so strongly of a young woman of my own vicarious acquaintance.) The Young Apollo is not for everyone. To begin with, it is by no means fiction so much as literature, with all the added demands on time, brain power and perception that difference in taxonomy demands. For those willing to concede the energies to Auchincloss' prose, the rewards are many, and this master of literary form has plenty of surprises waiting inside this slender book. Here's hoping for many more from Mr. Auchincloss!