Wit's End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table

by James R. Gaines

Book Overview

At the heart of the Jazz Age was the world of the Algonquin Round Table - the storied collection of glittering writers, actors, and socialites who embody this distant era. This is the legacy of the legend. How these celebrated, immensely talented people were blinded by their own press releases, and crippled by an enormous self-consciousness that stunted them both intellectually and personally.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015697651X
• ISBN13: 9780156976510
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Wits at the Algonquin Round Table

Oh to have participated with these witty, literary and most times intoxicated giants of this era would have been a delight but certainly not for the thin skinned. You would have had to have kept your wits about you or you would have been sliced and diced by some of the most remarkable and acerbic tongues of this fine table. Here are some truly remarkable characters vividly brought to life by James Gaines. A joyous and intelligent read.

The One Book to Own About the Vicious Circle

This is the best book out there about the roots, growth and history of the Round Table. Jim Gaines has done a remarkable job of presenting the colorful group. Packed with photos and illustrations, a must-have book for devotees of the Vicious Circle.

Never Burned Brighter

The Algonquin wits were self-absorbed, self-congratulatory, alcoholic and mean. But we loved them so. We have never seen their like since, although a few attempts have been made to recreated their magic. This is a great book about them - love 'em or not!

Best book ever on the subject

Anyone interested in the Twenties, the writing of the Twenties, the birth of mass media, the culture of the Lost Generation or the Algonquin Round Table writers must BUY THIS BOOK!