Louis Auchincloss's clear and accessible style, dry wit, compelling plots, psychological acuity, and strong moral sense characterize his short fiction as it surveys the troubled lives of its generally "privileged" characters. During the second half of the twentieth century Auchincloss observed the changing times and mores of the upper classes on the American East Coast and especially Manhattan. This region, as seen through the lens of Auchincloss's short fiction, has become a microcosm of America and of the human condition.

Since the publication of his first novel in 1947, Auchincloss has become one of the most prolific and respected postwar American authors, and he has also been a working lawyer on Wall Street for most of that time. Known primarily as a novelist, with twenty-seven novels to date, he has nevertheless produced some dozen short-story collections and fifteen nonfiction books ranging from history to biography to collections of critical...