A main theme of [The House of the Prophet] is the contrast between Leitner's happy relationship with his public and his often difficult relationships with those close to him. The title does not in fact refer to a person or a place of vatic perception but to the verse in Matthew 13:57 that says that prophets are not honored in their own houses.

The House of the Prophet reflects Auchincloss' long established strengths. The conversations are informed and adroit, the narrative tone is literate, eloquent, ironic but with a continuous undertone of seriousness. It is written with the author's enthusiastic interest in the daily conflicts and personalities of the world of influential people that he has always lived in. Its subject is also entirely believable; the portrait of Leitner is convincing as what such a man would have to be like in personal life. But this fact also has...