Frank Conroy has written only three books. Midair (1985) is a collection of eight short stories dealing with the same themes of growing up and appearances that Stop-Time and Body and Soul explore.

Claude Rawlings bears a striking resemblance to Pip in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1860-61). Both rise from abject, lonely beginnings to positions of prominence. The objects of their desire, Estella and Catherine, are both aloof, almost cruel, patricians.

The Great Gatsby (1925), by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays an outsider who pursues and achieves great wealth to insinuate himself into society and get close to his obsession, Daisy Buchanan. This cautionary tale about the price of success is a good portrait of the 1920s Jazz Age.

Billy Bathgate (1989), by E. L. Doctorow, made into a feature film, tells of another New York

City boy's passage into manhood, but his mentor...