But if Auchincloss loves his world, he is not taken in by it. His love for his affluent world is one of an artist for his material, which is quite another thing from his feeling for it as a man. The latter is concerned only with the suitability of society as material for his art. For his books must depend for their life blood on contrast and are bound to lose both significance and popularity in a classless society. . I mean such critics as John Betjeman, who toward the end of his life acclaimed the clarity of the prose of Louis Auchincloss.
Notes Go to the top of the document.
Go back to the text. Go back to the text. From The New Criterion Vol.