Sunday, September 17, 2017

Hmm …

… Thirty Years, by John P. Marquand (1954) - The Neglected Books Page. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In his introduction to the book, Clifton Fadiman calls Marquand “the best novelist of social comedy now [1954] at work in our country” and predicts that he will be considered the American Thackeray of the 20th century. Fadiman attributes Marquand’s success to his being “at once outsider and insider.” From the distance of over a half century later, I think it’s become clear that Marquand was far more insider than outsider. And despite recent attempts to prop up the place of rich East Cost white men as its pinnacle, it’s probably also safe to conclude that the role of Boston and New York clubmen in the American Establishment mostly of historical and anthropological interest today.
But could not one say the same of Thackeray's drawing rooms?  Good novels actually provide worthwhile insight into how people — presumably people much like ourselves — actually lived in circumstances that happen superficially to differ from our own.  Marquand's novels might provide needed insight into today's Ivy Leaguers (see H. M. Pulham, Esq.).

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