The New York Stories of Edith Wharton

If you like Edith Wharton like I do, this is a candy store of tales written in brilliant prose. The collection of stories also spans her career as a writer and the dramatic changes in society during her lifetime. I really loved this book.

This is a wonderful read consisting of four stories from four decades, told sequentially. It gives such a flavor for the times, and for the changes within the society over four decades. As always, Edith Wharton's writing is wonderfully descriptive and her characters very real. If you are new to Edith Wharton, this is a good sampler. But it will become an old friend to those who have read other books by her.

Periodically, it seems, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) pops up into our attention span, most recently due to the fine biography by Hermione Lee, the release of several Wharton volumes in the Library of America series, and movie versions of her novels, such as "The Age of Innocence" (with Daniel Day-Lewis) and the "House of Mirth." This compilation in the New York Review Books Classics series contains about 2/3 of her total short story output that is tied to NYC. Wharton is simply a master stylist; in fact Louis Auchincloss suggests nobody surpassed her ability to write lucid and polished prose. Very high praise indeed, given Auchincloss's own stature in American letters. Much like Auchincloss, Wharton writes of the upper class, well-to-do New Yorkers, although her focus in the late 19th century while Auchincloss usually focuses upon the 20th century period. Remarkably, the stories, which appeared between 1891-1934, for the most part seem fresh and engaging. Much like Auchincloss, Wharton was writing about her own social class and experiences, which lends a superb sense of authenticity and authority to her stories. The reader really emerges with a sense of what characteristics this environment manifested: the mores, taboo subjects and actions (such as divorce), the role of women, the overwhelming potency of social exclusions for those who violate its folkways, and how members of this elite social grouping were expected to behave and conduct themselves privately and in social situations. For example, one should never been seen taking a hansom cab to dinner--rather, one should be seen with their own rig. Almost all of the stories enchant the reader, since they often have surprise endings, but I found the final story published in 1934, "Roman Fever," to demonstrate how gifted an author Wharton was. But there are many more. A word should be said about the high quality of the NYRB series. Each is produced on outstanding paper, with great cover art, and clear typhography. Each has a valuable introduction; this volume is introduced with a fine essay by Roxana Robinson (who has written a biography of Georgia O'Keefe). They are a pleasure to read and hold and relatively modest in price. This results in a fine amalgamation in this volume: a beautiful paperback containing superb short stories: what a combination!

Edith Wharton isn't perhaps as well-known as Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, or Henry James, but she was in her day an influential novelist and short story writer, producing such works as Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and The Age of Innocence. This collection of short stories, together for the first time, shows her progression as a writer and her regard for the city of New York, where she grew up. Most of the stories presented here are relatively short, about 20 pages or fewer, and some are downright brief. Wharton had an interesting way of constructing characters, so that things didn't really need to happen much in order for the story to progress logically, and she had a sometimes maddening habit of letting a story just waft away, without actually seemingly finishing it. I think were she alive today, and a fan of the Sopranos, she'd have appreciated the ending a lot more than fans of the show did. I'm not Wharton's biggest fan, but I like her better than James, for instance, and she had less of a point of view than either Hemingway or Scott Fitzgerald (at least it's less evident to me). I generally enjoyed this collection, and would recommend it to fans of Wharton, if no one else.