A vicious and brilliant satire of human vanity from the author of the
classic bestseller The Group
Long out of print, Mary McCarthy's second novel is a bitingly funny
satire set in the early years of the Cold War about a group of writers,
editors, and intellectuals who retreat to rural New England to found a
hilltop utopia. With this group loosely divided into two
factions--purists, led by the libertarian editor Macdougal Macdermott,
and the realists, skeptics led by the smug Will Taub--the situation is
ripe not only for disaster but for comedy, as reality clashes with their
dreams of a perfect society.
Though written as a roman à clef, McCarthy barely disguised her
characters, including using her former lover Philip Rahv, founder of
Partisan Review, as the model for Will Taub. As a result, the novel
caused an absolute explosion of outrage among the literary elite of the
day, who clearly recognized themselves among her all-too-accurate
portraits. Rahv threatened a lawsuit to stop publication. Diana
Trilling, Lionel Trilling's wife, called McCarthy a thug. McCarthy's
friend Dwight McDonald (Macdougal Macdermott) called it vicious,
malicious, and nasty.
Never one to shy away from controversy, McCarthy's portrait of her
generation had indeed drawn blood. But the brilliance of the novel has
outlasted its first detonation and can now be enjoyed for its aphoritic,
fearless dissection of the vanities of human endeavor.
In an added bonus, the renowned essayist Vivian Gornick details in a
moving introduction the importance of McCarthy's intellectual and
artistic bravery, and how she influenced a generation of young writers
and thinkers.
