DIARY OF A YUPPIE

by Louis Auchincloss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 1986

Here, this kind of cautionary tale and expert portraiture at which the ever prolific Auchincloss excels. In a way it's a sequel to his Honorable Men (1985), which demonstrated, by example, how a New England WASP member of ""the best and the brightest""--that 60's ruling elite--followed blind ambition into the debacle of Vietnam. This one's straight from today's news, the business pages and the style pages. Yes, Robert Service is young (32), urban (NYC, of course), and professional--he's a hotshot associate at the blue-chip law firm of Hoyt, Welles, and Andrew who specializes in corporate takeovers, the ""principal indoor sport of American finance."" This ambitious Yuppie is ""representative of his generation,"" as his mentor, Branders Blakelock, a partner in the firm, explains to Service's literary-agent wife. Scorning the amoral and sleazy legal tactics that his protÉgÉ recommends, Blakelock adheres to ""a code of ethics for a desoeuvre' society of 19th-century aristocrats."" Service, an admitted Social Darwinist, not only betrays the man who's promised him partnership but also sacrifices his wife and kids for the sake of his new spin-off firm, over which he presides with Machiavellian skill. It's not until Service meets the female version of himself--a ""hard. boiled"" yuppette who asks in bed and the boardroom, ""What's in it for me?""--that he undergoes his self-styled ""conversion."" Literature, once Service's passion and the reason he keeps this stylish diary, seems to redeem him. Though only as much as it helps him win back his family, for his born-again morality proves short-lived. For fans, vintage Auchincloss. But because greed and glory aren't exclusive to Wall St.--Auchincloss turf--this most moral of fictions deserves a wide audience.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION