The Partners

Louis Auchincloss is writing here at the top of his remarkable powers as an observer of contemporary America. The Partners is a group portrait of men — and women in what is mostly a man's world — whose common bond is their work. Within that bond each one pursues different answers to the search for money, power, love, revenge, or a meaning in life.

They occupy the chief seats of influence, but there are always pressures threatening to unseat them. An ambitious member can upset the balance in ...