Diary of a Yuppie

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Sep 10, 1986 - Fiction - 215 pages
In this novel by the author of Honorable Men, a hot-shot corporate lawyer will sacrifice anything for success in 1980s Manhattan.

Bob Service is a thirty-two-year-old crack lawyer with blood as cold and clear as a five-dollar martini. His god is power, and his morals are ever tempered by expediency. His goals far exceed an imminent partnership in a big New York law firm.

Bob’s “perfect” marriage to Alice, a graceful and intelligent literary agent, is no match for the ardor of his corporate drive. And it certainly pales beside his explosive affair with Sylvia, whose naked ambition matches his own and whose social connections provide the ultimate bridge to the pinnacles of success.

How Bob marches toward his fate while trampling on his associates and crippling his marriage forms the plot of this fast-paced novel about 1980s mores and life on the fast track of the big law firms. Office intrigue and duels for power rival anything that Machiavelli could have conjured up. And it all has an unnervingly authentic ring...

Praise for Diary of a Yuppie

“Absorbing and fun . . . It is refreshing to find characters who are willing to discuss the spiritual dimensions of their business decisions, the ethics of their trade.” —New York Times

“Because greed and glory aren’t exclusive to Wall St.—Auchincloss turf—this most moral of fictions deserves a wide audience.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This brief contemporary novel explores the ethics of loyalty in business, love, and friendship. Auchincloss, a prolific novelist of manners, is also a Wall Street attorney, and his shallow, ambitious characters ring true . . . [A] subtle, memorable book.” —Library Journal

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About the author (1986)

In 2000, Louis Auchincloss was honored as a “Living Landmark” by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. During his long career he wrote more than sixty books, including the story collection Manhattan Monologues and the novel The Rector of Justin. The former president of the Academy of Arts and Letters, he resided in New York City until his death in January 2010.

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