The highly acclaimed and prodigious Louis Auchincloss has penned a collection of literary essays profiling 23 authors who have influenced his writing. Capturing the famous and the obscure, Auchincloss renders literary sketches in the style of Lytton Strachey; these portraits say almost as much about their author as their subject. Taking in writers ranging from Henry James to Ivy Compton-Burnett, Auchincloss displays a keen eye for distinction and makes devastating use of underhanded qualifications. In addition to being a revelation of Auchincloss's influences and character, The Man Behind the Book is an admirable work of literary reclamation.