The Ivory Tower - Softcover

Henry James (1843 - 1916) was an American-born British writer. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James. He is best known for a number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. His method of writing from a character's point of view allowed him to explore issues related to consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators brought a new depth to narrative fiction.

"Late, piercing, morally incisive look at the unscrupulous rich." —The Guardian

"In The Ivory Tower, James was still experimenting with the impressions of his American tour....There is a vivid sense conveyed of the bright sea and summer air and the great, crazy, overdecorated “villas,” but the keenest impression is of the various people that the hero meets....The effect is as remarkable as anything that James ever achieved." —Louis Auchincloss

"James’s last novel...denounced, with all the delicacy and subtlety of his style, the world he had seen, at Biltmore, at Lenox, in the great houses of New York and Newport. He had reclaimed his American heritage, but he seems to have felt it wasn’t worth reclaiming. “You seem all here so hideously rich,” says his hero. [The Ivory Tower is] a dense and powerfully conceived work." —Leon Edel