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H.M. Pulham, Esq by John P. Marquand
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H.M. Pulham, Esq (original 1940; edition 1941)

by John P. Marquand

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1291213,569 (3.15)4
A Harvard reunion prompts a Boston Brahmin's search for meaning in this comedy of manners by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Point of No Return. In preparation for the twenty-fifth reunion of his class at Harvard, Harry Pulham is asked to collect and edit the personal histories of his fellow alumni. A glance at the previous year's class book tells him just how tedious the assignment will be: "I have been very busy all this time practising corporation law and trying to raise a family," a typical entry reads. "I still like to go to the football games and cheer for Harvard."   Harry's autobiography is almost indistinguishable from those of his classmates. From his career at a Boston investment firm to his marriage to childhood friend Kay Motford, he has always made the safe, familiar choice--with one exception. For a brief interlude after World War I, Harry joined an advertising agency in Manhattan and fell in love with a beautiful, independent woman unlike anyone he had ever met. A wholly unexpected future opened up for him in those few months, but when family obligations called him back to New England, the relationship came to a sudden end. Now, twenty years later, Harry believes that his story could not have turned out any other way.   A clever satire that achieves heartbreaking poignancy, H. M. Pulham, Esquire is a masterpiece from the author declared by the New York Times to be "our foremost fictional chronicler of the well-born."… (more)
Member:ClscFlm
Title:H.M. Pulham, Esq
Authors:John P. Marquand
Info:Little, Brown & Co. (1941), Hardcover
Collections:Your library
Rating:****1/2
Tags:Fiction, American class and social customs, WWI veterans, mid-life crisis, romance, marriage.

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H.M. Pulham, Esquire by John P. Marquand (1940)

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» See also 4 mentions

I agree with the review in neglectedbooks.com

:https://neglectedbooks.com/?p=267

The straight-jacket of high society Boston underpins all that drives the lives of Harry Pulham and his Harvard class. Upbringing determines how your life will be. Marriage, the right job, the endless socializing condemn these characters to an existence that can never satisfy.

As the review above states. this is a sad story about never being able to go back. Rather, one must persevere in marriages that must be made bearable somehow, and with the grind of maintaining status in a social system that is forever dynamic.
An enjoyable read from a writer who has slipped into the past.
  ivanfranko | Apr 30, 2020 |
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A Harvard reunion prompts a Boston Brahmin's search for meaning in this comedy of manners by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Point of No Return. In preparation for the twenty-fifth reunion of his class at Harvard, Harry Pulham is asked to collect and edit the personal histories of his fellow alumni. A glance at the previous year's class book tells him just how tedious the assignment will be: "I have been very busy all this time practising corporation law and trying to raise a family," a typical entry reads. "I still like to go to the football games and cheer for Harvard."   Harry's autobiography is almost indistinguishable from those of his classmates. From his career at a Boston investment firm to his marriage to childhood friend Kay Motford, he has always made the safe, familiar choice--with one exception. For a brief interlude after World War I, Harry joined an advertising agency in Manhattan and fell in love with a beautiful, independent woman unlike anyone he had ever met. A wholly unexpected future opened up for him in those few months, but when family obligations called him back to New England, the relationship came to a sudden end. Now, twenty years later, Harry believes that his story could not have turned out any other way.   A clever satire that achieves heartbreaking poignancy, H. M. Pulham, Esquire is a masterpiece from the author declared by the New York Times to be "our foremost fictional chronicler of the well-born."

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