Xingu

This is a story of contradictions. Even though this story is less that fifty pages long, it packs a wallop of a punch. Though billed as a satire it is also a humorous and witty commentary on human psychology. Some even think it is a cerebral jab at Henry James after he criticized Wharton's writing. No matter how "Xingu" is perceived or meant to be perceived, Mrs. Roby is my hero.

In a nutshell, a group of snobbish high society women form a lunch group to gather and discuss didactic topics and one-up each other. In their view, the weakest link is Mrs. Roby, a seemingly not-so-bright woman who doesn't appear to fit in with them. She asks all the wrong questions and clearly doesn't know societal protocol. When the group invites an even show more snobbier author to discuss her latest book, "The Wings of Death," the event falls apart. Osric Dane is even more dismissive than the snobs in the group. It isn't until Mrs. Roby one-ups them all by mentioning a xingu philosophy. No one has ever heard of xingu but they all, including author Osric Dane, must pretend they know it well. Only after Mrs. Roby and Ms. Dane leave does the group dare to look up the word xingu and discover they have been duped. Xingu is actually a river in Brazil. show less

Easily the funniest thing I've read by Edith Wharton. Six women are hosting a celebrity author for their book club meeting. Five of them are scheming as to who can appear the most erudite, while one is more honest and down to earth.

Books were written to read; if one read them what more could be expected? To be questioned in detail regarding the contents of a volume seemed to her as great an outrage as being searched for smuggled laces at the Custom House.

Not quite a novella and yet more than a short story, Xingu is a witty and humorous look at pomposity, snobbery, and the inclination to derive worth from someone other than self. It was a bundle of satirical fun that made me laugh, while shaking my head and protesting to myself that "I have met these people."

If you have ever met someone who throws around big words in an effort to appear intellectual, but never bothers to know the ACTUAL meaning of them, thus betraying themselves, you cannot help enjoying this story. And, finally, it served for me as a reminder not to take myself too seriously...you never know when someone might identify you as a member of the "club".

Thank you so much to the Enchanted Readers' Breakfast Club for sharing show more this lovely read, and especially to Lori who suggested that we do it in the first place. I am so happy to be a member of this group! show less

Pochissime spassosissime pagine per Xingu di Edith Wharton. Trascuravo da tempo la mia adorata Edith e mi serviva questo racconto per ricordarmi le sue doti di osservatrice delle assurdità dell'alta società, della sua comicità. Questo libro fa ridere, sorridere, è cinico e ironico. Un semplice e banale episodio che dice tantissimo dei personaggi saccenti che si incontrano ogni tanto.

Mrs. Ballinger is one of the ladies who pursue Culture in bands, as though it were dangerous to meet it alone. To this end she had founded the Lunch Club, an association composed of herself and several other indomitable huntresses of erudition.

I don't normally review individual short stories, but one of my reading resolutions this year is to read works by Edith Wharton, and this story was available at Project Gutenberg.

It's an amusing tale about a group of ladies who meet to discuss artistic and intellectual subjects over lunch. When they invite the author of the acclaimed novel "The Wings of Death" to attend a meeting, they find themselves tied in knots by the argumentative author and the mischievous Mrs. Roby, whom they have always show more considered insufficently intellectual and a failure as a member of the Lunch Club. show less

What a fun story about a women’s book club trying to do and say the right thing for appearance’s sake. When a visiting author treats them horribly, one of their own—Mrs. Roby—takes it on herself to make it clear to the author she was not superior to the rest of them. But will that make Mrs. Roby the villain instead? I’m not a fan of Wharton’s style, which I find hard to read, but it worked to an advantage here!

I had no idea Edith Wharton was funny. This short story is a hilarious send-up of pretentious 1916 small-town bookclub ladies.