Society as I Have Found It

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By Listen TheBook Posted on May 31, 2023

In Category - Biography & Autobiography, Social Science (Culture & Anthropology)

Authors: Ward McAllister In Year : 1890

Book Language: English

Audiobook: Society as I Have Found It

Introduction and Author's Note
CHAPTER I. - Society as I have Found It. - MY FAMILY.
CHAPTER II. - LAW AND HOUSEKEEPING.
CHAPTER III. - INTRODUCTION TO LONDON SPORTS.
CHAPTER IV. - A WINTER IN ITALY.
CHAPTER V. - GERMANY AND THE ALPS.
CHAPTER VI. - WINTER IN PAU.
CHAPTER VII. - HOME AGAIN.
CHAPTER VIII. - MERRYMAKING IN THE SOUTH.
CHAPTER IX. - LIFE AT NEWPORT.
CHAPTER X. - SOCIETY’S LEADERS.
CHAPTER XI. - DELIGHTS OF COUNTRY LIFE.
CHAPTER XII. - FASHIONABLE PEOPLE.
CHAPTER XIII. - COTILLIONS IN DOORS AND OUT.
CHAPTER XIV. - AN ERA OF GREAT EXTRAVAGANCE.
CHAPTER XV. - ON THE BOX SEAT AT NEWPORT.
CHAPTER XVI. - SOCIAL UNITY.
CHAPTER XVII. - A GOLDEN AGE OF FEASTING.
CHAPTER XVIII. - ENTERING SOCIETY.
CHAPTER XIX. - ENTERTAINING.
CHAPTER XX. - MADEIRAS.
CHAPTER XXI. - CHAMPAGNES AND OTHER WINES.
CHAPTER XXII. - DINNERS.
CHAPTER XXIII. - COOKS AND CATERING.
CHAPTER XXIV. - BALLS.
CHAPTER XXV. - FAMOUS NEWPORT BALLS.
CHAPTER XXVI. - AN ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE.
CHAPTER XXVII. - WASHINGTON DINNERS AND NEW YORK BALLS.

Mark Twain illustrator Dan Beard recalled discussing McAllister’s book with Twain. “It was before Webster & Company failed that Ward McAllister’s book (Society as I have Found It) appeared, and when he (Twain) sauntered into my studio one day, I said:
‘Mr. Clemens, have you read Ward McAllister’s book?’
‘Yes; have you?’ he replied.
‘Indeed, I have. I have read it through several times, and intend to read it again. It is one of the most humorous books I ever read.’
‘That’s so,’ said Mark, ‘that’s so. Now, I will tell you something. I spent three months writing a satire on that book of Ward McAllister’s. And when I got through, I again read McAllister’s book, and then my satire, and then tore the blamed thing up. Some things are complete in themselves and cannot be improved upon, and I take off my hat to Mr. McAllister.’” (ref. A Bibliography of the Work of Mark Twain by Merle Johnson)
Wikipedia says: "McAllister's downfall came when he published a book of memoirs entitled Society as I Have Found It in 1890. The book, and his hunger for media attention, did little to endear him to the old guard, who valued their privacy in an era when millionaires were the equivalent of modern movie stars."
N.B. - NOT included in this recording is the author's extensive collection of period stationery, found at the end of the book. (Summary by Wikipedia and John Greenman)