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Title: Good, Not Great
Review: This is a very good work of fiction centered on Reverend Francis Prescott, founder and rector of a New England school. What is most interesting is the way in which Auchincloss builds his main character through the words of others. This technique, surprisingly, gives us a full portrait of the man and his times. Despite such a solid character study, what keeps this book from becoming "great" is the absence of some larger American themes (class conflict, race relations, political tension, etc.) I found this to be ultimately a personal story without much beyond the person.
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