Born into wealth and aristocracy, Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was a member as well as an observer of fashionable New York society. Aspirations to authorship consigned her to outsider status among the idle rich; nevertheless, she drew upon her privileged social position to create witty and psychologically insightful novels and short stories about people from all walks of life.<BR>This well-rounded introduction to Wharton's works features the complete text of her Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, <I>The Age of Innocence, </I>as well as her haunting novella, <I>Ethan Frome. </I>Several excerpts from her highly influential guide to interior design, <I>The Decoration of Houses,</I> offer samples of Wharton's nonfiction style. The collection also includes four short stories as well as several poems.