He was one of America's greatest storytellers. The Young Lions; Rich Man, Poor Man; The Girls in their Summer Dresses, novels, essays, dramas, screenplays, and some of the finest short stories of our century: in seventy-one years crowded with accomplishment and contradiction, Irwin Shaw wrote them all. Success came early, but then he had to struggle with the temptations of success. He achieved a greater level of celebrity than most writers of his generation, then had to grapple with the demons that celebrity brings. He was known everywhere for his generosity and charm, but became almost as legendary for his battles -- with the Group Theatre, with The New Yorker, with his book publishers, with competitors such as Hemingway, with his wife in their stormy marriage. - Jacket flap.