Xingu

Mrs. Ballinger's Lunch Club treats literary discussion as a serious social duty, with Hillbridge's leading ladies competing for the right to entertain a celebrated novelist. Osric Dane's approaching visit prompts rehearsed opinions, disputes over suitable reading and quiet judgments about who belongs. Mrs. Roby, who prefers a book that amuses her, seems poorly fitted to a group so anxious to display its learning.

Edith Wharton's short story turns these small rivalries into a comedy of intellectual pretension. Wealth, household staff and a picture gallery all become measures of cultural authority, while confident remarks often conceal uncertainty. Mrs. Roby's talk of Xingu draws both the club and its guest into a conversation whose meaning they struggle to establish. Readers interested in literary society and the habits of group discussion will find pointed humor in the gap between understanding a subject and wanting to appear informed.