FROM MAD MEN TO The Ice Storm to American Beauty, suburban life has been consistently depicted as a deal with the devil. Comfort and security can be found at the end of the commuter line, but they often come at the expense of excitement and fulfillment. The acreage desired to raise a family can often engender crushing isolation. There is a darkness at the edge of town, one that often leaves suburbanites feeling as if they may have paid too high a spiritual price for that prime real estate.

One of the great rewards of reading Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) nearly sixty