Book Review: Succession by Herbert Lobsenz

I have my finger in many different pies, and one ofthat he thinks he deserves.
those pies is an adult literacy program. Although I amThe turning point for Jake arrives when his father is
only peripherally involved. I am always on the lookouttaken ill, and is obviously not long for this earth. With the
for suitable material. Every book I read getselder Garrison fading away in hospital Jake makes the
pigeonholed into one of three categories, beginner,discovery that his father does not have the money to
intermediate, and advanced. There is no doubt in mycover his bills. Jake comes from honorable stock, and
mind that Succession belongs in the Advanced group.the his 'honorable' gene takes him from his writing back
The writing style reminded me of a genre that wasinto the murky world of business as a way of
popular in the late 60's and early 70's, and during thatcovering the growing expenses.
period many authors fell for the lure. John LeCarre forHis old acquaintance Carnusty is happy to loan the
example released The Naive And Sentimental Lover,money to Jake, but there are catches. Jake once
while critically acclaimed it did not sell well, it was tooagain becomes embroiled in industry, this time checking
complex in structure for many readers.out a failing typewriter company. But rather than
Succession is complex in its structure, the language isoperating on the up and up, Jake is forced to go
simple enough, but the concepts and constructs areundercover in the guise of being the new editor of the
involved. It is not so much a flowing story, but rather acompany newsletter.
series of sometimes disjointed vignettes that theThrough very short vignettes author Herbert Lobsenz
reader must assimilate themselves. That is not meanttakes us on a wild ride inside Jakes mind. His insecurity
as a criticism, merely an observation.at home, his insecurity with the relationship between his
Herbert Lobsenz like his books is a complex subject.wife and Carnusty, his thoughts about his father. All of
There are few authors that win a coveted Harperthese prey on Jake, the doubts reaching ear splitting
Prize (1960) and then decide to abandon writing involume when his wife announces that she is pregnant.
favor of the corporate world only to return over 40Can he resolve these issues?
years later.Well only you can decide, and you can do that by
Let's talk about the book. Succession has at its corebuying your copy from Amazon. The author also
Jake Garrison who some years prior had abandonedmaintains a blog with his recollections from the past at
the business world in favor of becoming a writer. AlasOld Time Writer.
his genre, Civil War 'faction' does not seem to be(Originally published at Blogger News Network, and
garnering the acclaim and kudos from the publishersreprinted with permission of the author, Simon Barrett).