J. P.

Name: J. P.
Author: John Mooers
ISBN: 978-0988648647

by John Mooers ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2013

A history buff’s guilty pleasure, offering a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of a man whose impact on society lasts to...

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A historical novel that paints an intimate portrait of J.P. Morgan, U.S. banker, financier and philanthropist.

A seasoned author, Mooers (Pillar of Stories, 2013) delves into the personal life of a giant in the financial world. The novel is framed around Morgan as an elderly man reminiscing on his life, his memories serving as the vehicle by which readers come to understand how his experiences shaped him. Sensitive and vulnerable aren’t feelings often associated with this shrewd businessman, yet Mooers reminds readers that Morgan was pierced with mortal longings and pain just like everyone else—from never receiving enough affection from his father to losing a close friend and later a great love to consumption. His sentimentality even permeated his penchant for collecting art: Many years after losing his love, Amelia, Morgan discovered a painting that reminded him of her; he purchased it, hung it over his mantle and never told his wife why, only saying once to someone while looking at it, “Art is the closest thing we have in our world to the eternal.” In addition to his personal losses, Morgan struggled with acne rosacea rhinophyma, a disfiguring condition that haunted him into old age. Despite all this, he was immensely successful, and it is clear his touch on modern life was profound. He helped finance Thomas Edison’s “light” project and was at the forefront of the great industrial consolidations of his time, merging large steel and iron businesses. Mooers weaves this tale together by alternating among the present and various points in Morgan’s past—an engaging storytelling technique, but Mooers jumps time periods with abandon, making some transitions bumpy and others altogether jarring. He also adds a few too many details, stretching out scenes longer than necessary, and although he attempts to reveal a new side to Morgan, Mooers ultimately glosses over the banker’s generally gruff manner and the controversy that surrounded him, particularly how he used his power to manipulate the financial system for personal gain. Still, this novel offers a waltz with history and gives readers the seductive sense of being let in on Morgan’s private, intimate recollections.

A history buff’s guilty pleasure, offering a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of a man whose impact on society lasts to this day.

Pub Date: March 31, 2013

ISBN: 978-0988648647

Page Count: 360

Publisher: Riverrun

Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE ALCHEMIST

by Paulo Coelho & translated by Margaret Jull Costa ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1993

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.

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Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.

The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.