ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701030018
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
Controversial Southern Railway leader made mark on industry
Reviewed by DONLAN PIEDMONT
BROSNAN: The Railroads' Messiah. By Charles O. Morgret. Vantage Press. Two volumes. $35 each.
The principal problem with Charles Morgret's biography of his former master at Southern Railway, William Dennis Brosnan, is its sheer size - two volumes, weighing in at more than 5 pounds and costing $70. You can buy a 1997 Ford Escort wagon for less on a cost-per-pound basis.
Morgret, believing that nothing succeeds like excess, exercised little editorial judgment or selectivity with the huge amount of material he recovered from extensive research in family and corporate archives, interviews with former colleagues, and newspaper and magazine files. All of this, trivial and profound, is put forward in numbing length and excruciating detail. The book suffers from a relentless inclusiveness; what is lacking is the extended use of sharp scissors.
Morgret, in his extravagant subtitle, "The Railroads' Messiah,'' reflects his former calling as a Southern Railway public relations officer. It is true that even before Brosnan became Southern's president, he had been seen in the industry as an innovator. His ideas and inventions have left their mark on the railroad industry - and the latter on his bank account - but a messiah he was not. A Moses perhaps, or one of the more choleric Old Testament prophets, with lightning chained at his heels, haranguing unbelievers with fire-and-brimstone imprecations day and night.
And the lightning struck often and painfully as Brosnan charged furiously through his long career. He fired associates and underlings as the mood would strike him (in truth, most of them were called back to the job fairly quickly), for one of his corporate goals was to reduce Southern's payroll, by the scores if possible, one by one if necessary.
It is said that in one instance he was inspecting new office quarters that turned out to be too small for the incoming staff. He came up with a Procrustean directive for the supervisor: Cut off employees until their number fit the available space.
He infuriated his enemies and frustrated his friends, and there never was a shortage of either. Stanley Crane, later a Southern Railway president, observed that Brosnan's management style was "rule by divisiveness." Morgret adds: "He set one department against another within the railroad, and to that extent, he ruled by fear. ... [H]arsh discipline and pressure ... were the hallmarks of Bill's style of leadership and management."
On the positive side, Brosnan the doer laid out the configurations of new railyards, sometimes on the back of an envelope, sometimes sketched in the dust. He led the way for computer applications in railroad operations and pioneered microwave communications systems. He developed - and patented in his own name - several machines for use in track maintenance.
In the famous "Big John" case, he fought the Interstate Commerce Commission over the issue of reducing grain rates - and won. As a result, a huge meat and poultry industry - "agribusiness" - developed in the South.
He installed vigorous marketing. He reduced costs, increased productivity, fattened the bottom line and made Southern Railway one of the best.
Of him, Robert B. Claytor, first chairman of Norfolk Southern Corp., one of the few Norfolk and Western icons Brosnan respected, said Brosnan was a "unique individual who literally dragged the railroad industry kicking and screaming into the 20th century."
Though Morgret throughout the book calls Brosnan "Bill," nobody on the Southern did, or, if they did, he never heard it. He was "Mr. B." or "Mr. Brosnan," possibly even to the relatives he installed and maintained on the payroll.
When Brosnan died in 1985 at 82, his son delivered a mordantly appropriate quip at the funeral. Counting the pallbearers, he noted: "If Dad were alive, he'd say seven were too many. Cut off at least two of them."
Old Southern railroaders will recognize that sentiment and also, for good or bad, the larger-than-life human institution Morgret celebrates.
Donlan Piedmont is author of "Peanut Soup & Spoonbread: An Informal History of Hotel Roanoke."
What's not to like about Spillane novel?
Reviewed by CHIP BARNETT
BLACK ALLEY. By Mickey Spillane. Dutton. $23.95.
Hey, doll, you gotta read this new Mike Hammer book.
Whaddya mean, you don't like those hard-boiled detective novels? What's not to like about a real man, ignoring bullet wounds, fighting off mob punks and federal weasels? What's not to like about a tough P.I. hunting 89 billion dollars' worth of lost mob money, beating up and shooting people along the way?
You just want romance? Hey, ol' Mike's gonna marry Velda, his sexy secretary. You want profound insight into women? Here's what he says about Velda: "Girls love to take long showers. When they're real dirty they take longer ones."
So, kitten, you'll read it? Oh, you want fresh, meaningful writing? You got it! "He didn't know what was coming next, but the hatred that oozed from his pupils was filled with a violent venom that nothing could diminish."
I'm telling you, kiddo, this book's got it all: smug banter, cloddish D.A.s, double-crossing dons.
You'll read it, okay? Hey, you WILL read it. Doll, you want that the big bore of my .45 is the last thing you see?
Chip Barnett is a Rockbridge County librarian.
Unlikely romance adds to thriller
Reviewed by NEIL HARVEY
OUT OF SIGHT. By Elmore Leonard. Delacorte. $22.95.
Although most of Elmore Leonard's crime thrillers conclude with his heroes and heroines hooking up, romance is rarely a major component in the stories. "Out Of Sight," however, tiptoes about as close to love-story territory as he's ever been.
The strange, unlikely courtship begins when escaped convict Jack Foley takes U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco hostage; they fall hard for each other (it turns out they both like "Repo Man" and Jim Jarmusch movies). They fall harder when she gives him the slip and, later, sets out to track him down.
Does the basic premise have anything to do with reality? Clearly not, but the author keeps things moving rapidly and throws in enough realistic ingredients to balance out the implausibility of it all. Besides, the real spark of Leonard's novels has nothing to do with subtext and higher meanings (there usually aren't any) and everything to do with his skill at moving colorful, interesting characters into and out of cleverly designed tense situations. "Out Of Sight" shows off that dexterity in spades.
Neil Harvey is a Blacksburg writer.
By MARY ANN JOHNSON BOOK PAGE EDITOR
OUT OF SIGHT. By Elmore Leonard. Read by Joe Mantegna. Abridged. BDD Audio Publishing. $22.95.
The audio version captures that same dexterity. The abridgement, approved by the author, leaves no obvious holes, and Mantegna's reading becomes a performance as he alters his voice and style according to character. Accompanying sound effects are minimal and augment the atmosphere created by both Leonard and Mantegna.
Books in Brief A mystery cornucopia
DEAD TO RIGHTS.
By J.A. Jance. Avon. $22.
J.A. Jance, an award-winning mystery writer, has created an interesting character in Sheriff Joanna Brady, who makes her fourth appearance in "Dead to Rights," a novel as unique and fascinating as the Cochise County, Ariz., landscape in which it is set.
This is not just an extremely well crafted, intelligent murder mystery. It's also an intelligent and thought-provoking look at how we all deal with marriage, divorce, infidelity, single parenting, older parents, widowhood and loneliness.
- JUDY KWELLER
KILLED IN THE FOG.
By William L. DeAndrea. Simon & Schuster. $21.
Long a troubleshooter for network TV, dealing with all kinds of security-related problems, Matt Cobb just wants to get away. With his gorgeous, rich girlfriend, Roxanne, he decamps for a cozy and untroubled stay in England. His peaceful idyll is almost immediately shattered, however, when Lady Pamela Arking asks him to do her a tiny little favor that leaves Matt with blood on his hands (figuratively, anyway) and two murders to explain to the local bobbies.
Cobb and Roxanne do a fairly good Nick and Nora Charles imitation, with sophisticated banter in elegant surroundings. DeAndrea's writing is frothy fun and his story as light and pleasant as a sugar cookie, with just a touch of darkness around the edge to give it a bit of substance.
- ANNA WENTWORTH
FALSELY ACCUSED.
By Robert K. Tanenbaum. Dutton. $23.95.
Tanenbaum ties three story lines together well in this novel. Butch Karp, hero attorney of prior novels, has left the prosecutor's office and gets a chance to sue the city of New York on behalf of an assistant coroner "falsely accused" of incompetence. His wife, also a lawyer, is pregnant with their second child and decides to go into business as a defender of women who are being stalked. Her friend Ariadne goes after supposedly bad cops who are shaking down "gypsy" cabbies.
My only problem is that everyone - cops, judges, lawyers, housewives, children - uses vulgar language. A former schoolteacher always said that only when your vocabulary is poor do you have to use vulgarities. I could not enjoy this book because of overuse of four-letter words.
- JOSEPH WILLIAMS
THE MUMMER'S CURSE: An Amanda Pepper Mystery.
By Gillian Roberts. Ballantine Books. $21.
A high school English teacher, Amanda Pepper decides to do research for an article about the Mummers of Philadelphia and their zealous participation in the annual New Year's Day Parade. Before she starts to write, however, she finds herself embroiled in, and even suspected of, a murder that occurs during the parade. To make matters worse, the Mummers fear she will reveal their secrets, and they refuse to cooperate in her defense.
Amanda's family is angry with her for taking her young niece, Karen, to the parade. Her friend Mackenzie, a police officer, cannot help her because of his involvement in the case, so off she goes, alone, to find the culprit, to extricate herself, perhaps eventually to write the intended article.
Amanda's misadventures make up the bulk of this tale that belies the myth that nothing of interest ever happens in Philadelphia.
- LYNN ECKMAN
BLOODHOUNDS.
By Peter Lovesey. Mysterious Press. $22.
This is a good old-fashioned locked-room mystery that causes the gruff and chubby head of the Bath Murder Squad, Peter Diamond, a lot of problems before the case is finally solved.
A local group of mystery buffs, The Bloodhounds, find themselves the chief suspects when one of their number is found murdered inside a locked houseboat. Initially this appears to be the perfect crime committed by someone with a macabre sense of humor and a penchant for poetry. Wanting to know how the doughy Diamond and his efficient sidekick, Sergeant Julie Hargreaves, figure out the puzzle kept me reading far into the night.
This is the fourth Peter Diamond mystery written by British author Peter Lovesey and is well up to the high standard set by the previous three. An ideal book for a mystery fan on a cold winter day.
- JILL BOWEN
Judy Kweller is a special events coordinator.
Anna Wentworth reviews theater for WVTF radio and movies for WDBJ (Channel 7).
Joseph Williams works in the justice system.
Lynn Eckman teaches English as a second language for the Office of Refugee and Immigration Services.
Jill Bowen is a veterinarian living in Blacksburg.
LENGTH: Long : 214 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Cover of "Mickey Spillane. (headshots) 2. Spillane,by CNBMorgret.