I had heard of Steven
Millhauser quite a bit ago, and was struck by how, despite winning a prize as
prominent as the Pulitzer, he was not a bigger name than he is. Even after the
win, he was still relegated to being a cult author, and the recognition that comes
with winning that award did not follow him. Since my good friend Chad is did
his dissertation on him, I decided to read that prize winning novel Martin
Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, and I can see why it won such an
award. It is a singular story with a great arc and a great lesson to convey
that presents something a little meatier than simply showing the evils of
capitalism. But I didn’t feel it did much more than that, leaving out a few key
elements that would make the story more than just a cautionary tale. The
eponymous Martin of the title begins his life as clerk at his father’s cigar
shop, and as he grows up in New York in the late 1800’s, he moves up in the
world in big ways. He gets a job as a bellboy, and that leads to a managerial position,
which leads to him opening up his own hotel, and finally opening the Grand
Cosmo, his life work, which ends up costing him the success he has accumulated.
In this book, success is like a drug, and Martin is so driven to succeed, he
leaves a trail of dissatisfied humans in his wake, most notable are his
relationship with his wife Emmeline and her sister Caroline, which is almost
like he married two people. But this singular drive makes everyone else in the
book seem paper-thin. Martin is the only real character, and all those in his
life are bit players. If this book were half as long, I would have given it a
much higher praise, but this is a very cool book that offers a unique
perspective on success.
Rating: 4/5
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