The Condor Passes

The Condor Passes is the epic saga of a wealthy but troubled Louisiana family. In it, the lives of key family members are laid bare as the years and decades go by. Ninety-five year old Thomas Henry Oliver is the patriarch of the clan. Known simply as Oliver or, at times, The Old Man, he manages to overcome his hardscrabble origins in rural Ohio to accrue great wealth in the New Orleans of the early 20th century. With little formal education, Oliver achieves remarkable success in business seemingly through sheer willpower and a dogged brand of toughness. Oliver's two daughters Anna and Margaret both display a sense of entitlement when it comes to their father's money. But in other aspects of their lives they couldn't be more different. Anna believes in the importance of hearth and home and later on in the book becomes hyper-religous in very disturbing ways. Margaret is wild and promiscuous, seemingly incapable of bringing focus to her own life. The fourth of the major characters in The Condor Passes is Robert Caillet, a poor Cajun youth Oliver takes on as his protege. He eventually marries Anna and thereby becomes Oliver's heir apparent. Quite pathetically, Robert's personal life becomes defined by his insatiable need for sexual encounters with many women. The Condor Passes is a 4 star effort. There's much to enjoy in this powerful tale of one family's triumphs and tragedies. A provocative, engaging read.

The Condor Passes is a fascinating family saga that takes the reader from the late 1800s into the 1960s. Told in signature Grau style we get several different stories in 1. We get the story of The Old Man. He is the gangster and bootlegger who started out dirt poor on the banks of the Ohio River and left home for adventure and fortune. He settles in New Orleans and builds an empire. He has 2 daughters- one the perfect debutante, one a hell-raiser. He marries his eldest daughter the man of his choice- a man in his image- a poor Cajun he has mentored in his business to suceed him. Looking over everyone and caring for the Old Man is his black butler who sees all and makes sure things go the way the Old Man wants. Seeing and listening and never getting in the way. From the beginning to the end this story of the 20th century is fascinating. Far better written than the other sagas of the time yet every bit as compelling as the Harold Robbins and Taylor Caldwell potboilers that were so popular in the 60s and 70s. The Condor Passes is great entertainment- not one to be missed!

The Condor Passes...The ruthless accumulation, the spending, and the ultimate disposition of a great New Orleans fortune furnish the motive force in Grau's huge, brilliant novel of three American generations whose lives are caught up in and shaped by the currents of money and power.