In Control [Paperback]

Ethan Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 1999

Harry Kramer, the gleefully manipulative Chairman and CEO of a major bank, finances the construction of a sixty-story office tower, even though he knows the local market for office-space will be saturated when the building is finished. He then pulls a young executive named Gordon Elliam from the pack and makes him the front person for the loan. In telling this story, Harry describes the distant and controlling relationships that he establishes with Gordon and other banking associates. He tells of his wily effort to outsmart other major players in this business deal. And he talks of his own son, Hay Kramer, who bears a certain resemblance to Gordon. In this way, he begins to talk about his marriage and family. At the novel's conclusion, Harry wins again. But he has shown us the effects of his need to be in control.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ethan Cooper is the pseudonym for a New York-based editor and writer. As Ethan Cooper, he has written three interlocked novels about corporate life. These are IN CONTROL, SMOOTH IN MEETINGS, and TOM'S JOB, which present corporate life and its familial back story from the perspective of a CEO in 1990, a rising corporate star in 1995, and a guy with a job, not a career, in 2000. The plots of all three novels are affected by the machinations of the same savvy billionaire investor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: SJE Pubublishing; 1st edition (October 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967224403
• ISBN-13: 978-0967224404
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,230,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Commuter Book, April 2, 2005

By 

Don Dork "Don Dork" (Westchester) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Control (Paperback)

For about two weeks, this was my commuting book, as I rode mass transit to and from the burbs. It's actually a terrific book for commuters, since it is very concrete and realistic. This means you can pick the book up and read a paragraph and remember exactly where you stand in the narrative. Then, you can settle in with easy focus, even with that hateful blowhard behind you bellowing into his cell.

This story operates on two levels. First, its narrator, a bank CEO (who is a first rate jerk), describes a high stakes real estate deal. Then, his story segues into recollections of his family life. After just a few chapters, Cooper is flipping back and forth between story lines; there's a chapter about a very cool real estate deal; then, there's a chapter about his prominent but dysfunctional family. It's interesting, because the CEO narrator sees, but does not really regret, the connections. Have to break some eggs to make an omelet, Robert Moses used to say.

I think the best scenes in the book are near the end, when the CEO's princess wife is hospitalized. Then, he breaks down and says "Mom, oh Mom, oh Mom" beside her hospital bed. Afterwards, the CEO's smug view on his career and family looks different. Definitely a good read.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story about the corridors of power, November 6, 1999

By 

Stephen Kliment - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Control (Paperback)

This book is an excellent yarn about the manipulative side of corporate power. The characters are cleanly drawn, and the plot moves forward at a brisk pace.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I took a chance..., August 20, 2010

By 

John P. Jones III (Albuquerque, NM, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Control (Paperback)

...and was richly rewarded. Thinking about how many books I have left to read, or re-read, and weighing that against the allotted time, how many new books by "unknown" authors should one try? Particularly when I have been disappointed by a few recently. And the premise of this novel stirred memories of corporate days, for which I was admittedly ambivalent about rehashing. But I am thoroughly glad I did since Ethan Cooper (a nom de plume) has rendered a wry and sardonic account of corporate life, and the CEOs who have a deep visceral need to always be in control. The title is most appropriate.

The story is set in America's heartland, as typified by Minneapolis, Minnesota. Harry Kramer is the CEO of a "go-go" bank, Limestone; it is heavily invested in transforming the downtown skyline, by funding the building of 60-story glitzy office buildings. The story is set at the beginning of the `90's, when there was a real-estate "bust," (admittedly a small one by today's standards), and many of those buildings would become "see-through," that is, lacking tenants. The novel is written with Kramer as the narrator, and his wife is used quite effectively as a "Greek chorus," with Kramer relating her usually much more critical and accurate assessment of the situation. The novel alternates between depictions of corporate machinations, and Kramer's highly dysfunctional personal life, centering on his family relationships. Cooper utilizes some flashback chapters to describe Kramer as he works his way up the corporate ladder, with dumb-blind luck being a major determinate to his "success."

Cooper has a knack of relating anecdotes of corporate life that are all too revealing of power relationships. In one he describes the trivia involved in a meeting of the top brass to decide if the bank should close early due to a snowstorm, which unfortunately reminded me of an entire day I lost on a "strategic retreat" of the School Board I served on: in my case, the net result of the intensive review of the school's operation was to add one word to the mission statement: "student"! In another Kramer is busily walking through the bank, dedicating answers to memos, to staff who scurry to keep up. In another scene Kramer writes his response to an important paper submitted by a subordinate prior to reading it. Everything, and I do mean everything, is carefully calibrated for show. In the opening chapter, at the annual Memorial Day party, Kramer makes a very public "anointment" of one of the "hustling" junior bankers, Gordon Elliam, to work out the bank's relationship with Aldco, the builder of what will be an empty 60 story building. Does this put Elliam on the fast-track to the top, or is he a sacrificial lamb?

Kramer, in his family relationships, is absolutely wooden; devoid of any real feeling other than a paramount concern for appearances. The reader naturally empathizes with his daughter and son, who very much have to find their own way, and establish adult independence of their father. There are telling vignettes of his daughter's, Liz, wedding and one on his son, Hay, giving a speech at the VFW. Some of the scenes with his wife screech, like chalk on the board, particularly the "spectacle" of her illness. It is one of the very few scenes in which Kramer, like most all of us, are "out of control" since he is in the "alien territory" of a hospital, where other power rules apply.

I chuckled numerous times as Cooper's acerbic pen describes the rituals and manners on the upper class in various settings: the country club, the Skybox of the annual Viking-Bears game, money missing from an Ivy League fraternity house, and the Pierre hotel in NYC. The author has a keen eye for the class distinctions favored by those who need to be in control.

Cooper has clearly been there, deep in the corporate world, and has marvelously not only survived but has managed to present a scathing portrait of those who we let rule our lives. Consider a couple more observations the author places in Kramer's mouth: "Naturally, a significant element in my job was to align this view with his expectations, presenting a spectacle of attractive well-tailored bankers working together effectively. This, unfortunately, was no mean feat, as only the most gifted corporate players could work shoulder to shoulder in my fickle Machiavellian pressure-cooker without soon despising each other." Or: "In public forums, I feign chagrin at the behavior of such characters, particularly after the media highlights their influence at distressed companies. But actually, there's much to admire in their lives. It's their grabbiness that makes the world go."

Cooper writes well, and with much insight. Another excellent recommendation for this book is the two 1-star reviews. Quite clearly, they have been posted by someone whom Cooper once worked with, and who saw their unflattering portrait in the book. Fortunately I am not in the book, although I've "been there." After the recent debacle on Wall Street which required a massive government bailout, this book is even more relevant than when it was first written. A solid 5-stars plus.