Customer Reviews

The Millionaires

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Simply put, this is a brilliant new novel from Inman Majors (Swimming in Sky, Wonderdog). Being a life long southerner myself, it is clear that Majors understands how and why this region changed better than anyone I have read since Faulkner. The novel explores man's most dangerous enemies-greed and ambition- while offering a look at the changing south and all its complexities. The Teague character is especially fascinating in how real he is- not all virtuous, not entirely corrupt. This timely work combines the drama of sibling relationships, politics and power to create a poignant glimpse at the changing south in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It is the best novel I have read in a long time.

There is much to like about this book. I won't go into the story line, but will spend a bit of time on the writing and my reaction to the story.

This is very close to a 5 star book for me. It took awhile to get into since the writing style is very different. There are no quotation marks and many liberties are taken with punctuation in general. It was distracting at first, but fairly quickly I got in the flow and found it to be fine. This is also not written like a "normal" novel in other ways. Each chapter may have a completely unique stye. One of the formats is that of a script including lighting instructions, etc. Another of the formats is a snapshot of different conversations going on -- particularly a group of conversations prior to a football game with each person's monologue as a subset. Again, I found this a bit jarring at first but found I really enjoyed it as the book moved along because it was such a fresh approach and made it really stand out from other books I have read lately.

The only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating was that there is some over-use of particular, unusual words that I noticed enough that it disrupted the flow for me. Minor, but still a flaw.

Overall, the book is outstanding and the writing is great. There were some great passages in the book where I found myself saying "that's a perfect description" of something --- those are the books that rise to the top for me. Something I had taken for granted and not paid attention to was pointed out in the book and I appreciated the author's observation skills and ability to make whatever it was come alive.

Great book -- settle in for a great read !

Inman Majors is a skilled wordsmith; his dialog and syntax are spot-on with respect to the region and characters about whom he is writing. His descriptions are beautifully woven word pictures; extremely well done so the reader feels a part of the scenes. The chapter titled "Teague in the Country" - page 306 in the advanced reader's copy - is pure poetry.

That being said, it took me about half the novel to become entirely engrossed in the story. Major's writing style took some getting used to and, although I ended up really enjoying the book, I was initially put off by the novel's format.

While the promo's indicate this is a book about the Cole Brothers, I found the story to be more focused on Mike Teague and the Cole wives. Teague is the strong, silent type. As the lobbyist working for the Cole brothers, he is ensnared in a web of deceite and nearly ruined. Only his inherent honesty, valued by the men who have none, ends up saving him. The Cole women are "steel magnolias," putting up with the foibles of their men, but ultimately surviving and thriving. One has "married up" and one has "married down", but both are interesting characters. Their one weakness is putting up with the brothers' infidelities.

This is a beautifully written, complex novel that is not to be read when distracted. The story is involved enough to require the reader's attention and blocks of uninterrupted time in which to read. I definitely enjoyed the book more when I devoted time to its reading, rather than trying to catch a page here or there. Not a book for the doctor's office or the airport.

Modern art that is. I started this book during a commercial. I often read during the news and always during commercials. Anyway, I'd read a couple pages before I realized I hadn't understood a word, something funny was going on, I wasn't hooked. I was confused. Then it hit me, no quotation marks. Well, that's different, I thought and I started over. Still, no joy for me. I turned off the tube, got a glass of fairdemiddlin merlot and started again and now I was getting into the story about these redneck bankers with more money than guys like these outta have.

Then, just as I was getting into the format, this modern art way of writing, boom, Mr. Inman shifts to a screenwriting format, or a play format, one or the other, both, I don't know. Anyway, I was into the characters by then as I could already see these were two guys who don't exactly play by the rules, which always makes for good characters as far as I'm concerned. Then we're back out of the screenwriting format and back into this modern art, no quotations format. I have to say, I don't like this modern art format one little bit, because it makes the story harder to read. And a good story it was, I enjoyed every word. The sounds, smells and sights of the South just drip off these pages.

But back to the format, this book requires concentration and I gave it, because the story was good, not good, great, but this is not the kind of book you'd want to read with CNN on in the background. Five stars, for the super story. The format, I don't know, but you know what they say, "It's the story that counts."

This book was hard to get into. I was unfamiliar with the people, the setting, and the writers style keeps you at a distance for awhile.

Not only is the story a good one, once you get into the writer's style, and are 'in the know', finally understanding what's happening, it becomes a fun experience.

The story revolves around new wealth in the south, the politics, craziness and everything that comes along with it, and it will hook you if you can just power through the seemingly neurotic writing.

When I started reading The Millionaires, I entered a world I knew little about, but Majors made it feel real--maybe even a bit dangerous. Unlike some, I enjoyed the stylistic shifts between the chapters. For me, they added layers of richness and depth as the story advanced. I got quite swept up in the final third of the novel. I really couldn't put it down. In the month or so since I finished, I find myself thinking about the places and characters in the novel: what it would be like if my children went to school with their children or if they were on the news now. I love it when that happens. So, thanks to Inman Majors for serving up a savory slice of a secret world and memorable characters who stick around.

The most impressive aspect of the novel The Millionaires - a timelessly relevant account of financial fraud and political corruption - is its dedication to the craft of writing. Author Inman Majors skillfully relates this historically based saga of southern politics and scandal using an economy of words - crisp, taut narrative, blended seamlessly with vivid dialogue, ripe with the rich language of the South, its landscape and its characters. A less professional writer might over-dramatize and ramble for a thousand pages taking on such an ambitious story. But Majors, in the tradition of great Southern storytellers, has a natural feel for when to provide detail, and when not to. As evident in his previous two novels, Majors has a knack for just the right word at every turn, and knows when and how to punctuate with humor. He writes with clarity, and a rhythm that unravels at an appetizing pace for the reader its compelling themes (familial bonds and paternal influence on ambition, provincial escape, the tempestuous yet intimate relationship of business and politics, the necessity of risk for prosperity, the resilience of man's drive to succeed and survive, the paradox of the over-leveraged American dream in bed with small town values...) The Millionaires is a highly recommended read, grand in its social implications, original and nuanced in style and form, not unlike the works of the great southern writers. (At the risk of over-generalized comparison, Thomas Wolfe's Of Time and The River comes to mind, at least thematically and socially - Majors is a funnier, less wordy version of Wolfe - maybe somewhere between him and Cormac McCarthy in terseness). It may take years for an intelligent readership to accord The Millionaires its due, but clearly Inman Majors has the talent and vision, like his southern predecessors, to one day be considered among a revered few in American literature.

In his third novel The Millionaires, writer Inman Majors has successfully mined the literary gold embedded in a real-life saga played out in his native state of Tennessee. In this work of fiction, Majors takes his place along side writers Thomas Wolfe and Charles Fraizer successfully capturing the voice and characters of Eastern Tennessee.

Majors, who teaches fiction writing at James Madison University, is also author of Wonderdog and Swimming in Sky, both written while he taught creative writing at Motlow College in Middle Tennessee. All three novels are authentic depictions of time and place.

The Millionaires is particularly relevant and interesting to Tennesseans of the 1960s and 70s era because of its setting and character resemblance to the Butcher brothers of East Tennessee. Like the novel's Roland Cole, Jake Butcher ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor of the state and brought the World's Fair to Knoxville. Though names and places are changed, some readers will find themselves thinking, "Oh yes, I remember that!"

For those too young to share the "I was there!" light bulb moments, The Millionaires is just a doggone good read, with good character description and development, authentic dialogue and well-paced action. It's a hard book to put down, and at the end, leaves you wanting to know more.

Inman Majors can not only teach writing, he can write, and I eagerly await his next novel.

I love the Millionaires and their story. As a southerner and one who loves literature about the south, I was not disappointed with Mr. Majors offering. Everything was there, money, sex, guilt, politics and overblown egos. The Cole brothers and the people in their lives read in full color. I could actually visualize who would play these characters in the movie. While reading I could hear the ice clinking in the glasses, as the liquor flowed. I could also imagine the secretive looks that transpired between clandestine lovers. Also palpable was what is for sale in our world today. It seems that everyone has a price and for a price, almost anyone can be had.

I recommend The Millionaires; A Novel to all who love solid, southern fiction and to those who want to be immersed in the lives of the characters. Wonderful.

Angelia Vernon Menchan

Inman's writing style is unusual. It varies between flashes of absolutely brilliant prose and chapters written like screenplays. Once I adjusted to that variation, the plot and characters hooked me.

The Cole brothers are far more complicated than the southern good ol' boys they seem to be. They're hometown boys who made good, rednecks with new money. Roland is a banker given to financial speculation and hoping to be elected Governor of Tennessee. He and his wife Libby enjoy all the trappings of new money but are very much aware of their Appalachian roots. J.T. is second in command of the Cole banking empire and plans to bring the World's Fair to their little mountain town of Glennville. He's loved his wife Corinne since childhood, but that does not stop him from chasing other women with gusto. In fact, both Roland and J.T. love the ladies and have the sort of charm certain white southern males possess in abundance. Neither brother is loved, admired, or respected by the citizens of Glennville, but they're not about to let that ruin their plans.

Mike Teague is a retired teacher and successful lobbyist, the man J.T. hires as advisor on the World's Fair project. Teague is a quiet, introspective man with ties to insiders in both Tennessee and Washington D.C. He knows first hand how deals are made and broken so seems the ideal man to expedite J.T.'s plan and Roland's run for Governor. But Teague has hidden baggage of his own, past indiscretions that become entangled inextricably with the Cole brothers' illicit dealings. He's inside a political and financial house of cards that could collapse at any moment. And once it collapses, there will be no government bailout for anyone involved.

This is a story of the New South, and of the politics, the financial shenanigans, and the competitive mind games that bring wealth and power to a handful of determined men. Inman's descriptions of the beautiful Appalachian mountains is a plus.

Review by Laurel Johnson