Customer Reviews

Super: A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book takes place in ther 1950s in the dying days of the great transcontinental railroads about to be supplanted by air travel when it took 39 hours to make the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Mr. Lehrer takes us aboard one of these luxury trains for a trip in which three people will lose their lives in different ways and for different reasons. The cast of characters includes historical figures like former President Harry S. Truman and Clark Gable as well as fictional creations.

The best thing about the book is the period recreation. We meet Ralph, the solicitous conductor who for a generous tip will arrange his passangers' beds, serve their meals and, in the case of Gable, bring a succession of "fair visitors" to the film star's compartment to be bedded and discarded.

Other characters appear but are not tremendously vivid or memorable.

It's a pleasant trip that Mr. Lehrer takes us on but no more than that. One has a sense of an experienced author going through his paces, not stretching himself, taking no artistic risks, delivering a smooth product that slips down easily and leaves almost no trace. It's very professional -- but a bit too perfunctory.

Jim Lehrer's laconic style which has served him to great effect during an almost four decade career at the helm of the Newshour is employed to perfection in his latest novel "Super." This book is about states of mind, union, and boundaries both legal and personal that separate people and create barriers. The seemingly indefatigable Lehrer, he has been averaging nearly a novel per year since 1988, places kings, Clark Gable and former President Harry Truman, queens, Claudette Colbert and Grace Dodsworth, and all those in between and provides them with just enough rope to tie themselves together and a few indiscretions to tear them apart. Life in the monochromatic 50s was anything but and the pace while far from hurried allowed people to become much more intimate and connected on an emotional level. Today it would be inconceivable for an ex-president to use a public bathroom in peace let alone board a train unassisted by hordes of seconds. The passengers embarked in Chicago and arrived in the land of dreams, Los Angeles, with only the memory of their conversations and their interactions recorded in their minds not on their Blackberrys or Twitter. What happened somewhere on the rolling plains of Kansas stayed on the plains of Kansas. The concentric circles of life, death, and lust evaporated in the American night. So sit back and relax and make sure you have your ticket and if your wife goes missing don't go looking because frankly my dear, I'm not certain Mr. Gable gives a damn. In this novel, bombs are going off everywhere and in Lehrer's world we're all bound to get a little bit of the emotional fallout on us sooner or later.

A pleasant summer read. I was taken back to a time when most people, who traveled any distance, always went by rail. Inserting famous people such as Clark Gable and Harry Truman in a murder mystery on the Super Chief from Chicago to LA in 1956 added a sense of reality to the story.

I had high hopes for this book. First, I really like Jim Lehrer and second, I love trains. However, the book was really light-weight. I thought the incorporation of movie stars into the plot did not work well at all.

Jim Lehrer has written a number of books, and although I enjoy him on television, I haven't been able to put him on my "can't wait to read" list. I had hoped that Super would change that.

For someone with faint memories of America's train system, I had flashbacks to traveling the rails as Lehrer does a nice job of giving the reader tidbits of information about life on the Sante Fe train. Traveling by rail through the 40s and 50s was an elegant, upscale, comfortable way of moving cross-country and the author captures that atmosphere nicely. Lehrer's story takes place in the fading days of train travel as eminaries Harry Truman and Clark Gable move cross country. The staterooms, drinks in the lounge, specially prepared dinners.... the whole atmosphere of traveling by the Sante Fe, is explained by Lehrer and is the real highlight of the book.

On the other hand, readers expecting to be drawn into suspense thriller similar to Murder on the Orient Express will be disappointed. I was nearly two-thirds thru before the real meat of the book kicked in, and there is no Hercule Perot to center your focus on until late in the story.

My summary is this: If you are looking for a short read with some interesting historical details, Super is a good read. If you want to know more about train travel in the 40s and 50s, Super is a good read. If following the personalities of people who lived to travel by rail is your interest, Super is a fair read. If you want to be drawn into a good mystery, Super is a sigh.

I am a big Jim Lehrer fan. No great revelations in the book, no mind numbing nonsense but a great story teller. It is almost like Jim is sitting across from you telling you this story, maybe late one night by a fire place. I thought all the characters worked well in the book. I might have exchanged Claudette Colbert for Grace Dodsworth but you need to read the book to figure it out. Very good read.

This is just a good "old fashioned" page turner, so full of good writing and interesting situations that one can hardly put it down. A great read all-around.
A real MUST for those who have traveled by rail. Full of romance and intrigue.

Move over Agatha!

I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as I thought I would. The story takes place on the Super Chief, a luxury railroad line, in 1956. A murder is committed on board, and a variety of notorious characters happen to be riding the train at the time, including former president Harry Truman and legendary actor Clark Gable. I thought the premise of the book had great potential for suspense and intrigue, but I thought the entire book was pretty flat, especially the portrayals of these well-known characters, which was a big disappointment. This just isn't a very good book.

This is the first book by the well known auther that I have read. It is an interesting look behind the scenes at a variety of things, The Super Chief, Hollywood of the '50s, atomic testing, etc. While the ending was a bit trite and obvious it was still an interesting read. The author captured the feeling of the era well. My major problem was the inclusion of a subplot with a decidedly modern sensibility, it was a bit jarring, it felt as if the whole purpose of the book was to get that particular subplot into the spotlight. As I said, an interesting read, I will be reading more by this author, I will just have to be aware of the potential for certain political leanings to surface.

Jim Lehrer writes good, interesting books - so add this to the pile of them. Just loved reminiscing about the great train era. Lena Horne said The Silver Chief took 82 days to come from Chicago to Los Angeles in absolute style. This book included Clark Gable and some other notables to spice it up even more. Thoroughly enjoyable book!!!! Great read! Our Book Club will enjoy this selection next year. It is 80 years old - and some members pass that number in age.