Succession

Succession: A Story of Corporate Past

Reviewed By Stuart Nachbar

I chose to review Herbert Lobsenz’ Succession because I believed that I could relate to the author as well as the story. Succession is Lobsenz’ first novel in 47 years, his previous work, Vangel Griffin, won a literary prize and appeared on the New York Times best seller list. Lobsenz had to put his writing career on hold, in favor of a business career as a necessity to support a growing family.

Succession has a shorter timeframe than the author’s career, but it is based on the same idea. Jake Garrison, an aspiring Civil War fiction novelist has a pregnant wife and sick father and he must return to a career of handling undercover due diligence for investors who want to purchase businesses.

The business in Succession is a large, struggling typewriter manufacturer that has been merged into an even larger corporate conglomerate, as was the practice during the 1960’s when the novel takes place. The company, Kensington has been in a losing battle on price, sales practices and technology; IBM has fast become a dominant player in the business-to-business with the Selectric and it is feared that they will enter the consumer market as well under their label or someone else’s. Some Kensington executives want that someone else to be Kensington, though Garrison’s client is not one of them.

To make matters worse, Garrison’s client has supposedly impregnated his wife. However, needing money, he follows a lesson he has lived by his whole life: show no pain.