The Sunset Limited
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Think: it's a wonderful life.
  • Cormac McCarthy's Black and White World, Absent of Greys
  • The Mac Daddy
  • Disappointing pseudoprofundity
  • This is for me one of the finest books I have read, even if it was a play.
The Sunset Limited
Cormac McCarthy
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United StatesUnited States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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McCarthy, CormacMcCarthy, Cormac | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0307278360
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

A startling encounter on a New York subway platform leads two strangers to a run-down tenement where a life or death decision must be made.

In that small apartment, “Black” and “White,” as the two men are known, begin a conversation that leads each back through his own history, mining the origins of two fundamentally opposing world views. White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con and ex-addict, is the more hopeful of the men–though he is just as desperate to convince White of the power of faith as White is desperate to deny it.

Their aim is no less than this: to discover the meaning of life.

Deft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited is a beautifully crafted, consistently thought-provoking, and deceptively intimate work by one of the most insightful writers of our time.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Think: it's a wonderful life........2007-09-01

This first appears to be a lite, spare work, but it is delightfully deep. It presents a koan, the human conundrum. It poses life's most persistant question: the meaning of it all. This one-act play is part MY DINNER WITH ANDRE and part the bridge scene from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

It provokes thought in the reader, and different readers will resolve the debate in different ways, just as reviewers here will see it differently. Perhaps, like the choice ending of Yann Martel's LIFE OF PI, it will depend upon whether you see this life as a gift or as simply suffering, a glass half-full argument. It will grab you where you live.

I see it as positive and life-affirming. I can also see a human face on the cover, and the lights in the darkness. Perhaps you can too.

4 out of 5 stars Cormac McCarthy's Black and White World, Absent of Greys.......2007-07-18

I admit I'm relatively new to the works of Cormac McCarthy. I just read his novel `The Road' and thought it was one of the best books I'd ever read - maybe the finest post-apocalyptic work ever written, conveying the true range and depth of tragedy as perhaps only the poetry of great literature can. In turn, this novel urged me on to eagerly check out McCarthy's latest play, `The Sunset Limited'; after finishing it, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised overall.

What astonished me about `Sunset Limited' was McCarthy's very gifted talent for depicting African-American language and character. I haven't read any other of McCarthy's works besides the two aforementioned titles, but I'll admit I had him pegged for someone whose sole frame of reference was dingy towns in the southwest of America and stoic, antiquated cowboy mores `ala' John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Yet here he fearlessly dives into a present-day urban conversation between a black ex-con and a white college professor. McCarthy knows the talk, knows the culture, and nails this character's heart and soul; I have to think August Wilson would've been genuinely impressed. McCarthy's confident and genuinely empathetic writing of the black character is (to me, at least) the play's most impressive achievement.

Already the infamy of this play is McCarthy's positioning the play's two sole characters to hold what amounts to one long Socratic dialogue on the (non)existence of God: one fervently believes in God, the other passionately despises all assertions of His supposed existence. McCarthy's play is structured as a very basic ideological exchange: devout (black) man expresses the core values and beliefs of his religious faith to suicidal existential-atheist (white) man; suicidal existential-atheist then refutes the devout's faith by expressing the core values and beliefs of his spiritual nihilism and unshakeable conviction of the absolute meaninglessness of life. The names (or lack thereof) of the characters, "Black" and "White," is a schematic decision which, one infers, is an elucidation of the very narrow-mindedness with which both these characters view the world; unfortunately, therein also lies the play's very fundamental spiritual, philosophical and dramatic limitations.

I knew all this going into the play, and its simplistic setup didn't make me enjoy it any less; McCarthy writes very entertaining and often surprisingly funny dialogue (as one might expect from the given set-up, the African-American character has almost all the wittiest lines). Yet when I finally arrived at the play's "penultimate moment," of the existential-athiest's unleashing his supposedly pitiless and scathing worldview upon the religious believer, although it obviously wasn't a breezy romp through a flower garden, it also wasn't the soul-shatteringly eloquent or metaphysically insightful diatribe I might've anticipated. The white professor is presented as first and foremost an abstractionist thinker, much along the lines of Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber (who infamously excelled in Ivy League university advanced calculus at a very young age, yet was a miserable failure with dating women). McCarthy presents so little of the existential-athiest's backstory in the course of the play that he becomes more of an abstract conceit than a fully fleshed-out entity; his despair and sense of internal void never achieve the actual dramatic greatness of, say, Jerry's monologues in Edward Albee's one-act masterpiece "Zoo Story" (forty years later, Albee's piece is still the most haunting and compelling dramatic meditation on modern urban dehumanization I've ever encountered).

Many of the professor's observations have true merit and force: his espousing that "the world is basically a forced labor camp from which the workers - all innocents - are led forth by lottery, a few each day, to be executed," has more actually disturbing real-world resonance and merit than the majority of his later, rather generic existential ranting and praying for death, etc. In other moments, the professor seems to rush to intellectual judgements: at one point, he asks his Jesus-loving host, "show me a religion that addresses death and I'll show you something I might be interested in." For all his supposed decades of academia, has the professor never even dabbled in Taoism or Buddhism, or any of the eastern religions that address the topic of death head-on (and with a genuine sense of emotional rationality, at that)?

Granted, when I was an adolescent I probably felt or thought much like McCarthy's professor does; the bedrock value system of the atheist is rooted in the belief that one knows everything there is to know, and that there is nothing left to learn. Reading McCarthy's play is an exercise in beholding the two philosophical and spiritual extremes of devout faith and existential atheism; what is entirely absent from the characters' discussion is any consideration of emotionally rational agnostic humanism as a worldview, along the lines of Dr. Albert Ellis' lifetime's work in rational-emotive therapy. Some may find that an intellectual dialogue revolving wholly around black-and-white concepts, minus all greys, is not nearly as deep or profound a meditation on the human condition as one might find in other, wiser works. I might argue that Dr. Ellis' book `A Rational Guide to Living', published in 1975, is the perfect intellectual retort to McCarthy's play, and the direct refutation of all that McCarthy's professor insists as metaphysical truth.

It's interesting to note that Carl Sagan, the eminent astronomer and Pulitzer and Emmy-winning creator of `Cosmos', was an agnostic humanist as well. I longed to hear what Sagan or Dr. Ellis might have contributed to the discussion between McCarthy's two characters; in a sense, Sagan's and Ellis's rational agnostic humanism fills in all the grey areas missing in this play (McCarthy could've added an elderly agnostic-humanist to this play and named him "Grey"). While not explicitly agreeing that God does in fact exist, agnosticism steadfastly acknowledges the eternal mystery of the universe, and that one can or will never truly know all that there is to know: which, in turn, allows for a perpetual sense of wonder and fascination with our universe. In short, it is this acceptance of one's own humility, and finite temporality in the universe, that allows one to embrace and cherish being a part of this world. What is finally most striking about McCarthy's professor is not any of the actual ideas or theories he floats, but his terrible intellectual vanity, his absolutistic insistence that he knows all there is to know, and that for him there is no mystery left in this universe to discover - which, of course, is the biggest intellectual and philosophical load of crap of all. At the play's conclusion, we are left not with the searing, heart-rending weight of actual tragedy, but rather with the scrawny and pathetic simplemindedness of an immeasurably egotistical and simultaneously self-pitying buffoon.

Although the play's black character is by far the more emotionally-grounded of the two; his emotional stability is rooted in his faith, and one of the questions McCarthy asks at the end of the play is, will the black character have any chance at finding emotional well-being in a universe without God? For those of us in the audience who are already emotionally rational agnostics, the final moments of McCarthy's play may not be quite as profoundly earthshaking or haunting as one might As for refuting the devout character's faith, Michael Stipe of the band R.E.M. maybe put it most succinctly and beautifully: "I don't need a heaven/I don't need religion/I am in the place where I should be."

`Sunset Limited' is indeed a serious, very well-written and dramatically enjoyable consideration of timeless themes: what is the meaning of life, is there a God, etc. However, its positing two opposing extremes as the whole of human intellectual, spiritual and emotional experience is a little like selecting the colors yellow and purple from the entire color spectrum, then presenting them as if they're the only colors which exist. A limited view of the universe, dramatic or otherwise, is only as brilliant or insightful as its limitations allow. Even in McCarthy's nightmare world of `The Road,' surely there are fleeting moments when the distant, darkened sun breaks through the lingering clouds and ash, and light hits drops of water, and a rainbow appears in its entirety.




5 out of 5 stars The Mac Daddy.......2007-07-10

Another classic from Mac McCarthy...

A quick, substantive read regarding the dilemma of perception versus reality.

2 out of 5 stars Disappointing pseudoprofundity.......2007-04-01

I read this book immediately after finishing Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion", which may have been a mistake because I could not help thinking a much more interesting play would have three people at the table, the third being Dawkins who would mop the floor with these two sorry saps. Neither Black or White offer much of anything that is profound, hopeful, or insightful. Black carries the flag for the faithful, willingly accepting his dismal life because he'll eventually be gwine up to hebben; White carries the flag for those without faith, unwilling to accept his dismal life because of the crushing weight of his unbelief. Neither man is going about the business of living. Maybe that's the point - life isn't black and white - but to whom is this a revelation?

McCarthy's Blood Meridian, Suttree, and border trilogy are among my most favorite books. I miss the author who wrote so wonderfully. The exceedingly spare prose of his most recent books is wearing very thin.

5 out of 5 stars This is for me one of the finest books I have read, even if it was a play........2007-03-30

Although very brief, Mccarthy's play took me twice the time it should have because I had to stop and savor the dialogue. I was loving the comments of "Black." I found them profound, witty, gentle and loving, and often very moving. "White", too, had terrific witty lines.This play reminded me of an Edward Albee type of verbal exchange--one that was so rich and brilliantly composed that I was genually thrilled to be reading it.
However, I felt that the final few pages jumped ship. Suddenly The characters were worn out, not able to keep going. I could imagine Black saying and doing so much more. He, earlier, vowed to go home with White, yet inexplicably he gave up. The character built by McCarthy would not have suddenly folded. That part did not seem to fit. I wish I knew what McCarthy was feeling at that point.
I have read most of McCarthy's works, and found this and The Road to be my favorates. We are blessed to have a writer as fine as McCarthy. The only other living author I treasure as much is Haruki Murakami.
Sunset Limited (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Couldn't hold my interest
  • Another Great Book
  • Has all the reasons that you read JLB for, without a 'pat' ending
  • That's Why I Read His Books
  • Not his strongest...
Sunset Limited (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
James Lee Burke
Manufacturer: Island Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440223989
Release Date: 1999-07-06

Amazon.com

Imagine Philip Marlowe sans the cigarettes and in AA. Put him in Louisiana and jump forward 50 years or so and you've got David Robicheaux, a tough-talking detective with the same soft spot as his prototype for troublesome women and for delving into places into which he probably has no business. New Iberia, Louisiana, perfectly rivals Marlowe's L.A. for its grit and corruption and dames who'll turn a good guy bad.

James Lee Burke's 11th Robicheaux book, Sunset Limited, is a twisted mystery that at times becomes almost byzantine in its attempt to keep disparate characters and narratives wound in a cohesive story line. But Burke's writing is so stunning that all is forgiven as you become immersed in the tale, which meshes past and present to uncover the secret of a decades-old murder.

Forty years ago, a local labor leader was crucified in a crime that remains unsolved. Now, his daughter--Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Megan Flynn--returns to New Iberia. With a seemingly insignificant remark to Robicheaux, she begins a chain of events that lead right back to her father's death. New Iberia, in some sense, is frozen in time as the age-old problems of race and class weave their way into the mystery, complicating Robicheaux's discovery of not only the original crime, but the wealth of murders that spring up along the way. Add in the Chinese mob, corrupt policemen, and a Hollywood film shoot, and the stage is set.

Burke's forte is his ability to create characters so evil they're liable to get you up in the night to check in your closet and under your bed. The players--both good and bad--are characterized more by their flaws than their attributes, giving everyone a wicked sheen. The book isn't overly gory (although short descriptions can be rather graphic), but everyone has a dark side, emphasizing the noir-ish tones of the novel. His writing is powerful, mixing tender landscapes ("[W]e dropped through clouds that were pooled with fire in the sunrise and came in over biscuit-colored hills dotted with juniper and pine and pinyon trees...") with dead-on, cutting descriptions ("His face was tentacled with a huge purple-and-strawberry birthmark, so that his eyes looked squeezed inside a mask") and the camp dialogue of Chandler ("Evil doesn't have a zip code"). Oddly, these sundry elements blend seamlessly, allowing you to overlook tenuous connections and occasionally confusing turns.

Don't pick this up expecting a happy ending. But for those who long for a modern-day Chandler, you'll find Sunset Limited a gripping and satisfying read. --Jenny Brown

Book Description

In a land soaked with sin, Dave Robicheaux is dueling with killers, ghosts, and a woman's revenge....

The townspeople of New Iberia, Louisiana, didn't crucify Megan Flynn's father. They just didn't catch whoever pinned him to a barn wall with sixteen-penny nails.

Decades later, Megan, now a world-famous photojournalist, has come back to the bayou, looking for cop Dave Robicheaux. It was Dave who found the body of labor leader Jack Flynn. The sight changed the boy, shaped him as a man. And after forty years, Robicheaux is still haunted by the bizarre unsolved slaying.

Now Megan's return has stirred up the ghosts of the long-buried past, igniting a storm of violence that will rip apart lives of blacks and whites in this bayou county. And for a good cop with bad memories, hard desires, and chilling nightmares, the time has come to uncover the truth.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Couldn't hold my interest.......2007-07-17

I read quite a bit and my tastes vary. You can confirm that by clicking the little link to see all my reviews.

I must say, however, that I'm having a difficult time with Mr. Burke because he is actually *too* descriptive as an author. His use of the language is uncommonly good for someone writing in the crime/mystery genre. Trouble is, I'm finding that the richness of detail gets in the way of the story. I know the minutiae of the smells and sights and sounds in the Bayou, and the thread count in the clothes the characters are wearing, and the chemical composition of their perfumes and the thickness of their hair follicles.

But there's one small problem: I can't quite figure out what is going on with the story. It is difficult to separate the significant from the insignificant.

Too many characters are being introduced and the scenes jump around such that I have to reread passages numerous times.

Admittedly, I haven't finished this book yet. I'm only on page 70, but I'm not sure I'll be able to perservere to the end.

As I said, Burke's use of language is rich and highly descriptive, reminding me somewhat of Faulkner's description of the deep south in "Light in August." But whereas I had no trouble staying with Faulkner nor with his writing style keeping my interest level high, I just cannot say the same about Mr. Burke. Now that I think about it, I actually started another novel by Burke once, and couldn't finish it. So, this doesn't appear to be an anomaly, but rather a distinct part of Burke's style that simply doesn't work well for my tastes.

I'm not criticizing it as much as simply stating that perhaps it just isn't my style.

I would be curious to know if any other readers here have similar impressions.

5 out of 5 stars Another Great Book.......2007-04-10

James Lee Burke is a joy to read. He knows a great deal about a lot of things and builds them into his stories. The Robicheaux series is really based in large measure on mythology, although this is not readily obvious, and, when it becomes so, sends you scurrying to your mythology books! Burke is also very thoughtful about humanity and the world he lives in, and this becomes quite apparent as you read this series. You can read a general review in my review of Crusader's Cross. I do recommend that you read the series in sequence and take in the UNabridged audiobooks when you can for a really in-depth enjoyment of this series.

4 out of 5 stars Has all the reasons that you read JLB for, without a 'pat' ending.......2007-02-02

This is not a typical Dave Robicheaux book. It doesn't have standard char- acters doing standard things leading to a denouement at the end of the book. The story which is really multiple episodes surrounded by almost a dozen players (and all involving Dave in some way) who all have something to do with a movie being made in New Iberia about the plight of Blacks in 1940s Louisiana.

Once again, many of the characters have been known to Dave for years, even though except for Clete, most he hasn't seen for years. Those that are new to Dave are involved with a murder that happened 40years ago and was never solved. The many who was killed was a union organizer whose son and daughter Dave knew as kids. Their father was beaten with chains and the nailed to a barn door (while still alive) in a mock crucifiction.

No one has ever been accused of the crime and not evidence has ever been found. Even though in the course of the book, Dave is able to figure out the three men who committed the crime, none is brought to justice in the end (though one is killed, one commits suicide, and the daughter of another is murdered). What makes this such a great book is JLB's description of how things 'were done' back in the old days of Huey Long and how little some things change. It's a great history lesson.

The only fly in the ointment, for me at least, is Dave's (read JLB) ongoing distrust and discussion of the incompetence and pettiness of the FBI and it's agents. This seems to be a theme in a lot of mystery books, especially the modern noir style. Maybe the Feebs (or Feebies) need to do some work on their public image.

I enjoyed that JLB is a strong enough writer (an has to power to dictate how his books read) to pull of a story without a true ending.

5 out of 5 stars That's Why I Read His Books.......2006-08-05

Many comment on James Lee Burkes character, Dave Robicheaux's detailed discriptions of Louisiana's beauty and that they think he goes too far.....NOT ME! This is what I look for in a book. I want to see and feel what this writer sees and feels about this beautiful southern state. Don't stop! It took me a long time to find you and now, I can't get enough.

3 out of 5 stars Not his strongest..........2005-10-06

When a writer becomes prolific with a mystery series, some books are bound to be better than others. Sunset Limited, the 10th in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, is not nearly as strong as some of his previous efforts.

Robicheaux continues to be a detective in the Iberia Sheriff's Department, and this book has many similarities to previous books. James Flynn, a labor organizer, was crucified to the side of a barn forty years ago. Flynn's grown children, Megan (an award winning photographer) and Cisco (a movie director) are back in town. Their presence calls attention to the fact that their father's death remains unsolved. Robicheaux is always investigating at least two or three other crimes. In Sunset Limited, Robicheaux and his partner, Helen Soileau, stumble upon a conspiracy involving crooked cops, small time criminals, hit men, the son of a senator and the mob. Somehow, Robicheaux is able to tie together these seemingly unrelated cases, but doing so is often a stretch. Characters fade in and out and it's hard to keep track of them. It took a good 100 pages for Sunset Limited to peak my interest.

James Lee Burke is an incredibly talented writer, and some of the problem could be my own. This is the 11th Robicheaux mystery and the 12th Burke novel that I've read since August, so maybe I'm just ready for a break. Still, I'm determined to see the Robicheaux series through book 14. I've since started reading Purple Cane Road, and after 100 pages, it's already much more engaging.
Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The Rise and Fall of the Southern pacific
  • Orsi Gets it Right
  • Not for Model Railroaders
  • All Hail the S & P!
Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930
Richard J. Orsi
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0520200195

Book Description

The only major U.S. railroad to be operated by westerners and the only railroad built from west to east, the Southern Pacific acquired a unique history and character. It also acquired a reputation, especially in California, as a railroad that people loved to hate. This magisterial history tells the full story of the Southern Pacific for the first time, shattering myths about the company that have prevailed to this day. A landmark account, Sunset Limited explores the railroad's development and influence--especially as it affected land settlement, agriculture, water policy, and the environment--and offers a new perspective on the tremendous, often surprising, role the company played in shaping the American West.
Based on his unprecedented and extensive research into the company's historical archives, Richard Orsi finds that, contrary to conventional understanding, the Southern Pacific Company identified its corporate well-being with population growth and social and economic development in the railroad's hinterland. As he traces the complex and shifting intersections between corporate and public interest, Orsi documents the railroad's little-known promotion of land distribution, small-scale farming, scientific agriculture, and less wasteful environmental practices and policies--including water conservation and wilderness and recreational parklands preservation.
Meticulously researched, lucidly written, and judiciously balanced, Sunset Limited opens a new window onto the American West in a crucial phase of its development and will forever change our perceptions of one of the largest and most important western corporations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Rise and Fall of the Southern pacific.......2007-03-31

The Sunset Limited is a fitting name for this book. Of course it's the name of the flagship train of the Southern Pacific that ran between New Orleans and Los Angeles. It's also fitting because sunset came to the Southern Pacific and ended its identity - although most of its trackage is still being operated by the successor Union Pacific.

The story of railroading in the United States is the story of little railroads getting started to serve some particular market and then dozens to hundreds of theae smaller roads eventually being bought or merged together. The Southern Pacific started and ended exactly this way.

This book is an excellent telling of the story of the Southern Pacific from it's beginning as a bunch of small independents through its glory years as one of the major railroads in the country down to its inglorious years. The only real surprise in the book is the benevolent attitude towards the company compared with the writing of many who condemed for a variety of evils.

4 out of 5 stars Orsi Gets it Right.......2005-12-01

As an historian said about this book; "It should be required reading for those interested in the West, the environment and business". Indeed it should. Because more than just blowing away all the dis-information that the Southern Pacific suffered from for decades (and contributed to its collapse), this book provides excellent case studies of how industry, government, NGO's, and the Press cooperated on solving complex and politically charged problems. In fact it was amazing to me to see how well and patiently these disparate groups worked with each other. Much more so than today. There is a lesson here.

3 out of 5 stars Not for Model Railroaders.......2005-08-13

Orsi has written an extensive history of the SP that I found informative and interesting from the viewpoint of a historian. I was looking for help/insight in my planning of a model railroad centered around the Southern Pacific and quickly discovered I was looking in the wrong place.
Fortunately one of my other hobbies is History, and Orsi came through for me in that respect. His research was quite extensive and his access to the SP records uncovered much that I had never read or heard about previously.
What caused me to rate this book at 3 stars instead of 4 0r 5 was Orsi's tendency to repeat events in different chapters. I found myself frequently going back to an earlier chapter to verify I had read the information eariler.
History buffs, particularlly those interested in California History will find this a good read. Model railroaders that are looking for specific information should probably look elsewhere.

4 out of 5 stars All Hail the S & P!.......2005-06-29

This actually could have been a three star review, but I have to give credit to the thuroughness of the scholarship, the excellent photographs and the superb 200+ end notes, which are a mini-book in themselves.

Orsi's book is "revisionist" if it is proper to call a thesis that glorifies a massive American corporation "revisionist". I suppose that it qualifies if one is taking the scholarship of major American and French universities from the sixties onward as the standard.

Simply put, Orsi's goal is to set the record straight about the Southern Pacific. No "Octopus" in his eyes, the Southern Pacific was an important innovator in the area of agriculture, conservation and scientific forestry. Indeed, without the Southern Pacific, California and the west as we know it would not have been possible.

Aside from rewriting bits of history from the railroad's perspective, Orsi's main scholarly contribution is his access to the Southern Pacific's own corporate records. Certainly this is an approach that gives a more complicated picture of the corporations motives and morals then the simplistic "Octopus" portrait of Frank Norris.

Orsi also has access to better statistics then scholars operating in the past had (i.e. the railroad's internal statistics), so that allows him to fairly castigate those who have painted an unrealistic portrait of, say, the size of the Southern Pacific's land grants.

Although I am sympathetic to his attempt to rehabilitate the image of the Southern Pacific, I found some of the assertions regarding the tremendous difficulties the S & P had in carrying out its good intentions hard to take. If one was to rely on Orsi's book as one's only source, you might believe that the Southern Pacific was a money losing venture, operated out of sheer philanthropy of the "Big Four".

I'm serious about that comment: There is no mention about the tremendous personal fortunes of Stanford, Huntington and Co., let alone any discussion of the profit of the railroad as a whole. On the other hand, Orsi goes out of his way to demonstrate expenditures the railroad made in support of the common good.

Of course, I can hear the authorial response: Everyone already knows about the money that was made, I'm trying to fill in the stuff that everyone doesn't know.

Still, one example: The S & P operated the Pacific Land Company, which operated at the behest of the Big Four by subdividing land for sale. Orsi says that there wasn't any record of how much money that Land Company made and says it's impossible to even determine how the land and profit was accounted for within the S & P. Is that so? I find it curious, as I found the curious the almost complete lack of (positive) financial data.

On the whole, I thought Orsi does a great job. However, I would have liked more balance, even if he is writing this book to even the score.
The Best of Robicheaux (In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead', 'Cadillac Jukebox', 'Sunset Limited)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    The Best of Robicheaux (In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead', 'Cadillac Jukebox', 'Sunset Limited)

    Manufacturer: Orion
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback
    ASIN: B000GKV2J2
    The James Lee Burke: Sunset Limited & Cimarron Rose
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The James Lee Burke: Sunset Limited & Cimarron Rose
      James Lee Burke
      Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Audio Cassette

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      ASIN: 0743500040
      The Jerusalem Syndrome: The Wreck of the Sunset Limited
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Jerusalem Syndrome: The Wreck of the Sunset Limited
        Anne Montgomery
        Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
        Spy Stories & Tales of IntrigueSpy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
        ASIN: 1418443077

        Book Description

        In the early morning hours of October 9, 1995, the Amtrak Sunset Limited, a passenger train on route from Miami to Los Angeles, was derailed in the Arizona desert, a deadly act of sabotage that left one man dead and nearly one hundred injured. The only clue at the scene points to an unknown militia group called the Sons of Gestapo. The Jerusalem Syndrome: The Wreck of the Sunset Limited traces the story of a pregnant teenager who bears an odd facial deformity, a Vietnam veteran and former Special Forces sniper who, as he descends into the throes of mental illness, latches onto the girl, and a group of Pentecostal zealots - The Children of Light - who have been waiting in the desert over thirty years for Armageddon. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when local and state police, FBI investigators and a horde of reporters make camp by the twisted wreckage of the Sunset Limited. As the search for the saboteurs continues, the authorities find themselves faced with more questions. There are bodies in the desert, an ex-assassin struggling to maintain his sanity as he falls victim to the effects of the Jerusalem Syndrome, and a child about to be born in the wilderness.
        Sunset Limited
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Sunset Limited
          James Lee Burke
          Manufacturer: PHOENIX (ORIO)
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 0752825313
          Sunset Limited
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Sunset Limited
            James Lee Burke
            Manufacturer: Orion
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover

            GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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            3. A Morning for Flamingos A Morning for Flamingos
            4. Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
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            ASIN: 0752813064

            Book Description

            Dave Robicheaux strives to resolve the past as his family suffers a string of politically driven murders. In a deeply compellingnovel James Lee Burke weaves a web of plots and subplots.
            Sunset Limited
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Sunset Limited

              Manufacturer: Scorpion Press
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Leather Bound
              ASIN: 1873567375
              Sunset Limited
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Sunset Limited
                James Lee Burke
                Manufacturer: Doubleday
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                Similar Items:
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                ASIN: B000NUM5UA

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