JasonKoivu

What a complete and utter bastard!

If Edward J. Renehan Jr.'s Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt is anything to go by, shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt was the definition of scrooge. He amassed more wealth in his lifetime than Bill Gates, almost never gave to charitable causes, eschewed his wife and relations, and had the personality of someone who might as well have saved their breath and had "Go Fuck Yourself!" tattooed to his forehead. Vanderbilt took ambition and success at all costs as the measure of a man's quality. Nothing else seemed to matter. I found him so despicable I wasn't sure I could rise above my loathing for the man in order to give Renehan's book a fair review, but the 4 star rating would seem to indicate so. Renehan, while lacking an epic Homeric eloquence, proved to be a utilitarian wordsmith. With a subject as formidable as the historical specter that is Vanderbilt, you can't hope to capture him, you can only hope to contain him. Reading Renehan's entombing of Vanderbilt within Commodore... is well worth your time.