Visiting an old book friend

The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book first hit the best seller list in 1961 when I was a 14 year old boy with raging hormones and much curiosity. The adults in my family whispered about it and passed it around - but not to me because I was just a boy and too young to know about many of the facts of life. (I didn't think so but had no say in the matter.) My interest in the book soon faded.

In 1966, Steve McQueen starred in Nevada Smith based on the character from The Carpetbaggers and my interest was rekindled.

WOW! This book had it all, sex, lust, power, love, power, hate and life all wrapped in a riveting tale of Jonas Cord (supposedly based on Howard Hughes). I couldn't put it down - I read it on a weekend all 673 small print paperback pages.

The Carpetbaggers is a raw tale of life staged in the high speed world of the rich and famous in the first half of the 20th century. If you enjoy novels about real life, you must read this one.

It is a love or hate kind of book, I read it about once a decade.

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