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Originally Posted by E.M.DuBois
Would you recommend him? Should I go give his work a shot? I've never heard of him, which is why I'm asking. I know he was brought up in context of this thread, but now I'm just kinda curious if he's a good read or not.
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You will probably find his work shows its age. He was a writer of best sellers back in the 60's and 70's and a bit later. He wrote good entertaining books rather than literary fiction. His technique seems to have been to research an industry very thoroughly and then write a novel based on characters in that industry and the challenges faced, usually during some crisis. Examples off the top of my head, apart from Airport are Hotel, Detective, Overload (Power Industry), Wheels (Auto industry), The Final Diagnosis (Hospitals), Strong Medicine (Pharmaceuticals) etc. All of these industries have, of course, moved on, though most remain recognizable and for the most part are still dealing with many of the same problems. I particularly liked one of his lesser known works, In High Places, based around Canadian Politics during the Cold War and a very interesting proposal to save Canada.
You may still enjoy his books. It depends of course on your tastes. Personally I do recommend his books and think they remain a good read.