Condominium

John D MacDonald apparently wrote Condominium in part out of annoyance about the development he saw on the Sarasota keys. I read this book when it first came out in 1977 at the time I was moving to Fort Myers. I had no real knowledge of hurricanes but knew they could be dangerous. Reading condominium only added to my naivety about hurricanes. I have continued to maintain my residence in Fort Myers, but now live 15-20 miles from the coast. Not hurricane proof but won’t get the storm surge described in condominium.
One of the strengths of the book is the variety of characters he develops to populate the condominium. They represent a cross section of the elderly - although perhaps a different cross section than would have been present in 1977. Fort Myers was then a smallish town with Lee County having a winter population of perhaps 180,000. Now the population in winter exceeds one million.
We have had a couple of hurricanes in the last decade - but not one like the hurricane MacDonald imagined. Most. Recently the eve of Irma passed within 5 miles of our home with winds of 115 mph. We were comfortably out of state at the time.
Rereading Condominium I found myself getting uptight worrying about the upcoming hurricane season and how much climate change is modifying hurricane season.
Human fallibility and human resilience are both clearly demonstrated by MacDonald.

My favorite writer who always kept me wanting more and got it. So many adjectives to describe John MacDonald’s writing I cannot choose just one. A master’s master.