Rating: 
Summary: Irony
Review: The "real" ambush described in the book occurs not in Fort Bragg but in Mogadishu. The selfish and shallow characters from TV journalism are themselves ambushed by the dirt, dust, and reality described by the soldiers. Wolfe fortunately does not cast in an opinion on either side of the gay rights issue. However, he does raise questions that are usually ignored in our heedless quest to publicly approve behavior that many of us privately question. His satiric assault remains evenly spread on all. Wolfe remains deeply pessimistic about our national love affair with TV, and its mendacious picture of life. Ironically, he publishes his novella in audio form only. Another question directed at us - given the reality of combat, how do we accomodate military units with their own coded behaviors designed (and proven) to win in close combat. We live in the most decadent of ages with unlimited amounts of personal freedom. Is this good for us? Finally, the soldiers ironically conduct the ambush against the network phonies by confronting them with a harsh and rarely spoken reality - modern infantry combat and the men required for such duty.
Rating:
Summary: Irony
Review: The "real" ambush described in the book occurs not in Fort Bragg but in Mogadishu. The selfish and shallow characters from TV journalism are themselves ambushed by the dirt, dust, and reality described by the soldiers. Wolfe fortunately does not cast in an opinion on either side of the gay rights issue. However, he does raise questions that are usually ignored in our heedless quest to publicly approve behavior that many of us privately question. His satiric assault remains evenly spread on all. Wolfe remains deeply pessimistic about our national love affair with TV, and its mendacious picture of life. Ironically, he publishes his novella in audio form only. Another question directed at us - given the reality of combat, how do we accomodate military units with their own coded behaviors designed (and proven) to win in close combat. We live in the most decadent of ages with unlimited amounts of personal freedom. Is this good for us? Finally, the soldiers ironically conduct the ambush against the network phonies by confronting them with a harsh and rarely spoken reality - modern infantry combat and the men required for such duty.
Rating: 
Summary: A Modern Dickens.
Review: The genius of Tom Wolfe lies not in his ability to devise ingenius plots; but like Dickens a century and a half before, he has the uncanny ability to capture many contemporary personality types with a very few verbal brush strokes. He then puts those created characters into a situation, consistent with contemporary reality. This is what he did in Bonfire of the Vanities, and this is what he did again in the audio novella, Ambush At Ft. Bragg. Anyone who has ever written a novel, which strives for verisimilitude knows that at some point your characters at least try to take over the story. We all find our original plot schemes bending,at least, as we interact with our creations. But in Tom Wolfe's case, one strongly suspects that it isn't even a battle. He first creates characters which perfectly reflect the contemporary American reality, and then chronicles the inevitable interaction of those characters. His novels plot themselves; and plot themselves with a reality which reflects the genius of their creation. In this short work one will see a picture of contemporary American TV "Journalism" that one may not like. But it sure does ring true! The man is a modern American treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Fort Bragg is a post not a base. Good book though
Review: The reader was wonderful and brought the characterization more to mind. First audio I've ever "heard".I usually enjoy reading more and forming my own inflections but this was a very well done book. Just the minor flaw of Fort Bragg being a Post not a Base. Can't believe that slipped by.
Rating: 
Summary: The same story twice over.
Review: The story was regurgitated twice. In the first 3 tapes, he narrated the story of an insecure TV program producer and his "star" broadcaster how they went undercover to obtain a confession from 3 thugs who beat up and killed a gay man (as is revealed when you read the summary provided by the publisher). You can stop listening after the 3rd tape because that's the entire story right there. There is relatively no build up to the characters since you know who did it, you know the unscrupulous nature of these TV journalists (it tells you so on the back cover of the book), you know ahead of time that they are going to twist the story to suit their means. In fact, give yourself a break and read the summary at the back of the book - no new information is actually reviewed by listening to the tapes. Very predictable and anti-climatic. A 5th grader could have written the plot. There is a tendency to repeat information that is not crucial to the plot, (like how small the surveillance equipment is). Say it once and we get the point, move on please - same advice I would give anyone planning to buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: great example to show the force of the mass media
Review: The tittle "Ambush at Fort Bragg", gives a previous hint of what the plot of the novel will be about. It creates a great conflict between two different points of view that share a friction trying to justify the illegal methods to disclose certain hidden facts that the audience should have knowledge of, but on the other hand, it shows the deonthological rules that journalists, as reporters of reality, have to follow to create an as-most-objective-as-possible (although objectiveness is impossible) representation of the happenings. I also see own interests that under my perception would NOT be justified, such as the want to increase audience percentages and things that turn into monetary profits.
Jose Larrucea
Rating:
Summary: Dont Listen To Anyone Who Puts This Book Down
Review: This book is excellently narrated by Edward Norton(American History X). It a perfect example of how the media is corrupt to get a good story. Anyone whos loves those media "specials" read this.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing idea, sharp observations, no human drama.
Review: Tom Wolfe does a fine job of carving a network TV news magazine crew with sharp, satiric strokes. He creates a situation that is both engaging and topical. It's an entertaining diversion, but ultimately I didn't feel particularly amused, enlightened, or otherwise moved by this story. In part, this is because there is no follow through with the key plot elements (murder, journalistic excesses) protrayed. More important, Wolfe settles for allowing key characters to fire off their points without effectively engaging one another. I had little sense that the narcissistic producer, Irv Durtscher, was any different at the end of the tale. There was a story worth telling here. Wolfe takes on issues as troubling and challenging as homophobia & tradition vs. diversity in the military, and investigative and story-making zeal vs. accuracy and fairness in broadcast news. When a novelist of Wolfe's stature takes on issues of this size, to produce but a diversion feels almost li! ke exploitation. Can America come to terms with market-driven investigative journalism? Can America tolerate a military subculture intolerant of diversity, and can a military forced to relinquish part of traditional prejudice develop an effective identity? I think that Wolfe is very adroit at sketching self-absorbed caricatures that can amuse us with these themes as a backdrop. I'd like like to see him try his hand at characters capable of movement and growth.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe-Lite, but interesting nonetheless
Review: Tom Wolfe presents an even-handed tale about a head-twisting attempt of a newsmagazine crew to ambush military men accused of killing a gay fellow soldier. This short story will leave you wondering, "Who actually got ambushed?" The soldiers? The murdered victim? The newscrew? The American public? Possibly everyone. In comparison to other Wolfe works, AMBUSH is relatively shallow. It's still a work that might make a number of other best-selling authors green with envy. Wolfe explores the minds of soldiers and newspeople whose motives and actions are far more complex than they appear on the surface. One would be tempted to initially label both parties in black and white judgements, but Wolfe's rich internal monologues make that difficult. The murder and it's criminal investigation ultimately become secondary to the news story and the circumstances surrounding it. Wolfe's even-handed approach to presenting the complex details of what appears to be an open and shut case will have folks from opposite sides of life react to different details with ire. It's easy to hate the accused rednecks. They're crass, unpolished, crude, and embody every bad southern male stereotype. It also becomes easy to hate the media moguls who twist and torment the story, not because they want justice (they don't REALLY care about gay rights or even solving the crime), but because they want huge ratings. They want their names up in lights. They'd sell their souls for things they don't even believe in. The converse observation of the accused soldiers is that they'd never hide behind false pretense, even to the point of death. The audio book has its own set of issues. Edward Norton's reading certainly hits the mark on tone and atmosphere. He's earnest, but varied in quality. (Given, deep-south--nearly-unintelligible-redneck might not be an easy accent to emmulate, but sometimes it's just painful.) The producers seemed to want to throw in "mood music" at every opportunity, so the listener is bombarded with distracting backdrops of country metal and news-promo orchestrations that add nothing to the overall mix. Please don't let that disuade you from this quick listen (about 180 minutes) is you're interested. Just consider yourself warned. AMBUSH at FORT BRAGG comes recommended to those seeking a quick and engaging tale to fit between your larger listening projects.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe-Lite, but interesting nonetheless
Review: Tom Wolfe presents an even-handed tale about a head-twisting attempt of a newsmagazine crew to ambush military men accused of killing a gay fellow soldier. This short story will leave you wondering, "Who actually got ambushed?" The soldiers? The murdered victim? The newscrew? The American public? Possibly everyone. In comparison to other Wolfe works, AMBUSH is relatively shallow. It's still a work that might make a number of other best-selling authors green with envy. Wolfe explores the minds of soldiers and newspeople whose motives and actions are far more complex than they appear on the surface. One would be tempted to initially label both parties in black and white judgements, but Wolfe's rich internal monologues make that difficult. The murder and it's criminal investigation ultimately become secondary to the news story and the circumstances surrounding it. Wolfe's even-handed approach to presenting the complex details of what appears to be an open and shut case will have folks from opposite sides of life react to different details with ire. It's easy to hate the accused rednecks. They're crass, unpolished, crude, and embody every bad southern male stereotype. It also becomes easy to hate the media moguls who twist and torment the story, not because they want justice (they don't REALLY care about gay rights or even solving the crime), but because they want huge ratings. They want their names up in lights. They'd sell their souls for things they don't even believe in. The converse observation of the accused soldiers is that they'd never hide behind false pretense, even to the point of death. The audio book has its own set of issues. Edward Norton's reading certainly hits the mark on tone and atmosphere. He's earnest, but varied in quality. (Given, deep-south--nearly-unintelligible-redneck might not be an easy accent to emmulate, but sometimes it's just painful.) The producers seemed to want to throw in "mood music" at every opportunity, so the listener is bombarded with distracting backdrops of country metal and news-promo orchestrations that add nothing to the overall mix. Please don't let that disuade you from this quick listen (about 180 minutes) is you're interested. Just consider yourself warned. AMBUSH at FORT BRAGG comes recommended to those seeking a quick and engaging tale to fit between your larger listening projects.
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