Rating: 
Summary: Unsatisfying Last Minute epiphanies
Review: Word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, scene by scene, chapter by Chapter I savored Wolf's novel A Man In Full. Then I reached the climax with its absurd, paradoxical epiphanies and subsequent celebration of cynicism triumphant in Wes Jordan's office. Other, more satisfying choices were available for Charlie . He didn't have to be caught up in the despair driven epiphany of Conrad the big handed Stoic particularly at a moment when Cap'm Charlie's trophy wife Serena was beginning to show a spark of character, affection, intelligence and authentic support for the Sixty Minute Man. Tom Wolf is one of my favorite authors and aside from the ending I enjoyed every second of his narration. I found the "saddlebags" scene particularly vivid, hilarious and frightening. Wait a minute...the MANAGER JUST TOLD ME THAT I LIKE THE ENDING so as far as recommending this book well you do what you want and I'll do what I want.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure Tom Wolfe
Review: TW tries to shoulder the mantle of Charles Dickens, and succeeds fairly well. Like the moralistic, melodramatic sweep of Dickens' best, A Man in Full sprawls over the full expanse of the human swamp, incorporating characters from all social niches and swirling them into a maelstrom of a plot. I thought it worked better in Bonfires of the Vanities, but that's a quibble. All in all, much better than what usually passes for fiction out there. If you want something in a similar aren't-we-humans-rediculous vein, but not overwritten, try Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley.
Rating:
Summary: Why the Ending?
Review: The complex plots and colorful characters caught my interest from the first pages. The plots were reminicent of Bonfire in the best of ways and the characters were real. But why the ending?
Rating: 
Summary: TW reaches beyond his grasp.
Review: I looked forward to reading this novel after finding Bonfire of the Vanities somewhat amusing. However AMIF was a deep disappointment. I found the prose clumsy and the plotting overly contrived. TW clearly has little real contact with black America given that his use of African-American slang is consistently off and his attempts to recreate rap-rhymes were painful to read through. He simply lacks the experience and I suspect the skill, to pull off a credible story using the characters he has created. Also TW seems to equate cynicsm with balanced satire. I have rarely been as happy to finish reading a book.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating characters
Review: I loved this book and was always interested to see what would happen next. The racial stuff got real old real fast.Conrad was by far my favorite character with Charlie a close second. The endinng was great and not what I expected. Despite it's length I recommend it to anyone who loves to read.
Rating:
Summary: A slow start, but then hold on for a wild ride!
Review: I usually have a hard time with books in which there are lots of "main" characters, but Tom Wolfe has a way of fleshing each of the people out to the point where I can visualize them, down to facial expressions. For anyone who has aspired to ride some scheme to financial riches, you're going to see a bit of yourself in this book, and maybe wince once or twice. I did, anyway. Likewise, the power brokers and poverty peddlers will find themselves skewered as well. All in all, an incredibly satisfying story. I put down the book comfortable that the cosmic scales of justice had balanced themselves nicely. The last 200 pages or so (of the hardcover) simply cannot be put down. I rarely find myself so completely hooked in a story, as I was when I found the wild arrangement of sub-plots finally tying into a perfect weave. Mr. Wolfe deserves congrats for this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Prodigeous
Review: I can't believe all the people with prodigeous arms, the women with prodigeous backs Wolfe writes about. There is very little imagination as he introduces new characters. His poor use of ebonics and slang is unwelcome, his phonetics for southern accents is silly. I should have read a spiderman comic.
Rating:
Summary: Firewood
Review: This book sat on the shelf for several months before I got around to it. Unfortunately, that's where it should have stayed. Wolfe appears to be a clueless wordsmith, weaving sometimes great prose into a meaningless fog. His characters are contrived and overblown, the story a tedious morass. If this is what Wolfe sees when he "observes" America, then perhaps he should visit an optometrist. Halfway through, I was so put off by the hateful cynicism that is Wolfe's excuse for satire that the book literally went into my wood stove.
Rating:
Summary: Missed the mark with this one
Review: What a disappointment! TW has really lost touch with society -- it is painfully obvious as he attempts to describe the black youth of today - obviously styled after what he's seen on television and film. As my English professor always told me, write what you know. Hard to get excited about. I had to put it away after wasting four hours trying to find something to make me want to turn the next page
Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed!
Review: I liked Bonfire of the Vanities a lot--it is one of my favorite books. So I looked forward to reading A Man in Full but I was really disappointed. I agree with the negative reviews. The characters--Charlie, Conrad--were somewhat interesting--but basically the whole thing seemed contrived, not very clever, depressing, and endless. One thing I learned from the book is that I don't ever want to live in or even visit Atlanta, or anywhere in Georgia for that matter.
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