Rating: 
Summary: View of Real Life
Review: What I loved most about this book was Wolfe's characterization of Charlie Croker, a man I meet over and over again in real life. He is a true southerner, rich and powerful and ignorant of the more "delicate" issues of life, like the feelings of those who work for him. He thinks of himself as democratic, but instead he is patronizing. That Charlie gets his comeuppance is a strong point in the book. Unfortunately, in Wolfe's books there isn't anyone to really LIKE, and therefore, that doesn't put it at the top of the literary heap - in my opinion. I like to be able to identify with at least one of the characters, and this book isn't like that. Still it's a very good, interesting and easy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh Subjects, Great Read
Review: I strongly recommend this book. In addition to providing that Wolfeian insight to modern culture & characters it's funny, warm, amusing, moving. Herman Wouk would have loved this book. I suspect this book will be rediscovered by many people who found it a little too much or much too little on the first attempt. It's a classic snapshot of end of the century US culture to me, interpreted by a fine storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Sublimely captivating satire
Review: Tom Wolfe, as is his trademark style, emanates forth in A Man in Full his caustic wit, biting satire, amazingly diverse characters, superior dialogue, and a highly engrossing writing style. Due to this undeniably rare combination in modern fiction, Wolfe elevates himself above the 2 books/year modern authors who churn out books like a factory and value spineless & flavorless style over certifiable substance. Wolfe, in A Man in Full, gives us a work not lacking in either comprehensiveness or profundity. This, like Bonfire, is a great American novel. Wolfe's refreshing penchant for amazingly lucid and superlatively amusing dialogue makes this book hard to put down. Wolfe ingeniously satirizes the unwritten, although readily apparent, class structure of the South through such bizarrely eclectic characters as Charlie Croker(good ol' boy establishment), his ex-wife Martha(shallow elitist), Fareek "The Canon" Fanon(flatulent inner-city star athlete), Croker's wife Serena(trophy wife), Roger "too" White II(the Morehouse Man in an identity crisis), Conrad Hensley(blue collar drone turned philosopher), and my favorite character, the entertainingly enigmatic Raymond Peepgass(the East Coast crowd moved South). A Man in Full comes highly recommended to those who value witty, substantive works over vapidly trite novels of fluff.
It's only fitting to conclude with an excerpt of typical Wolfe dialogue from the jail scene: "But how do you get to be a...player?" Conrad asked Five-O. "What can you do?"
"No do no mo'notting, brah. Use da mouth. NO make beef wit' da buggahs. Use da mouth."
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect-pitch analysis of the modern moral quandary
Review: This fine, sprawling novel has only cartoonish characters, BUT -- and this is its saving grace -- the plot is so hilariously implausible that it makes you sputter giggling into your cheez wiz sandwich. Or maybe it's just me.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable work, especially in audio form
Review: This review refers to the Audio book, masterfully read by David Ogden Stiers. A MAN IN FULL is a noteworthy work by Tom Wolfe that examines the core of true manliness in the modern world. While there's no swashbuckling, open-shirted flexing of pectorals, just watch as two men are pressed far beyond the breaking point of most - one maintains his honor at the ultimate cost, the other struggles mightily with folding his hand. Both rise from the ashes of their former lives in extraordinary form. Wolfe has a keen ability to delicately describe the intricacies of interpersonal interactions with delightful detail. Though the audiobook is abridged, it maintains the integrity of Wolfe's wonderful descriptions. The beauty of Wolfe's work is in the subtle, smart observations of human thought, action, and reaction. For example, one of the main characters loves to flex his large lattissimus dorsi (back) muscles as it insinuates his physical dominance not only to his companions, but to himself. Admit it - you know someone like that, and recognizing it will make you smile. Though cleverly written and plotted, A MAN IN FULL is not for the faint of heart. There is some grizzly, real-world subject matter that may make the reader cringe. There is an artfully crafted scene that far surpasses the end-of-your-rope tension presented by the feature films "Falling Down" and "Changing Lanes", where the reader will feel the vice of life's little injustices add up to an unbearable Herculean burden. There is a particularly gut-wrenching scene that culminates in a hideous violation in a prison shower stall. Though we'd like to assume these things don't happen, Tom Wolfe reports it with a sad urgency that requires the reader's attention. I would recommend listening to A MAN IN FULL in its audiobook format as read by David Ogden Stiers. I don't believe that I've ever heard an audiobook reader so perfectly matched for a particular novel. Stiers expertly evokes a wide range of American dialects from upper-class white Atlanta, to upper-class black Atlanta, to lower-class Oakland, to white-supremacist prisoner, to Latino, to butcher, baker, and candlestick-maker. The entire performance is pitch-perfect, adding an additional level of emotional involvement in the story. Stiers (of M*A*S*H fame) shines brightest when performing the behind-closed-doors scenes of Atlanta's political and business meetings. He brings the precise amount of vocal snobbery, conceits, and vulnerability that we came to love/hate in his M*A*S*H character, Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III. A MAN IN FULL comes highly recommended for those seeking an excellently crafted novel, with rich descriptions of each character. An additional recommendation comes for the audiobook. David Ogden Stiers provides the ideal avenue on which to (re)experience this well-told tale.
Rating:
Summary: Defining a man in full
Review: What is a man in full? Tom Wolfe, author of prior books on banking and astronauts takes us into Atlanta to explore what gets to the root of being a man. Is it a defense lawyer coming to grips with a racially sensitive legal case? Is it a businessman struggling against the tides of modern banking? Is it a distribution center worker imprisoned out of his own sense of honesty? Is it a banker coming to grips with his declining influence over the years? We are taken through a complex narrative that weaves the stories of these characters together. A plot driven story of this magnitude can frequently run into trouble, but Mr. Wolfe finds a way to make his character both deep and believable. You find yourself rooting for them despite their imperfections. Similar to Bonfire of the Vanities, Mr. Wolfe investigates the pretenses that we have put around ourselves. Stripping them away reveals a deeper understanding of strength and character. Writing about this is what Tom Wolfe is all about. Who and what is a Man in Full? I hope you will have an answer after reading the book. :-)
Rating:
Summary: Drive for the deal
Review: I read the hard-cover edition of this book because my professor at a prominent real estate school recommended it. Well, I shouldn't say recommended it more than mentioned it class with such a mischievous look in the eye that it piqued my curiosity. Wolfe had consulted with my professor for this book, and I could tell where Wolfe integrated the information. For example, Croker breaks the developer's rule of never becoming personally liable for loans. The mischievous look from the professor was probably due to the unconventional way in which Croker acquires the land for his tower of egomania. Plot spoiler: Croker essentially incites a race riot that depresses the value of speculative land in the county 20-fold. I suppose such tactics are fair game for a novel, but in the real world, this can turn heads. The novel is supposedly fiction, but sometimes one wonders, given the "Streptofoam"-lined baby seats and legal research on "Lexus and Nexus". Fareek "The Cannon" Fannon's sexcapade has uncanny semblance to (and perhaps lessons for) the Kobe Bryant saga going on now. The almost too close parallels to reality are what make the book an exciting read. The last novel I read was, interestingly enough, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, a book known for the (literary) strength of its female lead character. Wolfe also has Tolstoy's remarkable perceptive ability with regards to what people are thinking in social and private situations. In many cases, this is what adds humour to the book. By contrast, Wolfe does not aim to make sweeping political statements in this story. Its primary theme and sole purpose is given by the title--to describe the powerful, dominative, egotistical, brutish male psyche and spirit, that is seductive in its unrelenting "drive for the deal."
Rating:
Summary: Atlanta Exposed
Review: A Man in Full is a very good book. Like all of Wolfe's books it is well written, covers a lot of ground and develops substantial characters. It has so many different strains that the novel remains lively with three or four differnt threads moving quickly throughout until they join together in the end. Each differnt story could have been a good book in itself, but combining all of them into this single epic was a difficult, but effective, trick. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the social commentary in contemporary Atlanta, but it certainly made for a compelling book. I would highly recommend this book for Wolfe fans, but it would be an excellent selection for people interested in social commentary, American studies or good, quick reading novels.
Rating:
Summary: tour de force scenes
Review: This is a harrowing social novel of the Atlanta elite, both black and white. The main character is a former football player, now real estate developer, with a second wife and a load of financial problems. Another major character is an intelligent, highly principled (white) warehouseman whose path ultimately crosses the real estate developer's. I did not find any of the other principal characters very well developed. At the same time, Wolfe's forte is to richly imagine and convey the emotion of a scene, and many of these tour de force scenes involve black characters. No one will ever accuse Wolfe of subtlety, but his prose can be fun as well as effective and creative. I won't give it away but I did not like the ending: a happy, conventional ending suggested it itself, and would actually have been more realistic than the ending chosen. Wolfe is interested in the ancient Stoics , and does very well in giving life and relevance to their philosophy, but carries it just a bit too far; in fun?
Rating:
Summary: Above Most Heads
Review: Tom Wolfe can't do better than this and neither can anyone else. I would have read another 800 pages of this story. For me it wasn't overstuffed enough. The brilliance that Wolfe brings to bear in this novel boggles my mind. The amount of research he would have had to do for almost every element of the novel, from prison to Atalnata politics to horse breading would make most authors cringe away from undertaking such a task. What flies over most heads, it seems to me, is the ending. Are we supposed to take this final foray into the absurd seriously? I don't know. Was Don Quixote insane or inspired? If I were Mr. Wolfe I would be reading most of these reviews with a sardonic grin. Not laughing at you, but... okay, maybe laughing at you....
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