Rating: 
Summary: tedious, repetitive, and disappointing
Review: Living in Atlanta, I looked forward to reading this expose of my cities obsession with overdevelopment. That part, Wolfe got right, but it wasn't worth wading through a book of this length.His penchant for repeating cute phrases such as "Roger Too White" and "boys with breasts" got on my nerves. But most disappointing (and disturbing) is that all the Heros of his book are white (including the really obnoxious, despicable lead character, Charlie Croker whom he converts into a rather unbelievable hero by the end of the book) and all the black characters are either portrayed in a negative light or as rather weak in principals (such as the mayor). Why couldn't Wolfe include some good African-American role models in a book about a predominantly black city?
Rating: 
Summary: Pee-you
Review: What a waste of time this one was. I struggled to get through the first 200 pages, bolstering myself with fond memories of other TW books I had read. The story finally picked up, but became only mildly amusing. I agree that TW has a problem with women, especially middle-aged women--there wasn't a single female character in this book who wasn't hateful, greedy, nagging, conniving, etc. The prison story was completely unlikely (no one in California goes to a maximum security prison for a first offense of aggravated assault). TW makes some hilarious mistakes regarding prison and gang lingo, e.g., he refers to a Latino nickname as Weddo (Blondie). THE WORD IS "HUERO," which means blond in Spanish. It appears that TW ran into an editorial deadline and decided to wrap up a 787-page epic with a ending I would only expect from beginning writers. Where were his editors? I do not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Major Waste of Time
Review: Interesting story for a while but with characters you simply don't care about.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this one...
Review: Tom Wolfe is a wonderful storyteller, and he proves this for two-thirds of this novel. He shows the modern South for what it is -- turbulent, evolving, but clinging (desperately) to the past. The conclusion is baffling and ridiculous. I guess Wolfe ran out of gas, or got bored or both...
Rating:
Summary: A man in full hate
Review: Having read Tom Wolfe's other novels I very much looked forward to A Man in Full. I'm sorry to say that I'm deeply disappointed. It's simply a very poor novel in every respect. The only way to make it interesting is to look upon the book as written not by the novelist Tom Wolfe but by the journalist Tom Wolfe as an portrait and measure of US in the 1990's. But as such it's a very sad and depressing portrait which must have been written by a man who hates the society he lives in. It's a society governed by self-interest displayed as greed or the fear of poverty.It makes me sad because I met much more of humanity and dignity when I spent a lot of time in US about 20 years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely great writing
Review: The reader who disliked "Bonfire of the Vanities" will dislike "A Man In Full." If the primary purpose of this book is to entertain the reader, then Wolfe has succeeded mightily. His writing ability is without peer, and he develops a story with genius. "A Man In Full" is a fast-paced frolic. Wolfe's wit and humor are on full display. Many people have apparently been disappointed by the book's ending; I must agree that it was somewhat of a letdown. Nevertheless, the journey to the end was what mattered. I do not need any sort of "payoff" ending where everyone gets his just desserts. The book, irrespective of what I think should have happened to the characters, was thoroughly enjoyable. The question regarding whether this is literature may be another matter. Some feel that it ain't; others disagree. That determination would best be left to the critics, omniscient as they are. Tom Wolfe is held to an unfair standard. Apparently, when a reader finishes this book and realizes that it isn't the next "The Great Gatsby," he feels the need to run down its author for what the book isn't. Before you deign it necessary to diminish Wolfe, realize that professional wrestling's own Mankind has received high praise and high marks at this web site for a book that Warren from "There's Something About Mary" could've written.
Rating:
Summary: Courageous and Insightful
Review: Am I alone in begin a little confused about what it means to be a man (or a Man) in America at the end of the millennium? This book so brilliantly explores this issue ... from the top to the bottom in the age of a bizarre pastiche of unbridled greed and materialism with rampant political correctness and race obsession, and of the promise of unbridled sexual conquest in the midst of feminist rhetoric, and what that does to both men and women. This book is profoundly spritual and moral, far superior to Bonfire of the Vanities, in my opinion. For me a least, clearly it is Conrad who is the authentic Man in Full ... who overcomes his surroundings and limitations (including hippie parents) without compromising his principles. His Odyssey serves as a sharp contrast with Charlie's concepts of manhood, that fall apart in ways that make him open for the epiphany he experiences at the end of the book (which was perfect in my opinion: isn't this the way that we would expect the jaded people at the news conference to react to a man who has the temerity to actually tell the truth?) Stoicism blossomed during the decadent period of the Roman Empire ... a period in so many ways like out own. But Wolfe doesn't preach, just leaves the choice up to the reader. As fate would have it, I read this book shortly after reading Anton Myrer's "Once an Eagle," also an epic exploration of what it means to be a man of principle in a world that doesn't only not reward such values, but in many ways seems to be incapable of recognizing their existence. The combination of experiences has galvanized my own sense that freedom and serenity is possible, no matter what external circumstances are.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, but lacks elegance
Review: Wolfe's "A Man if Full" is the first of his works I have experienced in print. While the book does introduce some interesting characters, I can't help but feel that Wolfe is some sort of depressed masochist. His most compelling characters all experience painful falls from their respective levels of comfort. I must also point out Wolfe's obvious propensity to over-describe the setting. While his words are colorful, he does not strive for brevity. I feel the novel could be 100 or 200 pages shorter and lost nothing had he taken a more efficient approach to details. I really could care less about the color and pattern of a minor character's clothes or the intricacy and opulence displayed in a garden. The denouement was unspectacular at best, and most certainly predictable. All-in-all, the book is great, colorful, and compelling despite its laborious pace. I suspect that being from Atlanta also gives me a great appreciation for this book. In a literary age that lacks any depth, Wolfe is a clear favorite to be considered a master. I only hope that his work will be revered with the likes of Steinbeck and Hemingway fifty years from now.
Rating: 
Summary: .
Review: I wonder if someone who is naive enough to propagate such an absurd stertotype that all 17 year olds are "simple minded" might be the pot calling the kettle black. I am the 17 year old who reviewed this book a few days ago and who Miha was referring to, and just for the record, my IQ is over 160, is apparently higher than 99% of my age peers according to the Ph.D. who tested it, and I was reading at an adult level in 4th grade. I understand everything about this novel, I just don't find it particularly interesting. You can go ahead spew out some five page pseudo-intellectual rant about Epictetus and the Kaballah, but it has has nothing to do with this mediocre novel. Tom Wolfe took 800 pages to write a story that could have been done in 300 because he is paid per word. That might also have something to do with why this book doesn't seem to have been touched by an editor. This is the kind of book that impresses people who simply have never read anything better.
Rating:
Summary: At times brilliant writing, overall disappointing in the end
Review: Wolfe's choice of Atlanta as his focus for attempting to tellus something about U.S. society in general at the end of the 20thcentury, was, in theory, a good one. Unfortunately, the way it works out in this book was not quite as good. While Wolfe's writing in A Man in Full is at times just as brilliant as it was in past works such as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, there are big problems here. Probably the most glaring were the chapters devoted to Conrad. Not only was this sub-plot seemingly coming out of left field, but these were easily the least well-written sections of the book. The extensive excerpts from The Stoic were bizarre -- as was the tremendous impact these ultimately would have on the book's conclusion. The conclusion of Man in Full is unfortunate. Not only is the incident that supposedly triggered the original plot twist, the alleged rape of Elizabeth Armholster by Fareek Fanon, turned into a triviality, but Wolfe practically throws away all of his characters. Throughout the book, Wolfe is apparently trying to make some kind of point about Charlie Croker, but in the end, acts like he just doesn't know what to do with him. When Croker finally makes his decision about what to do regarding the Fareek Fanon matter, Wolfe has rendered him completely absurd, as some dying man taking advice from some California crackpot. Wouldn't the drama been greater if he really would have taken a stance one way or the other and paid some more realistic consequences? A final small quibble: Apparently Wolfe took too long writing this book. The economic climate of Man in Full, clearly in the 1990s, is decidedly downbeat, even from a national perspective. From what I can tell, Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. I think this fact gives the book a falseness that made me wary of the credibility of the book in general. Even with these big problems, for all its 700 pages, it is at times a lively and insightful read. And Wolfe's writing remains, even if only at times, a joy in itself to read.
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