A Man in Full

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Summary: 727 pages about people you would never want to know!!
Review: Maybe I just don't get it but after reading this very long book, I felt a little depressed. I know Tom Wolfe is a master of social satire and for the first few chapters, I was fascinated at his humorous portrayal of Charlie Croker, the cracker from Georgia who became a mega real estate developer. And Wolfe has the talent to pinpoint human foibles and pretentions oh so well. The problem was that I couldn't find a character who I really liked or identified with. So slogging through all the black rap talk and watching all the characters show their nasty sides was amusing but just wasn't enough. I liked the book but I didn't love it.

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Summary: Try to ignore these characters
Review: How does Wolfe do it? As in Bonfire and the Right Stuff, he creates characters with as much life and personality as anyone this side of Owen Meany Gus McCall or Rabbit Angstrom. These are, as always, "arrogant, obnoxious, impertient" folks he peoples with which he peoples his world, and yet I can't help but be drawn in, and care more about each of them with each passing page. The quoted description referred to the Cannon, of course, who seems to be this book's exception that proves the rule. In the Right Stuff, it was the scientists we never warmed to, just as in Bonfire, for me at least, it was the DA, constantly flexing those sternomastocloids. I harkened back to that with the early descriptions of Cap'm Charlie here, but that didn't last long. As he did with Sherman McCoy (and even, to a degree, John Glenn), Wolfe managed to build a hero I cared about and wanted to follow out of what appeared at first to be pretty disagreeable material. Roger Too White ebbs and flows, but is as real as anyone in Bonfire, and even relatively minor characters like Peepgas and Mayor Jordan have hilarious and instructive moments. And Conrad? Conrad was pure genius. He had me from his introduction, with his grandly pathetic life's dream of a "condo in Danville" (I've been to Danville. A condo in Danville is no Turpemtine), through all of the outrageous plot twists that got him to the end. Fantasy? So what? These twists (particulary the jailbreak), fantastic or not, were pure deus ex machina -- and therefore particularly apporiate literary devices to apply to a Zeuss-quoting Okie on the run. Wolfe has been accused (repeatedly) of leaving us unsatisfied with the ending, but even that is more a testimony to the strength of his characters than anything. With people like these, living breathing people we cared about, what ending would have satisfied? I'd keep reading as long as he wanted to tell me their story.

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Summary: Did they pay you by the word?
Review: I was looking forward to this book because I wanted to read a good, sprawling novel about America at the end of the century. I was bitterly disappointed. Wolfe's writing, while comical and perceptive at times, is often bloated and wasteful. I would give this book zero stars if possible. The fatal blow to this book is its reprehensible cast of characters. While every novel needs its share of villians, complete and utter stupidity for every character is a bit much. By the midway point of the book, I really couldn't give two hoots about Charlie, Peepgass, Conrad. Every person has flaws -- every person has his good side, too -- Wolfe apparently has forgot that. I had no motivation to stick with any of them -- Conrad's idiocy gave rise to no sympathy, and the idea that that buffoon Charlie ever managed to build a multimillion dollar empire is preposterous at best. I got so sick of the characters' Three Stooges-like approach to life that I abandoned this book just past the halfway mark and left it at my vacation hotel, thousands of miles away from my home. Back to the drawing board, Tom. Sorry you wasted (and that's what this book is) ten years of your life.

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Summary: James Clavell goes down South
Review: Well-written and well-devised, "A Man in Full" does what it sets out to do: Show the reader the author's "real" Atlanta and the people who compose it. My only real complaint is that Wolfe ends the story prematurely, and in so doing doesn't do full justice to either the characters he's created or the audience for whom they are intended.

Regardless, I thought the story played well and had a wonderful mix of humor, sarcasm, and abrasive commentary that was equally apportioned among the elite and the lowly, white genteel society (and its black equivalent), prison life, the working class, religion, the multicultural mishmash that is any urban city (but uniquely Atlantian here), and that 'Everyman' concept so often bungled by other writers.

Unlike others, however, I would have been much more interested in seeing where Roger, Conrad, and even Charlie went FROM the point where the novel ended. (Why is it that authors so often seem to spend hundreds of pages crafting and then miss the point that what they've crafted, having now taken on a life of its own, deserves more (as do we readers!) than a quick and easy wrap-up that leaves us wishing we knew what happened NEXT? )

That said, loosely interpreted, I suppose that puts me in the camp of those who found the ending somewhat quickly arrived at and dissatisfying. Although not at all implausible based on the former actions of the characters, the ending seems too pat. . . . Everyone recovers, all is well, and we're left with that. Reflecting back on the plot and character development, it would seem that at least a few folks should have come out "battered and bruised." But for all its attempted realism, the ending implies that this book is after all, if you go by the ending, more fantasy than reality. Too bad. I believe the reader is entitled to a bit more.

Wolfe's writing does put me in mind of the late James Clavell's work (a positive from where I sit), and the portions concerning the Croker 'dynasty' remind me of the empire building found in both 'Tai-Pan' and 'Noble House' (as do the Asian components). Like Clavell, Wolfe's writing style, full of the richness language necessary to write a well-crafted novel, quickly takes you in and immerses you within the characters and plot. You come out of the experience feeling that you know more about the history, lifestyle, and inner-workings of not only Atlanta proper, but the subcultures that underlie it, and THAT alone makes this one worth a read.

In spite of its occasional uneveness, this is one of the best crafted stories I've read in a while. Although I found "A Man in Full" to be a more than decent piece of work, I really feel that for all its complexity I would have enjoyed more Conrad and less Charlie. (Maybe it was set up by that absolutely abominable picture of Charlie that 'graced' the front cover.) Conrad's story, like Sinclair's "The Jungle," or Norris' "McTeague" in many ways, is the one into which I really wanted to be taken. A favor, Mr. Wolfe? Write another novel and focus on a 'Conrad' character. His story was where your writing TRULY shone.

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Summary: Amazing what a good publicist can do
Review: We've been had. The publicity machine surrounding Tom Wolfe is probably the real story here. And probably a lot more interesting than A Man in Full.

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Summary: Wolfe has assembled an enjoyable and poignant story.
Review: Not only has Tom Wolfe penned a very entertaining story that is extremely difficult to put down once you start reading, but he has also provided an avenue to voice his concern that people need to not get so caught up with the trappings of society and focus instead on the simple things that really feed your soul. This book was fabulous -- I anxiously await his next book.

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Summary: Wolfe missed the opportunity for a great story.
Review: Wolfe had me engrossed with his portrayal of Charlie Croker and characters from various walks of life in multi-ethnic Atlanta, and his descriptions of patronizing bigotry, the thrill of hunting, the studding of horses, life in prison, the humiliating downfall of a tycoon, politics and power evolked tremendous emotion. He set the stage for a what I anticipated would be a powerful climax but he squandered the opportunity.

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Summary: Made a fool of myself on the subway
Review: because I was laughing so loudly at this book (the scene in the horsebarn). Lots of wonderful social commentary. Great humor. A couple of great stories (Conrad, Charlie). But everything that is complained about in the readers' reviews here (lame ending, contrived plot, too long) is right. It doesn't have the overall purpose of Bonfire and it's not nearly as good.

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Summary: "roman a clef" - Tom Wolfe is "Too White" for example.
Review: Having read many reviews I am alarmed that Wolfe's point is being missed - unless someone shouts pretty loud the inevitable movie will be a farce. Tom Wolfe is apologizing for being Too White. Donald Trump is a ludicrous "Cracker." The trophy wives are the only strong human beings. "Stoicism" means being born again and running away from problems that really cannot be solved - the race mess in America. Let's see - is OJ in there somewhere? If Wolfe is telling America to face the reality of racism then this is a great piece of work. So what if the real estate thing is illogical? Wolfe worked very hard at this ; he is trying to tell us something. Agree?

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Summary: What's the harm in a little escapism?
Review: Tom Wolfe's latest read is pure and simple escapism from beginning to end. The characters are interesting in that they are relatively one dimensional and unrealistic. I think a lot of people are taking this book way too seriously and should just enjoy it for what it is without trying to find some deeper meaning in it.