A Man in Full

Rating:
Summary: First 650 pages great,terrible conclusion!
Review: The first 80% of this book was outsatanding eith the exception of trying to understand the language of 5-0.The characters developed well and it was quite easy to develop strong feelings(both good and bad) about all the major characters.Several of the scenes;the plantation,the workout session,horse breeding,prison life;literally jumped off the pages at me.They were quite vivid and believable. However,the ending leaves the reader unfulfilled and does not continue with the intensity or emotion of the earlier parts of the story.I guess writing a 700+ page novel was too draining for the author who must have said "Now that I've exhausted myself by creating all these wonderful and interesting characters,placed them in a late 20th century pressure cooker,I'm too tired to finish so I'll get the third grade class at PS # 32 to write the last 75 pages."

Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: I admit, I was completely engrossed in the lives of the characters that wolfe so brilliantly developed. Moreover, the undertones of political correctness, money, racism, and general concsiousness of the moral fabric of america as we descend upon the new century was both insightgul and profound. What I found interesting, however, is the inordinate amount of times wolfe focuses on mens strength and particularly, mens bodies (arms and muscles come up a lot). Too many for sure. Oddly, the only references to womens bodys is "a boy with breasts" ergo Serena Crocker, Charlies wife. I think Wolfe is gay, which is great, but he should have just created a gay character instead of infusing the prose with overtures of homoerotism.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story, Lousy Style and Punctuation
Review: There was a great story line to keep me going, because the punctuation was so lousy (...WOW!!) and the grammar so incorrect (if I was...), I almost quit reading every few pages or so. But no, I held on, only to find the book ending most ridiculously.

Rating:
Summary: Great when it's great; leaden when it's bad
Review: Wolfe is still a master storyteller when he's on, and I'd say he's on about 80% of the time in this novel. The account of Conrad's last day outside prison makes for one of the most riveting chapters I've ever read. On the other hand, Wolfe resorts to an absurd device to spring Conrad from prison, and he lapses much too often into throwaway lines and cliches like "After what seemed like an eternity," or "after what seemed like two hours" or "after what--" well, you get the idea; pick a time frame between five minutes and an eternity. A book that took 11 years to write was well worth reading, but I wish he'd tacked maybe 6 nore months onto the writing time....

Rating:
Summary: It's nice to read a master again
Review: Tom Wolfe is a real writer, one who values the context as much as the angst of his characters. While some readers may find it reminiscent of 19th century novels and their focus on manners, I find it refreshing to live with believable people who are both the shapers and the products of their society. And is there anyone who can draw pictures in words as well as Wolfe? At times, I laughed aloud: he was describing people I see every day - their movements, their clothes (what a fabulous eye the man has!), their sweat stains. He also has them talk, and the sounds of Hawaiian pidgen, Georgia cracker, California Okie, urban street talk, and whiney bankdom (among others)all ring true. Don't miss this book: there's much to learn and enjoy from these pages.

Rating:
Summary: Shallow and over-wrought
Review: The character developments were shallow and not more than cartoons. The plot is outrageously contrived and the resolution forced. The best parts were the scenes at Turpntime. A disappointing read

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written buffoonery.
Review: To compare Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full" to anything by Charles Dickens is like comparing a cheese sandwich to a filet mignon. After anticipating the release of this book for some time, I was terribly disappointed to find a poorly written mish-mash with unlikeable and shallow characters and a plot which falls apart early on. By the time I got to the ending I was ready to toss it. A couple of the chapters were so preposterous that I wanted to lay the book down and never finish it, but I plugged on until the "deus ex machina" ending. Having lived in Atlanta for a number of years, I find Mr. Wolfe's knowledge of the city superficial at best and non-existant at worst. Don't take his route to Habersham Rd. unless you want to go miles out of your way. And don't waste your time on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Wolfe's novel a great American classic
Review: How can an author so thoroughly capture the mosaic of contemporary American culture; create a novel where we root for the success of all the main characters; invent Charlie Croker -- one of the most engaging American characters ever -- AND MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY? This in my opinion will go down as one of the great American novels. Wolfe creates complex characters who strive mightily to survive despite their place in society or their blind spots. In Croker, he's created a character as robust as this country. In the novel,( thanks to another beautifully wrought character) Conrad helps him reclaim the true source of his manhood and honor. The book is epic and it's message is not soon forgotten. Read it now! It is a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: a big book on a big subject
Review: I know this guy! Developer Croker is like many I have known over the years: always at the edge, sometimes over. Tom Wolfe captures him and the other characters essentially right. I love how he weaved in players from enough walks of American life as to create a tapestry of foibles of our society as it is this decade. While not a perfect book, and surprisingly devoid of his signaturerunonsentencesasonlytomwolfecancreate, this is nonetheless a worthwhile and even important novel. For better or worse, it is about who we are as a society and as individuals. It incisively addresses our extremes, and some of the solutions we create to work ourselves out of our messes.

Rating:
Summary: HUMOROUS AMD GRIPPING NOVEL
Review: AN EXCELLENT PLOT LINE WITH A SOMEWHAT IRONIC AND SURPRZING ENDING. I DID THINK THE RESOLUTION WAS A BIT DISSAPOINTING THOUGH.