Rating: 
Summary: Rich characters...but disappointing close
Review: The first 600 pages were great. Found the character's beleivable...until the end.
Rating: 
Summary: The best satire on late 20th century American life.
Review: Brilliant! Those who complain about an abrupt ending to this "human comedy" by America's Balzac should remember that classical comedy starts in disorder and ends with order. This is Wolfe's best work and hopefully not the last.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and provocative. Subtle humor
Review: While I liked this book, do you realize that the prison system in Texas will not allow their inmates to read it? In their words, "This writing would be interpreted by any reasonable person as being written for the sole purpose of communicating the intentionof starting riots and racially divided fights". This should keep it at the top of the list of Best Sellers forever!!
Rating: 
Summary: This is not Bonfire of the Vanities
Review: Well the best thing about this book was the ability to skim dozens of pages and read it fast. This book lacks the spirit and interest of Bonfire. The characters are too stereotyped and the whole thing with Conrad is sort of out there too far until the end, and then does not sufficiently tie. The better lecture on Epictetus is provided by J.D. Salinger 30 some years ago. I could have thought of better endings and certainly would have edited it more. Overall I found the book disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Enough exclamation points for the next millenium!
Review: Nominated for the National Book Award? Chosen by the amazon.com literary editors as one of the 20 best books of 1998? Newsweek cover story? I guess this makes sense in a culture in which we've completely lost our ability to make distinctions, in which hype and spin are now accepted as truth, in which the Republican majority on the Judiciary Committee is about to suggest impeaching a President because it can find no other way to express its hatred and contempt for him. I found this book excruciatingly difficult to read, for the simple fact that the sentences are so poorly constructed, so stuffed with extraneous detail, and so overweening. Doesn't Wolfe understand that by giving us every bloated detail not a single one of them registers? Was this book even edited? Did FSG, secure in the knowledge that it had a best-seller, just not bother? I can't remember slogging through another book that seemed so careless, so full of meaningless hyperventilating italics, so crammed with exclamation marks, and repetition, and clunky, obvious, and exhausting exposition. Talk about sinking to the lowest common denominator--Wolfe has as much contempt for the reader as he does for his characters; he didn't trust me to pick up on anything, and I found his constant force-feeding irritating in the extreme. And to paraphrase Dickens, whom Wolfe emphatically isn't, "Funny? Not a bit."
Rating: 
Summary: More than just a bad ending...
Review: This is the literary equivalent of the that other over-hyped bomb of 1998; Godzilla. Another example of a PR machine runamuck: the Time magazine cover, the 60 Minutes interview, etc etc. What got lost in it all was that the book just isn't very good. Had any fledgling author submitted this sprawling ill-concieved monstrosity, they would have received a letter from the publisher advising them to keep their day job. Writing a sloppy social commentary containing a multitude of semi-witty character names (all of the law firms have names that sound like those old "fake" books written by I Seymour Butts...hardee-har har) does not make one a "modern day Dickens". As a fan of Wolfe's earlier works I was appalled at how poorly crafted the story was, the feeble attempts at dialect that swung in and out of the story, and a grasp of African American culture that was laughable at best. While not the worst book of the year (that can never happen to anyone else as long as Tom Clancy continues to put pen to paper) this book is a terrible let down and, to borrow someone else's analogy, like watching a former Hall of Fame pitcher having to roll one to the plate. Tom Wolfe should have taken a cue from Thomas Heggin and stopped at one great novel.
Rating: 
Summary: a mixed opinion
Review: Good elements abound in this novel. How the sins of one person affect countless others,for instance, is a prevalent thought provoking theme throughout. Also,the use of an ancient philosophic treatise and adapting it to today -- and the book's major dilemma, is well done and in the end uplifting. Additionally, contrary to common opinion, I liked the ending. It was a climatic conclusion and handled well.However the negatives of the book can drive you crazy. Memo to Tom Wolfe : by page 720 or so I've caught on that CHARLIE CROKER HAS A SOUTHERN ACCENT !. After the first 50 times, I no longer require phonetic translations. Also, speaking of phonetics I know that a loud burglar alarm goes Braannnnngg!!! and the rattle of metal goes calckclackclak and a toilet flushing goes GlugGlugGlug. Wolfe feels this technique enhances description,but the reality is a genius like John Updike can write more vivid prose in his sleep and not appear to be showing off. One last negative: Wolfe's ear for African-American slang and rap music is awful,and ultimately embarrasing. There are good points and bad in this novel. In the end I'm glad I read it - enjoying much of it, but be aware of the flaws pointed out above.
Rating:
Summary: the ending has Wolf's answers to Today's Problems
Review: 'The Stoics'edited by Mr. Bemis, a Yale Professor is the place to look when you are on the horns of a delema as Charlie Croker and Conrad Hensley find themselves at the end of the book. This seems to be an out of print book as it is not listed in Amazon.com
Rating:
Summary: Not a five star, because...
Review: Not a five star, simply because I found the ending disappointing. However, the first 90% is five star all the way, so a dad-gummed good read. Living and traveling all my life in one of the book's main settings, southwest jawja/southeast Bama/northwest Flawda, I can verify unequivocally that Wolfe has the region's unique Southern dialect and accent down pat, at least for some. Also, the huge quail plantations really do exist down here in the deep, deep South, though Wolfe greatly exaggerated the "old south" way in which they now operate.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner of the first order
Review: Anyone with ambition can relate to the lead character in this marvelous story about an aging captain of industry who ultimately finds the journey far more enjoyable than the destination. Tom Wolfe has my vote as a talented author with the ability to keep the reader's interest through all subplots and characters he employs to tell the story of Charlie Croker, a Man in Full. An excellent and believable story that educates as well as entertains, I would recommend this book to anyone who simply likes to hear a good yarn.
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