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Summary: He has Atlanta nailed.
Review: The book is not about Atlanta, not really. But Wolfe has the social and political life of the city nailed down pefectly. I was born here fifty years ago, and I think I know the Atlanta pretty well. The characters? The plot? If you want a brilliant satirical review of modern American civilization, or lack thereof, read it. If it doesn't make you think long and hard about your sacred beliefs about the USA, then you've lost the ability to think. Thanks, Mr. Wolfe.
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Summary: Vanities Down South
Review: Tom Wolfe doesn't disappoint with this long-awaited monster-sized novel. I found his characters just as interesting as the ones in "Bonfires of the Vanities" but having greater dimension. As was the case in "Bonfires," Wolfe's gifts are most apparent when he's describing the details--in this case the details of a modern self-conscious Atlanta and the details of the vanities of the tortured people who populate this novel. Wolfe leaves no ego unturned as he exposes the conceit, narcissism, and pride that rule the psyches of his characters. We are treated to something refreshing we didn't have in "Bonfire," namely, a hero in the person of Conrad. Sadly, however, he is the only really unbelievable personality in the book. Just as he did in "Bonfires," Wolfe, by the end of the book, can't seem to take any of his characters seriously and the reader is left with rather clownish caricatures to remember. Nevertheless, "A Man in Full, is one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time.
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Summary: It's fun, but........
Review: First off I should say that I found a man in full to be a fun read, the literary equivalent of eating a whole half gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at one sitting. Its a wallow that you don't feel as good about afterwards. I really enjoyed Bonfire, but remember thinking that I would scream if he used that reference to "Masters of the Universe" ...one...more...time. In A Man in Full we get so many "Baker County", "Morehouse man", and descriptions of all of larger than life mens' musculature (rippling pectorals and all), that you have to stop occasionally to roll your eyes. Wolfe's attempts to describe current African American culture is like listening to your seventy year old dad try to explain David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust. It's glib, facile, and completely off the mark. The most salient comment that I can make of this big messy entertainment is that it reminded me of the situation that Pat Conroy found himself in after the much deserved success of Prince of Tides. Beach Music was him trying to top himself by repeating himself. Tom Wolfe has attempted to repeat himself and succeeded, and by doing so he failed as a writer. Even with all of that, reading this book is like watching Animal House over and over. You know whats going to happen, but its great fun either way. Sorry about that Tom. By the way, nice suit.
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Summary: Amazing- Again.
Review: Tom Wolfe is the best writer of the last 20 years. This book once again confirms that fact. His character development is perfect. He's the man, plain and simple.
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Summary: The Best Tom Wolfe book ever.
Review: A Man in Full takes the Black-White struggle to coexist to a new level 10 years after The Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe again says what everyone is thinking and saying (behind closed doors because of politcal correctness). This book is a must read, as it is right on the mark on race relations in the late 90's
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Summary: Great character development. Ending leaves you hanging.
Review: Tom Wolfe's ability to cronicle the American experience is evident in "A Man in Full". The characters and scenes are described such that the reader actually feels like he/she has been involve d in a Banks' Workout session or worked in a frozen food warehouse. I would have given it five stars if it had not been for the "Scooby Doo" ending. Having spent 700 pages with all the characters I felt cheated when two of the characters meet and fill in the blanks with a final conversation. However, I had a hard enough time carrying this book around with me and I would not have been able to travel with it had it been 1000 plus pages. The ending is not too great a price to pay for rich characters and vivid scenes.
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Summary: Masterpiece!
Review: Wolfe demonstrates again his extrordinary talent for social observation, and his masterful command of the English language to translate these observations into characters and situations. Lively and poignant, at the same time extraordinarily funny. In many ways reminding of Proust.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, spellbinding, ever better than "Bonfire".
Review: It is amazing that Tom Wolfe can capture the essence of a city and its people and then wrap it all up in one big package to be suprized at the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about different kinds of people and their diverse lifestyles. I will probably read it again and I am certainly recommending it to my friends. Definately the book of the '90's.
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Summary: In this novel, Wolfe won me over
Review: I was prepared to dislike this book. After all, Tom Wolfe has long had a certain smarmy arrogance about him, what with his tailored white suits and superior attitude. He has always impressed me as a kind of literary publicist for the very power structure that he (sometimes) purports to skewer in his books. I had, in fact, come to think of him in terms of the label that Alexander Cockburn applied to him years ago, "A philistine masquerading as a social critic." But I have to admit it: this book is nothing short of excellent. Wolfe has produced a highly crafted, gorgeously written page-turner, richly embossed with descriptive detail and enlivened with a plot filled with fascinating twists and turns. Of course, Wolfe returns to one of his favorite themes here, the American macho entrepreneurial mover and shaker, and what makes him tick. Many of his best sections, in fact, involve confrontations between powerful men in which the testosterone veritably flies off the page. What's particularly fascinating is that it never becomes clear (to me, anyway), just whether Wolfe is trying to lampoon American Manhood or in his own droll way, celebrate it. Perhaps both. Another aspect of the book that impressed me was the painstaking accuracy of Wolfe's usage of geographical and historical material. I can't speak for all of his Atlanta references, but in his discussions of various locations in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, he was unerringly correct in terms of place names, how one places relates spatially to another, what the weather is like at this or that time or year, and an assortment of other details that many other writers annoyingly get wrong. Some readers will dislike the book as a work of literature because it is a "best-seller," i.e., it is highly lucid and accessible, and hence does not lend itself to "deconstruction" or other avant-garde exercises in literary voyeurism. To that, I say, BRAVO!
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Summary: Brilliant writing, flawed structure and plot
Review: The book is alive with Dickensonian intensity and detail, and expands onto new turf Wolfe's mean spirited but comic vision of a materialistic America. But it is flawed in plot, structure and the development of characters as they respond to the events (such as they are) in the book. I spent most of the book entertained by Wolfe's powers of observation, but waiting with growing impatience for something significant to happen. When events reached their climax, I was disappointed.
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