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Summary: Sounds like Bonfire of the Vanities with a Southern accent
Review: I can't really review as I have only read the reviews. But the plot sounds just like a remake of Bonfire of the Vanities with a Southern accent! But, knowing Tom Wolfe, he could make even warmed-over Southern hash intriguing and I will be sure to read the book.
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Summary: Don't succumb to the hype
Review: Wolfe is a vastly overrated writer, skilled with language but utterly lacking in soul. What I've read of this book confirms for me his utter lack of psychological insight and his heavy-handed approach to writing. Danielle Steele with a haughtily superior attitude.
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Summary: Rolling Stone's seriel of "A Man in Full" is a great tease.
Review: It was great to read the writings of Tom Wolfe after more than a decade since "Bonfire of the Vanities". The serial from "Rolling Stone" is classic Wolfe at his best. I say this because I always enjoyed Wolfe's use of detail to describe even the smallest of characters. The "Rolling Stone" serial alone informs the reader of everything from the "country metal" music of the young California "Okies" to the fashion attire of the men who work the overnight shift in a freezer storing facility. Fans of Wolfe will know why this is great stuff.
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Summary: Rolling Stone magazine printed a few pages of this book
Review: If you subscribe to Rolling Stone Magazine than you might have read a four page excertion from "A man in Full," that was printed in this months issue. After reading these four or five pages, I despritally wanted to rush out and buy this book. I could have read the entire thing because I was so into the magical writing style of Tom Wolfe. I cannot wait to read this book and others that will follow. He is one of my favorite authors and I hope he continues to write great wonderfull books. "The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test" was a great piece of work also.
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Summary: A novel for the ages
Review: You might, as you start reading Man in Full, think that it's going to be another bonfire of similar vanities. You might, but you would be wrong. I loved Bonfire of the Vanities, but this book has more heart; it's even better.The book is mostly set in Atlanta, and Wolfe makes the case that Atlanta has a unique racial situation. Race relations and racial tensions form a major theme in the novel. Wolfe views race from many angles, including views from Atlanta's black elite, wealthy conservative and liberal southern white, and the inside of a California prison. The characters and characterizations are marvelous. This was one of the strengths of Bonfires and it's a strength of this book too. I don't think Wolfe writes women as well as he writes men, but the men of several different walks of life are as fully fleshed as anything I've ever read. Another fascinating thing about the book is the inside knowledge Wolfe shares. The insider's view of an Atlanta mayoral campaign was truly eye-opening, as was the inside view of a prison. The book is hard to classify, but the view is often satirical (like Bonfire), and makes fun of the pride, vanity, lusts, and fears of the elites (like Bonfire). However, there is more heart. Some of the heart shows up in Wolfe's compassion for divorced 50-something wives who have been discarded by their social climbing husbands. In Bonfire, the wives, called "X-rays" were subject to the same ridicule as their husbands; not so in this book. Wolfe also shows some compassion for the poor souls in prison, as he illuminates the brutal social structure in his california jail. It's never mawkish; it never plays for sympathy or tears, but the simple facts of prison life are a horror. Finally, Wolfe's foray into Stoic philosophy is beautifully and brilliantly done. When was the last time you read a novel where a philosophy book formed a major plot element? I think this book will continue to be read long after we've forgotten about Tom Clancy and Danielle Steele and most of the rest of the current crop of best-selling authors.
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Summary: Self-conscious classic
Review: Both insightful and almost tediously broad. Wolfe's much-hyped novel of 1998 feigns a Stoic pride in our post-Christian world, but doesn't seem to really put the pieces together in a cohesive narrative structure. The characters get jumbled around, the myriad plots cross artificially, but the prose is strangely catchy. Worthwhile if only to see where conservatism ends up without faith.
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Summary: A novel, half full or doubly stuffed....
Review: The jacket blurbs on Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full" resound with the gravitas of praise from all the usual suspects: eminent voices of "The New York Times,""The Wall Street Journal," et al. Given its bloated length and absurd disunities of character and plot, one suspects that these breathless accolades must stem either from A) four decades of Wolfe's éclat (and the white suits) having blinded the critical eyes, or from B) these cover snippets having been very heavily edited--unlike the novel itself. Either way, the tale limps along, only occasionally reflecting the glory days of Wolfe's productive past -- much like its "ramblin'-wreck-from- Georgia-Tech" main character moves through Atlanta's "New South" social, political, and corporate worlds. Be ready for stereotyped characters, plot lines that disappear without a trace, disparate scenarios that struggle futilely to find connection, the most improbable--and idiotic--plot denouement I've witnessed in many years, and an insufferably supercilious attitude from the author. Oh, and pull out your old college text on Epictetus, renowned Greek stoic, since, evidently, Mr. Wolfe did about halfway through composing this mess. I, a confirmed Wolfe fan, am disappointed at both the inferior quality of this work and the apparent cowardice of the critics unwilling to state the sorry truth.
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Summary: Some good parts, some worthless parts
Review: I loved loved loved loved loved all the parts/bits about Charlie Croker. I couldn't get enough of him.
All the parts about Conrad can be COMPLETELY skipped and you'll still know exactly what's going on at the end. That's what I did.
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Summary: Social commentary at its finest; poor ending
Review: The other reviewers here have pegged this book accurately: great book until the contrived wrapping-up of the characters. (I won't even use the word "ending".) The topics and social commentary of the book are the purpose of this book - not its plot or dialogue.
If you haven't read Wolfe, this book is full of what he does best - set-pieces. His descriptions of a situation and the people in them are so penetrating, amusing and apt that you will feel like time is rushing by as you read. The depiction of Conrad in a California prison is so scary and real that many have wondered where Wolfe did his sentence. And Croker at the art exhibition, wondering out loud just why pictures of people engaged in various disgusting homo-erotic poses is being fobbed off as avant-garde art, is priceless.
Wolfe also does a great job of presenting characters that, although imperfect, suck you into their world and find you hoping they can hold out against the godless forces of modern culture around them. And with over 1000 pages, you should expect in-depth development.
One of the apparent themes of this book is that 2 of the primary characters use the philosophy of Stoicism as their guide to living a worthy life. This is simply a metaphor for Christianity presented so as not to detract from the social commentary. Don't get hung up on why Stoicism seems to play such a role.
This book also does an incredible job of detailing Atlanta and Southern politics. You'll receive an excellent grounding in the politics of race and dependence through reading this.
Overall, a wonderful, thought-provoking novel that damns the current culture to the oblivion it so richly deserves and seeks.
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Summary: Wolfe as a Mentor
Review: After spending the fall semester on a regiment of about 500 pages of text-book style, required reading per week I did not feel encumbered trying to tackle this book on a 2100 mile trip over winter break-in fact, I relished it.
As much as this is a great read, a great plot, and a great social demonstration, Tom Wolfe is able to teach the reader something remarkable-how to think. We are often taught the best way to learn is by example. Charlie, Conrad, Peepgrass, and Roger are all unique in their thought processes. And by using the multi-character, limited omniscient writing format the reader is not told how to interpret the plot, but instead is allowed to make decisions by examining the thought process of each character. In their minds, the characters are always making logical, reasoned decisions; if nothing else, the reader is able to understand.
Tom Wolfe has accomplished a marvelous masterpiece that has put me on the road to read his other works. I would recommend that you do the same.
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