Rating: 
Summary: Great satire aptly captures Atlanta's ambiance
Review: Particularly enjoyable if you've ever wondered what life is all about in Atlanta...Tom Wolfe takes satire to the highest level and zeros in on those areas where Atlanta doesn't measure up (he did the best he could within the limits of a single volume). I'd have given this a 5 star rating but the ending lacked a certain punch.
Rating:
Summary: It's message is one of deep values
Review: At 742 pages, it takes a while to read this book. I looked it every night and enjoyed Tom Wolfe's prose. But I never thought about it during the time I wasn't reading it. I never felt the characters were real. I never felt a lurch in my heart, a tear in my eye, or a glow of warmth. I did chuckle to myself though, especially when Tom Wolfe does what he does best, which is to poke fun at the pretentiousness and conspicuous consumption of the very rich.Charlie Croker, the lead character, is a wealthy real estate developer in Atlanta. He's 60 years old with a trophy wife, a private plane, and a plantation he uses for the recreational purpose of shooting quail just a few weeks a year. He's millions of dollars in debt to the bank and he keeps sinking further and further into a morass of his own making as the book progresses. Racial politics come into the story in a twisting silly plot that keeps the story moving. None of the plot is believable, especially the ending, but that didn't impede my enjoyment of the book. I wasn't bored for a minute as I wallowed in Tom Wolfe's rich descriptions as the story developed. One of the best characters in the book is a young man named Conrad, who is very loosely connected with Charlie Croker because he once worked Charlie Croker's frozen food company in California. Through a series of events, Conrad goes to prison and learns about the philosophy of stoicism. He and Charlie meet in the last few chapters in the book and Conrad is a driving forcing in bringing the plot to its conclusion. As the book itself had an unbelievable plot, I can't see why anyone expected the ending to be realistic. Contrary to all reviews I have read and everyone I have spoken to who hated the ending, I felt differently. I liked the way the it ended. It summarized some interesting philosophical concepts and, after it ended and I felt its message haunting me for the next day. The theme comes through loud and clear in the ending. The book is not just a story. It is about values. Important values. Values I can absorb in my own life. Values I can live with. And, given this as a theme, the ending makes sense. I recommend this book. It's a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Este libro no merece este final.
Review: El libro es muy descriptivo y absorvente. Consigue introducirte con facilidad en las situaciones sociales de Atlanta y hacerte sentir el ambiente. A pesar de su tamaño se lee de un tiron y salvo algunas parrafadas un poco cargantes y faltas de interes en un par de pasajes, el resto es magnifico. Lo que realmente jode es el desenlace final. A parte de lo absurdo de la situación, da la sensación de que habia prisa por terminar el libro y no está demasiado pulido. Es realmente rocambolesco y absurdo. El Epilogo ya lo remata queriendo explicar en 4 paginas todo el desenlace. Casi mejor se lo hubiese ahorrado. Despues de una decada para preparar el libro, parace que al final le entro la prisa al Lobo. Quizas su cuenta corriente necesitaba una inyección de efectivo y se precipito el desenlace. Una pena, porque el resto del libro es magnifico, aunque a veces un poco recargado en algunas descripciones de personajes y situaciones. En cualquier caso, he pasado unas horas muy agradables leyendolo.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST WRITTEN BOOK I HAVE EVER READ
Review: THE WRITING IS JUST GREAT. THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS AMAZING, THE SCENES WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR A LONG TIME. AN EXCELLENT BOOK. THE ENDING WAS QUICK AND AFTER 750 DETAILED PAGES ANOTHER 100 WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO END THE SAGA.
Rating: 
Summary: Craftsman of Character
Review: I applaud Tom Wolfe's ability to see the world through so many eyes, and to tell us, unvarnished, the thoughts behind them. One wonders how Wolfe gains insight into so many American subcultures.
Rating: 
Summary: A Man (and No Women) in Full
Review: Wolfe demonstrates again that he is the master of characterizing the flaws and idiosyncrasies of our male culture. But, that he still remains completely clueless about women makes the book read flat. His female characters are straight out of TV sitcoms - either young and beautiful with "luscious loins" or old / ugly / poor with children and desparate. Mr. Wolfe could improve his understanding of life by taking Womens Studies 101 or at the very least reading Virginia Wolf, (A Room of One's Own) to get to know the other 50% of the population a bit. We're actually pretty interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but hollow
Review: How about less description of ornate architectural design and more substance? At times, this book is really fun to read. Wolfe gives the reader a great cast of characters and a decent story to follow, but he leaves the reader aching for more. Despite being 787 pages it is an awfully quick read. If we had a half star option I'd give this book 2 and half stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Big and Bad
Review: I was very disappointed in this novel, expecting a good book from Wolfe. It's hard to imagine that an American Southern gothic novel can be too silly, but this one was. The author tried to expand the story by just using too many words, and the plot line became outrageously esoteric and unbelievable. I finished it in the same mindset that keeps me staring at a gory car crash. And the ending fizzled just as if the bleeding car victim had jumped up amidst the paramedics and run off to go shopping.
Rating:
Summary: Great Epictetians
Review: The first 772 pages of this novel may rank among some of the best American mainstream fiction ever written. Wolfe certainly took his time in creating his opus maximus and his work ethic is worthy of great respect. I had the sense that Wolfe immersed himself in Atlanta society as the settings and characters seemed incredibly true to life. Wolfe's ear for American dialect showed great range and seemed unfailing in its ability to ring true. The leitmotifs to Epictetus added substance to the work. However, Wolfe went too far in the Epilogue and appears guilty of hubris in asking his devoted readers to succumb to the willing suspension of disbelief that he had laid at their feet. How can we accept the destinies Wolfe has shaped for the great Charlie Croker and Conrad? The essence of the message of Charlie Croker is wise and meaningful and truly American in the denouement. But he strains our credibility which was so wonderfully created in Wolfe's art up to the Epilogue. It would perhaps be the ultimate irony if the author in crafting his novel were guilty of the same hubris of his protagonist. Perhaps, if that's true, it only reinforces the verity of the tale and its wisdom. While I have great respect for the writing of Tom Wolfe, sometimes I just think he's too full of himself for words. Nevertheless, this is a great American tale which I shall always remember. Wolfe is a great American mainstream novelist.
Rating:
Summary: Fullsh**
Review: HHHHHHuuuuuuuuuhhhhnnnnggggghhhhhhhh! Here's what the publishers should have done: slap the color photo of Wolfe's preening mug on the back of a dust jacket, and print "The Follow-up to The Bonfire of the Vanities: A Novel" on the front. Wrap said dust jacket around a bookshaped block of wood. Prop result on bookstore shelves and add a price tag. The result would be the same as what we've got now. (PS: And to think I actually enjoyed The Right Stuff. Sigh.)
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