Rating: 
Summary: Very enjoyable book whose ending seemed rushed.
Review: From the very first page of the novel, Tom Wolfe had me wanting to know more about each of his characters. I couldn't wait to rejoin the characters once he left them to pursue another subplot. I wondered how in the world Wolfe would bring together all these diverse inhabitants of his novel. However, I didn't need to worry because Wolfe obviously had a master plan in mind before he ever began this novel! As long as the novel was, I felt the ending seemed a bit rushed and was somewhat unsatisfying for me, especially with Charlie Crocker. Even though I enjoyed how he intertwined the lives of Conrad and Charlie through The Stoics at the end, I did not feel that Charlie's future as an evangelist was the choice that the character I had followed for 700 pages would have made. I enjoy Tom Wolfe's style with his meticulous attention to details. He allowed me to enter the worlds of Georgia politics, prisons, and the upper crust of society, and yet I did not have to suffer the consequences of his characters. Tom Wolfe is certainly "an author in full" with his latest novel. Carolyn Godbey Prospect, Ky.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun to read - until the very end, which was a disappointment
Review: Great fun (!) for the first 95% of the book, then, IMO, a HUGE letdown at the end, which I found to be very disappointing, and which felt very 'rushed' (by the author). Everything that was so carefully setup, leading me to expect a real slam-bang of an ending, was just completely wasted, IMO, in just a few pages, by what I felt were complete out-of-character actions on several of the story threads. I cannot remember when I was more disappointed in the 'delta' between a novel's promise, as it unfolded, and it's final delivery. In order to salvage it, I guess I'll just have to rewrite the ending, in my own head - much like I had to do with the recent movie, "What Dreams May Come", which suffered from a similar condition of big setup, small final delivery. It's a shame, as, "A Man In Full" could have been 'great', but in the end was only 'good'.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: Blows everyone else out of the water. A triumph and tour de force; well deserves its #1 spot at Amazon and on other best seller lists. Buy it! Read it! You will love it!
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this one
Review: Quite a good book. It may lack some of the wit of "Bonfire," but it is every bit as funny. This time Wolfe is a modern Dickens, filling his canvas with memorable characters and scenes. The ending fails to convince, but the journey getting there is fully rewarding. In my view this is the book of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your time and money
Review: A man in full ... of himself. Wolfe has a way with descriptions but that, in and of itself, does not make a 742 page book. Stop after about the first 600 pages and you'll feel better - the ending is too asinine to in any way be related to reality. I'm angry about the time wasted in finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: A great satirical read.
Review: My only cavil with this satirical superbook is that it ended too abruptly. It is non stop reading pleasure. I want to know what life now brings to Charlie Croker, Conrad, Serena, Roger Too White, Ray Peepgas, et al. Please Tom, write a sequel. A note to John Updike: Rabbit was great, but so is this!!!
Rating:
Summary: dead-on characterization but a fumbled plot line
Review: We get to know and love all the characters, from brash Charlie to his trophy wife Siren(a), but where the book disappoints is in the ending. Of all the plotting possibilities the author had available to him--after all, he can make these characters do and say anything he wants--it seems that he suffered from terminus fatigue, that he had to bail out of where he had written himself into, and as a result the ending is unbelievable and disappointing--frankly, it's hard for us to imagine that our hero would act this way. Maybe the author spotted this too, and that's the reason for the Greek mumbo-jumbo at the end. Overall, delightful book but I'd recommend stopping about 100 pages from the end.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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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