Tom Wolfe: A Man In Full

[Hemmo]

Just finished it. Enjoyed it more that Bonfire of the Vanities; warmer; more compassionate; funnier. For some reason, Wolfe's maximalism irritated me less this time round and, as always, some of the language is beautiful. And for someone who's never been to Atlanta its a fascinating introduction to the American south - not afraid to go into the technical detail of the property boom and its impacts on people's lives at the end of the 90s. As with BOTV, the way Wolfe deals with race can leave you uneasy but that doesn't mean there's not some truth in much of what he says. I once saw an interview with TW where he eulogised Zola for showing people as they are - this book does that though, like Zola, sometimes at the expense of turning characters into symbols.

Anyone else have views?

 

[Raphael Lambach]

I never read this book, but I recommmend "The right stuff"

 

[Francis Meadows]

I liked parts of this novel. Yet some things irritated me, the extensive use of onomatoppoeia e.g. Wolfe has always been a fan of those, but here it really was very much for my liking, certainly because on top of it, he is heavily into capturing the southern accent in writing.
Loved the story line in general, though I'm pretty certain that, in real life, Croker would go the other way around.
As a first Wolfe-read, I would rather recommend The Right Stuff or The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Francis.