The Bonfire of the Vanities

Book Description

Critics

• Going to blazes

  Tom Wolfe has set a few fires in his time. The architecture of the modern movement went up in an easy puff of smoke a few years ago. Before that Leonard Bernstein - who had hired white waiters to serve at his fundraising party for the Black Panthers ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sun, 26 Sep 2010

• The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

  So regularly is Tom Wolfe's brash 1987 tome described as "the quintessential novel of the 80s" that you almost feel the phrase could be slapped on as a subtitle. But the ability to "capture the decade" isn't the only measure of a writer's ability, an ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• Brilliant

  A very accurate portrait of the so called 'white shoe' top US law firms, and their changing values, contrasted with the life of a legal aid lawyer. plus a ripping yarn and a tale of New York in the early 90's with all its materialism and the oppressive social divides..

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  Fergus Kemlo said on Dec 8, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  What's the Point?

  Prior to actually reading it, my understanding of Bonfire was that it's one of those "must reads" for any self proclaimed American bibliophile because it is a landmark piece of cultural satire. Now that I've read it I can say that in no way does this book live up to ANY of its hype.
  Although this i ... (continue)

  Prior to actually reading it, my understanding of Bonfire was that it's one of those "must reads" for any self proclaimed American bibliophile because it is a landmark piece of cultural satire. Now that I've read it I can say that in no way does this book live up to ANY of its hype.
  Although this is not the first time this has happened, it never ceases to irritate me when I walk away from a book with no actual "walk aways", ie, "what a GREAT story!" or "did not see that twist coming", or "I need a moment alone...those sex scenes were ridiculous!" After finish Bonfire, my only thought was, "ok, so what?" The story takes place in NYC circa the 80's. The focal character is a quintessential, self made yuppie, Wall Street bonds trader whose life comes crumbling down after he's involved in an unfortunate late night encounter in the Bronx, apparently the borough from hell during this decade. What ensues is a strange smattering of social clichés with little cultural context (I would've loved more references to the political and pop culture landscapes of the time) and zero character development. I suppose you could draw some parallels with greed of Wall Street then to the all out corruption of Wall Street today but when the author seemingly has no opinion about it, there is nothing the reader can do with it.
  In short, this is 685 pages you could be spending elsewhere.

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  ReadingQueen 12/17 said on Aug 10, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 

  Bonfire of the Vanities

  Wonderfully dry satire

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  Readingrat said on Jul 31, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 656 Pages
• Edition: Reprint
• ISBN-10: 0553381342
• ISBN-13: 9780553381344
• Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
• Pub date: Oct 30, 2001
• Dimensions: 1484 mm x 968 mm x 194 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, School & Library Binding and Others
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Nederlandse Boeken

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• NY Times Notable Book Club (482)

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