The Bonfire of the Vanities A Novel

A very uncomfortable and dark book, and definitely a worthwhile read.

Some great writing here. This is my second favorite Wolfe book after The Right Stuff.

Tom Wolfe never really disappoints, and this this book is no different. Although fictional it reads like New Journalism and in it Wolfe traverses through the social classes of New York City, undressing each of them through his laser focused observation. It's long, though, and the intricate desriptions of lapels and shoes can sometime be a bit of a slog, but the effort is well worth it in the end.

I picked up this book after seeing it on Mental Floss's 25 Most Influential Books list and I was not disappointed. Wolfe crafts a tale of greed, ambition, and the corruptable essence of human nature. This is the story of a rather unlikeable bond trader, Sherman McCoy. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and currently the top trader at an elite firm, Sherman felt invincible. Despite making $1 million a year, living in a $3 million "apartment" (at 1980's prices), nothing satisfies him. Certainly not his spoiled, social-ladder climbing wife, nor his equally spoiled daughter. The self-described Master of the Universe adds a mistress to his collection and this is where his real troubles begin. In a city that barely has a lid on seething racial tension, enter Rev. Bacon. Bacon is a rabble-rouser in a suit and has his hands in several questionable deals. But, when a white couple in a Mercedes hits a black youth with their car and then speeds away, Bacon uses racial tension to escalate things and prods the DA's office into action. Sadly, Bacon's claim that the DA would handle the case differently if a white Park Ave youth had been the victim of black drivers is likely all too true. However, Bacon's interest in the case is purely self-serving and he uses it as a platform for self-aggrandizement. It made me wonder which real-life personaility the author modeled Bacon after. Sherman and his mistress of course are the white couple in the Mercedes. On his way back from picking up mistress Maria, Sherman becomes lost in the Bronx and is waylaid by 2 would-be highway robbers. Sherman gets out of the car to remove an obstacle the youths put in the road so that he could drive away. As one of the youths approaches, Sherman panics and throws the obstacle at him. Maria takes the driver's seat, Sherman jumps in the car, and as Maria speeds away, she sideswipes one of the youths, Henry Lamb. Lamb ends up in a irreversable coma. From that point on, Sherman's life takes a nose-dive as he becomes the poster boy for white excess, greed, and priviledge and is portrayed as a real-life example of an upperclass white attitude that poor people (especially poor black people) are disposable. Sherman is crucified in the press at the hands of a pompous, alchololic yellow journalist, his mistress abandons him and leaves him to take the heat, the DA's office just needs a conviction to quiet the mob and salivates over casting the elitist white super-rich guy as the perp, his wife offers him little support (no wonder) and his parents view him as an embarrassment. Despite all of his flaws, Sherman McCoy becomes a bit likeable as his weakensses end up turning him into a victim. He is prosecuted for a crime he didn't commit because it's politically expedient for the DA and will help his bid for re-election. It is a testament to Wolfe's talent that he can create so many unlikeable characters and yet have the reader feel sympathy for many of them. Most of the characters spend the majority of their efforts trying to get ahead, concerned only for themselves, and single-mindedly pursuing their quest for more, more, more. Nothing satisifies. Ah, the 80's, distilled for your reading pleasure.