Atlanta conglomerate king, Charles Croker, has expansionist ambitions and an outsize ego. He also has a young and demanding second wife and a half-empty office tower running up debts. When a football star from Atlanta's grimmest slum is accused of rape, the city's racial balance is shattered.
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Amazon Review
Ever since he published his classic 1972 essay "Why They Aren't Writing the Great American Novel Anymore," Tom Wolfe has made his fictional preferences loud and clear. For New Journalism's poster boy, minimalism is a wash, not to mention a failure of nerve. The real mission of the American writer is to produce fat novels of social observation--the sort of thing Balzac would be dishing up if he had made it into the Viagra era. Wolfe's manifesto would have had a hubristic ring if he hadn't actually delivered the goods in 1987 with The Bonfire of the Vanities. Now, more than a decade later, he's back with a second novel. Has the Man in White lived up to his own mission?
On many counts, the answer would have to be "yes". Like its predecessor, A Man in Full is a big-canvas work, in which a multitude of characters seems to be ascending or (rapidly) descending the greasy pole of social life: "In an era like this one," a character reminds us, "the 20th century's fin de siècle position was everything, and it was the hardest thing to get." Wolfe has changed terrain on us, to be sure. Instead of New York, the focus here is Atlanta, Georgia, where the struggle for turf and power is at least slightly patinated with Deep South gentility. The plot revolves around Charlie Croker, an egomaniacal good ol' boy with a crumbling real-estate empire on his hands. But Wolfe is no less attentive to a pair of supporting players: a downwardly mobile family man, Conrad Hensley, and Roger White II, an African American attorney at a white-shoe firm. What ultimately causes these subplots to converge--and threatens to ignite a racial firestorm in Atlanta--is the alleged rape of a society deb by Georgia Tech American football star Fareek "The Cannon" Fanon.
Of course, a detailed plot summary would be about as long as your average minimalist novel. Suffice it to say that A Man in Full is packed with the sort of splendid set pieces we've come to expect from Wolfe. A quail hunt on Charlie's 29,000-acre plantation, a stuffed-shirt evening at the symphony, a politically loaded press conference--the author assembles these scenes with contagious delight. The book is also very, very funny. The law firms, like upper- crust powerhouse Fogg Nackers Rendering & Lean, are straight out of Dickens, and Wolfe brings even his minor characters, like professional hick Opey McCorkle, to vivid life:
In true Opey McCorkle fashion he had turned up for dinner wearing a plaid shirt, a plaid necktie, red felt suspenders, and a big old leather belt that went around his potbelly like something could hitch up a mule with, but for now he had cut off his usual torrent of orotund rhetoric mixed with Baker Countyisms.Readers in search of a kinder, gentler Wolfe may well be disappointed. Retaining the satirist's (necessary) superiority to his subject, he tends to lose his edge precisely when he's trying to move us. Still, when it comes to maximalist portraiture of the American scene--and to sheer, sentence-by-sentence amusement--1998 looks to be the year of the Wolfe, indeed. --James Marcus, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
`There are far too many delicious examples of Wolfe's razor sharp wit and stylish writing. So I'll simply say that if you enjoy a slice of American fiction, then this book will not disappoint. Otherwise, I'll eat my hat. A big, bold, brash, brilliant book, beautifully-written. Highly recommended' --thebookbag.co.uk
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FOR A WHILE THE FREAKNIC TRAFFIC INCHED UP PIEDMONT...inched up Piedmont...inched up Piedmont...inched up as far as Tenth Street...and then inched up the slope beyond Tenth Street...inched up as far as Fifteenth Street... whereupon it came to a complete, utter, hopeless, bogged-down glue-trap halt, both ways, northbound, southbound, going and coming, across all four lanes. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
FOR A WHILE THE FREAKNIC TRAFFIC INCHED UP PIEDMONT...inched up Piedmont...inched up Piedmont...inched up as far as Tenth Street...and then inched up the slope beyond Tenth Street...inched up as far as Fifteenth Street... whereupon it came to a complete, utter, hopeless, bogged-down glue-trap halt, both ways, northbound, southbound, going and coming, across all four lanes. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Sam Holliday
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I often discover great books too late - this one came out in 1998 - but I still wanted to add my voice of congratulations to Mr Wolfe on this amazing piece of work.
I took it on holiday with me after only recently discovering the genius of Bonfire of the Vanities and I was a bit nervous that this wouldn't pack the same emotional punch as that legendary novel .
But I should have had no fears. In truth, I wouldn't even like to judge/compare it against its famous cousin because both have the same power to grab your attention and keep you reading and both prove Tom Wolfe's inspiring ability to tell a cracking, knowing, multi-faceted story.
What we have here, is 800 pages of quality writing and pure page turning drama. Set in modern day Atlanta it features the unforgettable character of Charlie Croker - an all-conquering property developer who is as rich as most countries and yet, as the novel starts, looks to be facing the possible end of his world of immense luxury and power.
We watch with fascination as we see Croker's desperate battle to salvage the world he created and watch with equal (and perhaps more horrible) fascination as he tries to convince himself he is a better person that most of us suspect he actually is .
Intermingled with this riveting main tale are several superb mini-plots which involve politics, racism, sex, family rivalries and corporate America, plus a seemingly unconnected story about a decent, principled man's descent into prison life (and what an astonishing vision of prison hell Wolfe portrays). The relevance of that storyline only starts to connect with the other main threads in the last few pages but it takes the book to a surprising finale . . .
Overall, I have to say this, like Bonfire, is simply a modern day classic. It's a real page turner, written with style and verve and if full of impeccably rounded characters.
It is a book to treasure and admire .
My next 'big' read will be Wolfe's latest novel - I Am Charlotte Symonds - which I will lap up with relish even if George Bush did recommend it. And I am only two years late reading it this time!
I took it on holiday with me after only recently discovering the genius of Bonfire of the Vanities and I was a bit nervous that this wouldn't pack the same emotional punch as that legendary novel .
But I should have had no fears. In truth, I wouldn't even like to judge/compare it against its famous cousin because both have the same power to grab your attention and keep you reading and both prove Tom Wolfe's inspiring ability to tell a cracking, knowing, multi-faceted story.
What we have here, is 800 pages of quality writing and pure page turning drama. Set in modern day Atlanta it features the unforgettable character of Charlie Croker - an all-conquering property developer who is as rich as most countries and yet, as the novel starts, looks to be facing the possible end of his world of immense luxury and power.
We watch with fascination as we see Croker's desperate battle to salvage the world he created and watch with equal (and perhaps more horrible) fascination as he tries to convince himself he is a better person that most of us suspect he actually is .
Intermingled with this riveting main tale are several superb mini-plots which involve politics, racism, sex, family rivalries and corporate America, plus a seemingly unconnected story about a decent, principled man's descent into prison life (and what an astonishing vision of prison hell Wolfe portrays). The relevance of that storyline only starts to connect with the other main threads in the last few pages but it takes the book to a surprising finale . . .
Overall, I have to say this, like Bonfire, is simply a modern day classic. It's a real page turner, written with style and verve and if full of impeccably rounded characters.
It is a book to treasure and admire .
My next 'big' read will be Wolfe's latest novel - I Am Charlotte Symonds - which I will lap up with relish even if George Bush did recommend it. And I am only two years late reading it this time!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tom Wolfe gets top marks for his characterisation and his literary style, but I'm going to have to knock off a couple of points for what I perceive to be his difficulty with finishing off a story. Whilst Bonfire of the Vanities gets 100% (undoubtedly his best piece of fiction), I felt that both I Am Charlotte Simmons and A Man In Full 'raced' to slightly unsatisfactory conclusions.
That said, I rate Wolfe as one of my favourite authors and, on balance, I prefer his works to those of Updike, a contemporary of his with whom there have been some fairly public slagging matches. Don't get me wrong, Updike's works are excellent and satisfying, but I just find Wolfe more gripping and compelling.
I'd highly recommend A Man In Full, but I'd suggest that the reader reads his fiction in the order it was written. Start with Bonfire of the Vanities, then A Man In Full and finish with I Am Charlotte Simmons.
That said, I rate Wolfe as one of my favourite authors and, on balance, I prefer his works to those of Updike, a contemporary of his with whom there have been some fairly public slagging matches. Don't get me wrong, Updike's works are excellent and satisfying, but I just find Wolfe more gripping and compelling.
I'd highly recommend A Man In Full, but I'd suggest that the reader reads his fiction in the order it was written. Start with Bonfire of the Vanities, then A Man In Full and finish with I Am Charlotte Simmons.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Maybe if I hadn't read Bonfire of the Vanities I'd ahve adored this book. But I had, and it left me feeling...cheated. It's the same book in almost every detail, with only the names and the location changing.
One incident really jarred with me. One of the characters gets a Finnish woman pregnant. She refuses to have an abortion because she is a Roman Catholic. Finnish Roman Catholics are less common than hen's teeth, yet Wolfe obviously felt the need to make her refusal more believable by making her a Catholic. It makes you wonder how many of his brilliant insights rely on the audiences ignorance (especially my own).
An amusing, well written book. But it's extremely putdownable.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Confident Satire
'A Man in Full' is satire which has a ring of truth I imagine, though I have not been to USA. Wolfe seems to have a good ear for dialogue and I could hear the speech in my head... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nora Walters
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Tom Wolff as we know and love it
Well trodden territory for Tom Wolff in a style we know and love. A big book about big people in a big city (Atlanta) in a big country with big problems. Read more
Published 2 months ago by EL
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Modern Dickensian Novel
Very impressed with the range and readability of the book.I haven't read 'Bonfire' yet but will now.Wolfe is probably the only modern author writing big,interesting books.
Published 17 months ago by bucky
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Man In Full
I think that this is probably one of the best books I've read in the last few years. It is about men. Every kind of man you could think of. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Disengaged
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fine as far as it goes
This is an enjoyable state-of-the-nation book, the nation being the USA. The characters come across like components in a carefully controlled equation rather than real people. Read more
Published 18 months ago by oldschoolstoryhunter.calm
3.0 out of 5 stars
Limp ending
I like the way Wolf writes...I really enjoyed Bonfire....it's an excellent book but the ending to this tomb is very disappointing
Published 20 months ago by bluemo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contemporary fiction at its finest.
Wolfe's rhythmic sentences kept making the hairs on my forearms rise. His story telling is superb. This and Shantaram are presently tied as my two favourite modern novels.
Published on 17 April 2011 by Shaun Attwood
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mild dilution of Bonfire of the Vanities. But good.
Tom Wolfe is one of my favorite authors, and my reviews of his books will testify to that.
The man in full is Charlie Croker, a self-made mill-(possibly bill-)ionaire;... Read more
The man in full is Charlie Croker, a self-made mill-(possibly bill-)ionaire;... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2010 by Talc Demon
5.0 out of 5 stars
A modern American masterpeice
A brilliant insight into the world of the 'American Dream'; the highs, the lows and the spaces in between. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2008 by messageinthemoon
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my all-time favourites
This is the fourth time I have read this book and it is just as refreshing a read as it was first time round. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2007 by Caterkiller
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