A Man in Full

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.

View other editions of A Man in Full.
View books by Tom Wolfe.

A modern American masterpeice - Rated
A brilliant insight into the world of the 'American Dream'; the highs, the lows and the spaces in between.
Tom Wolfe portrays his characters beautifully - we see their dreams, ambitions and failures set within the context of modern American life and all its ironies. Nobody does it better! Kipling once said "success and failure are two imposters to be regarded with the same suspicion," and I think that sentiment embodies the undertone to all Tom Wolfe's work.
I have noticed that some people are disappointed with Tom Wolfe's endings; it's as if they expect some great hollywood climax to it all, the final desperate sword fight. This is not his style, the journey is in some ways more important than the destination, his books are, after all, social documentaries, full of irony with complex and interweaving three dimensional characters we can all believe in and often empathise with. In a sense there is no real beginning and end, but for a few hundred pages of a magical book, we enter into the lives of these people and share the experience that is 'living in modern America.'
One reviewer has said that Tom Wolfe is perhaps a modern Charles Dickens and I very much agree with that, the comparison is not at all out of place.

One of my all-time favourites - Rated
This is the fourth time I have read this book and it is just as refreshing a read as it was first time round. The characters are involving and a terrific mixture: lawyers, developers and ordinary working people and despite the book's length it is definitely not a trial to read unlike some works of contemporary fiction (all Thomas Pynchon books for example). The ending of the book does feel a bit abrupt, particularly given the amazing level of detail in the preceding 700 pages, but this does not ruin what is a fantastic reading experience.

A Novel Too Full - Rated
Wolfe examined the fabric of American society in an original manner with `Bonfire of the Vanities'. `A Man in Full' reworks the same themes - the effect on ordinary lives of a rich man's actions, racial politics and the workings of the U.S. media and justice systems.

Any novel this size should tell a pretty good tale to justify its length. `A Man in Full' is a good story, but would have benefited from significant trimming. A major criticism is that the book's interminable passages of description often threaten to crush the reader's will to discover what happens next.

Wolfe's stylistic tics are constant throughout - lots of unnecessary italics, CAPITALISATION and comic book onomatopoeia. His endless attempts to capture urban vernacular speech can be a bit embarrassing too, rather like watching an elderly gentleman try to rap.

This novel has much to recommend it - decent plot, well-formed characters, and some very good individual scenes. The book's finale, however, is unspectacular and may seem unsatisfying to readers who have been asked to invest heavily with their time to reach it.

`A Man in Full' could have been a leaner and punchier novel. This tome needed an editor who was not dazzled by Wolfe's white suits.

Enjoyable but a weak ending - Rated
I picked this book from the shelves of a hostel in Buenos Aires, i recognised ther name Tom Wolfe from having read the somewhat hazy 'electric kool-aid acid test'.
Wolfe writes in an undemanding prose that succeeds in being extremely readable. My first impressions (of a man in full) were overwhelmingly positive and found myself entwined in the affairs of the main characters and becomming increasingly curious as to what would become of them.
Wolfe manages to place the reader within vivid scenes in which characters endure gruelling ordeals. Of note is the 'workout' session the books main character Charlie Croker undergoes at the hands of some sadistic bankers eager to recoup some of the fortune owed to them by him.
Another highlight is the 'day from hell' that another of the characters, Conrad Hensley, suffers a day in which he increasingly feels like he is being chewed up and spat out by the world, culminating in his arrest for aggrevated assault.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of the book and expecting quite a climax, the end was a disappointment. It seems to me like Wolfe had build up such a complex tapestry that he himself could not quite wrap it up in a convincing fashion. The ending is weak and trails off leving the reader unfulfilled.

A masterpiece of intelligent storytelling - Rated
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!