His reporter's eye has seized every gritty detail of the criminal justice system, and he is also acute in rendering the hierarchy at a society party. He has an infallible, mocking ear for New York voices, rendering with equal precision the defense lawyer's ''gedoutdahere,'' the deliberate bad grammar (``that don't help matters'') of the wily ``reverend'' and the clenched-teeth WASP locution (`howjado''). two detectivesone Irish, the other Jewish a slimy, alcoholic British journalist an outraged judge, etc. Wolfe adroitly swings his focus from one to another of the people involved: the protagonist McCoy Kramer, the assistant D.A. The incident is inflated by a manipulative black leader, a district attorney seeking reelection and a sleazy tabloid reporter into a full-blown scandal, a political football and a hokey morality play. On a clandestine date with his mistress one night, top Wall Street investment banker and snobbish WASP Sherman McCoy misses his turn on the thruway and gets lost in the South Bronx his Mercedes hits and seriously injures a young black man. Ranging from the rarefied atmosphere of Park Avenue to the dingy courtrooms of the Bronx, this is a totally credible tale of how the communities uneasily coexist and what happens when they collide. Both his cynical irony and sense of the ridiculous are perfectly suited to his subject: the roiling, corrupt, savage, ethnic melting pot that is New York City. It has often been called the quintessential novel of the 1980s.In his spellbinding first novel, Wolfe proves that he has the right stuff to write propulsively engrossing fiction. The novel was a bestseller and a phenomenal success, even in comparison with Wolfe's other books. Wolfe heavily revised it before it was published in book form.

The novel was originally conceived as a serial in the style of Charles Dickens' writings: It ran in 27 installments in Rolling Stone starting in 1984. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish assistant district attorney Larry Kramer, and British expatriate journalist Peter Fallow. The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 satirical novel by Tom Wolfe. Sleek and compact hardcover in comparison with the behemoth that is the true 'First Edition' of this 80's classic.ĭust jacket is excellent, showing some light wear to edges.īook itself is excellent read boards with white spine. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe FIRST BOOK CLUB PRINTING FARRAR STRAUS GIROUX

Bonfire of the vanities book cover