Bonfire of the Vanities has made me a Tom Wolfe fan. It paints a truthful picture of late 20th Century morality. There are no heroes in this book. The egos and dark flaws of its characters are on display for the world to read. Who knows? You might find a bit of yourself in this classic. I don't consider myself a student of literature, but I'd be surprised if this book wasn't required reading for literature majors, or perhaps social studies and first year law students . It's a great read.

After seeing the movie numerous times, I thought it was time to finally read the book. Although sometimes the language can be colorful and literary, overall I could not put it down, and finished it in just a few days.

After 30 years it still resonates -- kind of sad really. Excellent read, for "readers," not for those who like snippet type reading. Only beef. Why of all possible endings did he choose this one?! Very unsatisfying after a substantial commitment to the story. Feels like he rushed the ending.

Written in his inimitable droll style Tom Wolfe in this novel pits the mores of the haves of the right upper Manhattan addresses against those of the have nots of the Bronx, all manipulated by the power structure of the over burdened judicial system as it seeks to maintain some sense of order, while pointing out the sort of corruption that can thrive in each segment of society.

Wolfe is a genius of unmasking our oh-so-carefully constructed fictious lives. Bonfire of the Vanities, so aptly named, scorches the network of lies, deceit, and hubris that we dare to call "society." The under belly Wolfe exposes runs the gambit from the justice-free judicial system to corrupt civil rights activists, and the hipocracy of upper middle class elitism. A devastating, yet entertaining novel that will wake you from your smug confidence that "all is right with the world."

This book is about the Mercury Project, NASA’s first manned space missions, and the origins of the astronaut program.

Tom Wolfe was a practitioner of “New Journalism.” The only previous experience that I had with that style was with Hunter S. Thompson’s alcohol-and-other-drugs-fueled escapades in Las Vegas while covering a race for Sports Illustrated and his alcohol-fueled experiences at the Kentucky Derby. Based on those reading experiences, it was my understanding that one of the hallmarks of New Journalism was Journalist-as-Participant. The historical record, however, is pretty clear that a drunk Tom Wolfe had not, in fact, been blasted into orbit with John Glenn or any of the other Mercury 7 astronauts. How then is The Right Stuff an example New Journalism?

Well, Tom Wolfe wrote his butt off. The book reads more “literary” than as an object of traditional journalism. Let me explain…no, there is too much…let me sum up…A traditional journalistic or scholarly book about the early astronauts and “what made them tick” might include quotations from interviews with those astronauts and people that knew them, government officials and news reporters from the time, and maybe a few academics to provide some Authoritative Interpretation. The writer wouldn’t put forth a theory of their own about the astronaut motivations, or, if they did, there’d be a ton of explicit sources backing them up.

Tom Wolfe just puts his theories out there, front and center, and then writes with such force – with repeated interjections, sometimes with exclamations! – and capitalizations and callbacks and pretty descriptions and literary techniques that the reader will forget that they are reading some nonfiction book; this story may be (at least in some sense) true, but it reads like a novel. It never really dives into the minutiae of bureaucratic organization nor is it really interested in any one’s point of view other than that which drives the author’s central point: the astronauts were military test pilots fueled by a Manly Competitive Desire to BE THE BEST and that performing well under pressure in that competition exhibits The Right Stuff (which is never explicitly defined, although I have my own theories).

I am a fan of David Foster Wallace’s writing, and I could see a clear influence from Tom Wolfe’s style in Wallace’s writing. And David Foster Wallace was certainly not the only literary writer influenced by Wolfe. Fans of literature really should check this out, just to trace back certain styles to their creator (or popularizer). Science fiction fans could be inspired by a (more or less) true account of fighter pilot personality and how their influence (or lack thereof) could impact a fictional space program. Fans of nonfiction could see that there are ways of telling a nonfiction story rather than the usual, traditional methodologies. I’d recommend this book to anyone, just with the disclaimer that it is NOT like the usual biographical or documentary-style rendition of the Mercury Project. The writer’s style is definitely noticeable, and some might be distracted by it (or it could just not be to their taste).

Tom Wolfe’s account of the test pilot program in the time of Chuck Yeager and the Mercury astronauts is a fascinating look back at a special time in American history. His sardonic take on many details had me laughing, and his genuine love and admiration for the men involved comes shining through in his writing. A line from the end probably sums it up best: “but the day when an astronaut could parade up Broadway while traffic policemen wept in the intersections was no more."
This was the story of that time.

The Right Stuff is the story of 7 men chosen for the Mercury space program and also about the life of Chuck Yeager, a very talented test pilot. Most of the story takes place from the late 50's when the U.S. was in a race with Russia to reach outer space. There was a lot of pressure on the U.S. because Russia had already sent out the first manned space flight. Personally I liked the story a lot, it was very interesting, but I feel like the story spent a lot of time around things that were not important to the progression of the story. Examples of this is when they are all sitting around at their hangout, not really doing anything. The characters were very interesting though, at first they were kind of low down and rowdy, but as the story progresses they end up much more mature and helpful to each other. I learned a lot from this book, such as: Who broke the sound barrier first, who the first to go into space were, and how they all got there. I would recommend this book to those who are looking for an interesting story about the advancement of our current technology.