Full of Style

Tom Wolfe's Man in Full was, in my opinion, one of the best books of the year and definitely in the top ten of the decade. A huge leap forward in literary style from the ever popular "Bonfire of the Vanities," this novel follows the tales of two men's lives with a forgotten genre of the tragic Greek hero. One, a working class warehouse employee, trying to keep the fabric of his life from unraveling in the west Coast sun. The other, a wealthy real-estate mogul, living the life of Southern Aristocracy rapidly becoming out-dated in a modern Atlanta.

Can't really imagine where their lives might come together, can you? Wolfe neatly binds these two men with a philosophy that salvages them both, not from economic ruin, perhaps, but from losing their souls to the ever changing world that is drowning them both.

I found the book easy to read, finishing it in only a week, despite it's length. It actually prompted me to read "Bonfire of the Vanities," but I was disappointed by Bonfire's lack of depth in comparison to "Man in Full." If you are looking for a trivial drama about the woe of modern man, "Man in Full" is not it. Rather than surrendering to the "poor us" mentality so common in today's literature (and I use the term loosely), Wolfe delivers a tale of the triumph of the soul based on simple accountability for one's decisions.

If you are the action-adventure type, you will no doubt find the book too slow and uneventful to maintain your interest. However, if you are a lover of both a good story and writing style, Wolfe's "Man in Full" is the way to go. The writing is simple and eloquent, though not challenging in vocabulary. It isn't literary genius or anything, but it's a damn good book.