Rating: 
Summary: buy it. read it. it's that good.
Review: Harsh, wry, and real. Those three words sum up the novel's content. Not for the easily offended. The party scenes in the book are the best, especially the almost audible laughs ('ack ack ack ack' etcetera). This Wolfe guy seems to know what he's doing.
Rating:
Summary: AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!
Review: This book flawlessly captures the hypocrisy, the corruption , the dynamics and the manipulative, agenda driven forces that are STILL at work (though to a lesser degree) in New York City to this day. While some choose to focus on hating Sherman McCoy and what he represents, I choose to focus on the morally bankrupt media and "Reverend" Bacon aspects of this magnificent morality play. Today the media is driven by the credo "while the facts may be interesting, they are irrelevant" when a story such as this explodes across the headlines. Reverand Baconesque characters are given legitimacy and muggers are portrayed as altar boys and honor students in the media's zeal to create a story by tearing down heretofore legitimate institutions and/or people. While some readers complain about the ending of this book I do not. The book ends a lot like real life. There is no closure, there are no pat and easy endings. Only a struggle to get thru the day and the day after that. Sherman McCoy abandons all pretensions after hitting rock bottom and, instead of crawling into a hole and dying, he rededicates himself to redemption regardless of the cost. I like the man Sherman McCoy became.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful read, but funny??
Review: Yes, this is a very good book. I was completely absorbed by it, but I didn't find it "entertaining" or funny, as most of the other reviewers seem to do. It's full of a dark sort of humor, but this didn't make me laugh very often. Most of the characters are as large as life and very "real" and that makes the story even more painful to read. After all, practically everything in this book goes terribly wrong, almost all the characters fail to realize their ideals, fail to transcend their own mediocrity and fail to live up to their own moral standards. They all leave a trail of victims in their wake. It's a sad story, really, which paints a very gloomy picture of modern society, a society whose members have such a hard time finding some meaning in what they do and what happens to them. The much criticized ending effectively deepens the pessimism, since it offers us a glimpse into the future: a tunnel without a glimmer of light at the end. I often asked myself if Mr. Wolfe sees any hope for us.
Rating: 
Summary: Kept me turning the pages..
Review: I loved Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis, and was told repeatedly to pick up Bonfire. I'm glad I did. I do have to agree with other reviewers which point to the ending's weakness. Wolfe did seem to just abruptly end the story. While it lasted, however, it kept me laughing..One thing, definately not for people who don't appreciate black humor...
Rating:
Summary: Greed comes in all sizes, shapes, colors and class lines
Review: Outstanding! The story at first seems to meander, but even Wolfe's seemingly innocuous first 3 chapters serve their purpose. Sherman McCoy is such a completely self-centered, sheltered, wealthy individual that the mere sight of a young black male in his posh Manhattan neighborhood practically gives him a panic attack. Wolfe also skillfully shows how the sophisticated, Yale-educated stockbroker Sherman is reduced to a hormone-ridden high-school boy at the prospect of a secret rendezvous with his sexy, desirable young mistress, Maria. His bumbling phone call to his wife Judy prepares us for exactly how poorly he will be prepared to handle any events that deviate even slightly from his closed, insular life. The other 3 main characters are just as sharply drawn. Larry Kramer is the poor man's Sherman McCoy. Just as Sherman risks everything he has, including his marriage, for a woman he lusts over, Kramer does the same, risking the opportunity of a lifetime to act out on his! ! unfulfilled fantasies of "the girl with the brown lipstick". Reverend Bacon, an obvious parody of Al Sharpton, is shown in all of his self-righteous posturing and slick insincerity (his motivations in "helping victims" are less than pure). Peter Fallow, the British tabloid "journalist", is a first-rate opportunist who uses other people's tragedies to save his flagging career (he's desperate to get the "Big Story", truth be damned, since he's about to be fired for his habitual drunkenness). His snobbery about the crude "Yanks" provide a lot of the humor; as much as he reviles Americans, he is not averse to mooching dinners and drinks from them. One of the funniest chapters consists of his dinner with Maria's tycoon husband. The finest creation of the secondary characters is Myron "Mike" Kovitsky, the no-nonsense judge who won't buckle under to the pressures of popular demand. His manner in dealing with the caged crimi! ! nals, for instance, is a classic: he gets down to their lev! el of cat-calling in his own unique, vulgar way. This stubborn trait never changes throughout the novel; he is perhaps the only truly noble character to be found. I wish there had been more memorable female characters; as it is, Maria is the only stand-out among the "social X-rays and lemon tarts", including Judy McCoy (I would have liked to see her character expanded). Predictably, Maria plays a large part in the resulting comic tragedy and shows herself to be completely self-centered, utterly without a conscience and purely carnal in her instincts. Maria, not the sterotypical fragile Southern belle she at first appears to be, is not easily intimidated and proves to be much more of a ruthless cut-throat than Sherman the Scheming Stockbroker, who soon falls apart at work as well as in his personal life. The satire is first-rate, although some of the "privileged party" scenes are occasionally dragged out too long. Wolfe shows that there is no limit or except! ! ions to greed and opportunism in any class line, from the blacks in the Bronx to the WASP-y Manhattan socialites to the British tabloid "sleaze journalists". Some people have suggested that the epilogue was a cop-out; I happened to like it, because it provided a bit of realism to the satire. Especially observe how Sherman, as an accused criminal, is the toast of Manhattan, and after his trial, appears to have been deserted.
Rating:
Summary: get to the point
Review: My most serious complaint about this book was the fact that it dragged out so far, and had so much irrelevant stalling. Who really cares about Larry Kramer trying to get "the girl with the brown lipstick?" In fact, a good portion of the book concerning Larry Kramer could be omitted, as could many of the ceaseless droning about the parties Sherman went to. They're irrelevant, so leave them out. I wish that the author had spent a little more effort on the ending, which is incredibly disappointing, with no real resolution. What kind of book ends with a paragraph to resolve the last 300 pages? Wolfe should have spent a little less time spinning his wheels, and a little more time making it worth it when you finally get to the end.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: I admired Bonfire more for the innovative uses of language than for his social incisiveness. I despise the knee-jerkers who deplore the 80's as a "decade of greed" and point to Wolfe's book as a banner example of that sentiment. Surely, any reader out there would jump at the chace to have the wealth, connections and opportunities that the main character, Sherman McCoy had? Wolfe neatly lays bare the foibles of members from all levels of society. No one is spared, but most people seemed to really enjoy the downfall of Sherman McCoy. I felt nothing but sympathy for the man, but then again I'm always a few steps short of being a pariah. I had an intriguing assignment in a college English class: a favorite book of yours has been banned in your community. Write a spirited defense of the book. The novel I chose: Bonfire of the Vanities...
Rating:
Summary: The best novel of all time
Review: This is arguably the best American novel of all time. I recently had the pleasure of rereading it, and was thrilled anew at the way the dirt of the American Way is so shamelessly and so gleefully exposed. Wolfe writes with such zest, such pleasure, you can almost hear him laughing as he types the last period. The modern pretenders to the throne, such as Stuart Woods (and his odious "Dirt") et al., are hardly able to compare to the Walker Percy-like insight Wolfe has into the distinct voices that comprise America.
Rating:
Summary: Could not wait to finish reading the book.
Review: I first read this book while in high school --a time when I not only did not like required reading; but, was not too interested in reading for pleasure, either. This book, however, changed my opinion of the latter. I wasn't too thrilled to have received this book as a gift; but, decided to give it a chance. I had trouble with the first few pages --looking back, I probably should have re-read them. Nonetheless, the following pages kept me reading hour after hour. Finally finishing the book 2-3 days later. I can truly say that --after getting through the first chapter-- I enjoyed reading "Bonfire of the Vanities." I highly recommend this book. And, I thank Mr. Wolfe for being one of a short list of authors who brought me back to the love of reading I had enjoyed as a child.
Rating:
Summary: A satire with laser like insight on New York greed
Review: This book holds up well, as the 90's on Wall Street make the 80's look like a bear market! Greed has just moved to the suburbs and purchased a sport utility vehicle. A fascinating read, gripping,and with a plot that predicted the front page spiced up by Tom Wolfe's original and witty observations. By the way, I met Tom Wolfe on the Delta shuttle soon after this book was published, and what a gentlemen. He couldn't have been more gracious as I nattered on about Bonfire and some of his other books. Tom, another book please!!
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