Tom Wolfe reminds me of a good, focused studious portrait artist—he can draw an excellent picture of whatever it is that he sees before him. Unfortunately, that's exactly the problem with his new tome, A Man in Full.
No doubt about it, Wolfe is an excellent journalist: he describes all of the nuances a reader might want to know, from how a room looks to how characters enunciate their words. That works just fine in non-fiction or "new journalism," because then you can blame the subject matter if it is boring or uninteresting to the readers. But this book is fiction and parts of the story seem so forced, so artificial, so contrived, that it's quite saddening, really.
In The Bonfire of the Vanities Wolfe told a fascinating story. Maybe it was because the timing was right for a story capturing elements of 80's society. Or maybe it was just great writing. Either way, the story about the greedy stockbrokers and the people he called the "masters of the universe" captivated many people, including this reviewer.
And so, after almost a 10 year wait, readers looked forward to Wolfe's next novel. Perhaps there was no way it could meet the hype, the anticipation, the tons of glowing reviews from fellow journalists. It hasn't.
The book centers on Charlie Croker, an Atlanta millionaire in arrears. Poor Croker has knee problems, perhaps stemming from his glory days as a college football star. He's also a racist bigot, but he genuinely seems to want to do the right thing. It's just that his idea of the "right thing" involves helping himself and his problems.
When offered to do that one thing—help stop a potential race riot in Atlanta—he has a dilemma. If he speaks out in support of a cocky black running back for the Georgia Tech football team accused of date-raping a white woman, Croker can quell some potential problems. In return, the Atlanta mayor will pull some strings, and the companies trying to collect on money owed by Croker will suddenly become much less aggressive.
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