A Man in Full: A Novel: Tom Wolfe: 9780374270322: Amazon.com: Books (original) (raw)
Customers say
Customers find the book wonderful, fascinating, and fun to read. They also appreciate the fabulous, textured, and colorful characters. Readers praise the writing quality as great, descriptive, and artistic. They find the insight insightful and thought-provoking. Customers describe the humor as absurd, ironic, and satirical. However, some feel the value for money is disappointing and flawed. Opinions are mixed on the story quality, with some finding it terrific and descriptive, while others say it has some interesting stories.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
52 customers mention "Readability"52 positive0 negative
Customers find the book wonderful, fascinating, and fun to read. They say it's a marvelous novel with well-drawn characters set mainly in greater Atlanta. Readers also mention the story is entertaining and informative about prison life.
"...I got my copy and it was worth the effort...." Read more
"I thought the story was really entertaining and informative - about prison life, about Atlanta politics...." Read more
"...Many parts of the book are uproariously funny. This novel is a superb vehicle for Wolfe to display his geniuse as a social commentator...." Read more
28 customers mention "Writing quality"21 positive7 negative
Customers find the writing quality great, descriptive, and excellent. They also appreciate the expert and engaging narration. Readers mention the book is detailed, tightly crafted, and character-driven.
"...6. The book could have easily been 100 pages shorter, better written, shorter musings by the characters, and for sure could have had a better..." Read more
"...a wonderful book to read.. I enjoyed it very much..very insightful, & detailed.. I loved getting lost in the story.. my days were always full..." Read more
"...He writes with beautiful descriptions of what is happening. I will be reading him again." Read more
"...Everyone should read it. It is another work of artistic journalism in prose by the author." Read more
26 customers mention "Character development"23 positive3 negative
Customers find the characters fabulous, textured, and memorable. They also appreciate the colorful characters.
"...There were many vivid characters, but I feel like the two 'Jobs' were the backbone of the story...." Read more
"...This book contains fabulous characters and satire that bites so hard it leaves scars. Many parts of the book are uproariously funny...." Read more
"...The characters are unforgettable and it's a highly entertaining read...." Read more
"...The characters are almost Dickens-like in their appeal, from the mid-level loan officer, Ray Peepgas (is that not a Dickens name) to the Black..." Read more
17 customers mention "Insight"17 positive0 negative
Customers find the book insightful, interesting, and thought-provoking. They say it provides background information and insight into their development and connection. Readers also mention the message is worth pondering.
"I thought the story was really entertaining and informative - about prison life, about Atlanta politics...." Read more
"...of the book were very powerfully written...well characterized and interesting...hard to put down...." Read more
"...novel is, at times, uproaringly funny, and at other times simply engrossing...." Read more
"...Wolfe is an astute cultural observer, and this is very much about urban America circa 2000...." Read more
10 customers mention "Humor"10 positive0 negative
Customers find the humor in the book absurd, ironic, and original. They say it's a wonderful satire on race, sex, money, status, and hucksters.
"...Many parts of the book are uproariously funny. This novel is a superb vehicle for Wolfe to display his geniuse as a social commentator...." Read more
"...some have merit, the simple fact is, this novel is, at times, uproaringly funny, and at other times simply engrossing...." Read more
"...came to be together, and the result of that relationship is absolutely hilarious (if not altogether believable)...." Read more
"...It is always thoughtful and the flashes of humor are memorable too." Read more
36 customers mention "Story quality"20 positive16 negative
Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality. Some mention it's terrific, descriptive, and interesting. Others say the book is tedious and less compelling.
"...It is a long novel, and I have read it at least four times, I am getting ready to read it a fifth time as the horrible TV series that just came out..." Read more
"...book was way too long for its content...mostly due to lengthy, unnecessary musings...often rambling and off plot...meaning that they neither advance..." Read more
"...The plot is interesting that grew to the culmination at the end...." Read more
"He's not my favorite author, but he's pretty good. The story gave me a new perspective." Read more
7 customers mention "Sturdiness"4 positive3 negative
Customers have mixed opinions about the sturdiness of the book. Some mention it's well-crafted and brilliant, while others say it falls apart.
"...hit the home run as Bonfire of the Vanities did, but is a solid three bagger." Read more
"...I was a little disappointed in the physical quality of the volume received, since I believed it would be like new, but it was well used...." Read more
"...The story twist of how they meet each other was well-crafted, but the final outcome of the book was also pretty far-fetched." Read more
"Very damaged. Readable, but the cover is trashed as are some pages." Read more
9 customers mention "Value for money"0 positive9 negative
Customers find the book unconvincing and unsatisfactory. They also say the end is abrupt and makes them feel discarded.
"...Second, the ending is disappointing. There is something unconvincing and unsatisfactory about Croker's final "conversion."...." Read more
"...the story line at the end of the book seem entirely unfair and deeply disappointing...." Read more
"...Yes, this masterpiece is flawed, but it is still a very good read...." Read more
"...Much of the problem is the end, which is so abrupt it made this reader feel discarded...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2024
I bought my first copy of this novel the day in came out. I was living and working in NYC and had to visit several book stores as it sold out instantly. I got my copy and it was worth the effort. I consider Bonfire of the Vanities the practice novel for this work which I consider Wolfe's best effort. It is a long novel, and I have read it at least four times, I am getting ready to read it a fifth time as the horrible TV series that just came out washed away my good memories of this work.
I see this novel as a twin retelling of the trials of Job, on two very different characters and involving philosophy as opposed to religion. There were many vivid characters, but I feel like the two 'Jobs' were the backbone of the story.
Obviously I feel it worth the read, and maybe skip the miniseries, as I feel that it completely missed the point of the novel.
4 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2024
I thought the story was really entertaining and informative - about prison life, about Atlanta politics. The author is too wordy and gets caught up in his own rhetoric. It seems like he was being paid by the word because he repeated words and sounds over and over. The book could have been at least a third shorter.
I like the way the story came full circle and, not wanting to give anything away, that’s all I’ll say about that.
One person found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2024
One person found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2006
Tom Wolfe is among my favorite authors, having already read "Bonfire of the Vanities" and "The Right Stuff". I had never heard of "A Man in Full" but after reading the excerpt on Amazon, which was the chapter introducing Roger Too-White, I decided to purchase the audio-CD version of this book.
I have listened to several audiobooks overt the last few months, and I have found that no matter what the subject or author, what makes or breaks an audiobook is the narration/reading. Most have been good. (Anything narrated by Boyd Gaines should be avoided.)
In contrast, "A Man in Full" is expertly narrated by David Ogden Stiers, best-known as Major Winchester on "M*A*S*H". He brought depth and life to every character in the novel, and was able to differentiate each character so as to stand out in the listener's mind.
Stiers' diction and intonation were extremely helpful in describing each scene, and the motivations behind each character. One can easily pick up on the nervous fear & frustration in Conrad on his fateful day when he fails his typing test, has his car towed, is jerked around by surrounding characters who seem to go out of their way to keep him from getting enough change for a phone call, then by the staff at the impound lot, after which you finally hear him snap, resulting in his failed attempt to steal back his own car, resulting in his imprisonment.
I howled out loud at the sheer improbability of Charlie and Conrad coming together through what seemed like fate (or was it the hand of Zeus?). One could almost sense this about to happen, however, but the manner in which it occurred, and the subsequent outcome of their meeting (as opposed to what most readers, like myself, might have predicted), is (as Wolfe might write), a jolt to the solar plexus.
(P.S. - Is there a Tom Wolfe novel without "solar plexus" in it?)
14 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2011
While I found the book, in parts, a real page turner, I have to rate the book a three for the following reasons.
1. Poor use of 10 cent words when developing his characters. If you're an MIT grad... you speak, act, and think like one...and typically that's how you'd expect them to be portrayed in the written word..however, if you're poor high school grad like Conrad, I find polysyllabic words popping up as he mulls over his life in his simple, jailhouse mind a bit distracting and disingenuous.
2. The book was way too long for its content...mostly due to lengthy, unnecessary musings...often rambling and off plot...meaning that they neither advance the plot, nor meaningfully contribute to portraying the character. I thought that the author lost the balance between characterization and plot. While I enjoy good characterization, I don't want character development so in depth that I find myself wanting to skim parts of the book just to get back to some meaningful plot points.
3. Broken plots and subplots. For instance...Peepgass marries Charlie Croaker's wife...why...who cares...you never find out how he overcame the class and money differences between he and Martha Croker. He dated her a couple of times...and boom, they are married. She did serve to offer embarrassing information about Charlie's earlier life that was never really a contribution to the plot.
4. While you may not like, or believe that Charlie Croker is the protagonist, I wanted to follow the main plot. The author builds the plot in such a way as to lead the reader into expecting retribution for Charlie against the those at the bank who embarrassed and belittled him in so many ways. The author sets up a means to that end, offers justification through Charlie's wife. Not to be...in the end, Charlie finds religion, albeit off of the beaten path, and walks away...just quits...leaving his wife, kids, employees, his business, his plantation, all that he is...all because he happened to read a book.
5. The book leaves so many loose ends that it has to be tied up in an Epilogue. You get the feeling that the author over wrote the story...either out of boredom or inability to control his characters...to the point of distraction...and then just couldn't figure out how to rewrite the characters in a more meaningful way. Not all characters, and not throughout the book, but in enough places that the book bogs down.
6. The book could have easily been 100 pages shorter, better written, shorter musings by the characters, and for sure could have had a better ending.
Don't get me wrong...when the book moved...it moved. Some parts of the book were very powerfully written...well characterized and interesting...hard to put down. It's the wasted space...the pages that follow the subplots to distraction that really take an otherwise wonderful read and turn it into an exercise in completion. I had been waiting to read this book for 5 years, ever since I bought it at a library sale for $3, read a few pages and then lost track of it. Recently, I received a Kindle for my birthday and bought the book from Amazon. You know, we all read books in different ways...so, if your one of those people who don't read word for word...skipping here and there over the boring parts...you will most likely love this book a lot more than I did.
16 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2024
I’d love to see the story board for this novel. Wolfe has the uncanny talent to keep 12 plot lines in the air at once and then weave them together .
Top reviews from other countries
5.0 out of 5 stars A typical Tom Wolfe story as I like them
Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2024
A captivating Tom Wolfe story, written with his distinctive, heartfelt style. I am a true admirer of Tom Wolfe's writing style. He develops his characters in such an authentic way that we can identify to anyone, be it, in the case of A Man in Full, an old business man on the US East coast or a young factory work on the West coast.
We follow the intertwined stories of 4 men. Charlie Cocker is a rich businessman in Atlanta who, from the start, seems a bit tired with how is life is unfolding. Roger White is a young Atlanta lawyer, ambitious, with honorable work and family values. Roger Peepgrass is an executive banker, also in Altanta, dissatisfied with his job and with a messy personal life. And finally, Conrad Hensley is a young family man who works in a factory on the West coast.
I found the prologue and the first 3-4 chapters difficult to read. I had even tried a sample of the book in the past and dropped it for something else. After reading The Bonfire of the Vanities (and absolutely loving it), I gave A Man in Full another try and boy was it worth it.
I highly recommend if you love a story that follows different characters through a united, complex storyline.
One person found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Just a great book!
Reviewed in France on June 17, 2024
Very fine characters, rythm, and style. A quite subtle and epic novel you can’t drop before last page! I recommend heartily.
5.0 out of 5 stars Rollicking!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2024
Such a fun read!
The horse mating scene on its own is worth the price of the book!
2 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars History repeats itself
Reviewed in Germany on November 19, 2023
This book is not only a must-read for anyone who is active in the property business. The Interest-rate increase will put a lot of developers in a similar position as Charlie. The dynamics of this book represent the solutions and impact on society of large scale bankruptcies even nowadays. Netflix has found the perfect timing for a mini series based on this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars History repeats itself
Reviewed in Germany on November 19, 2023
This book is not only a must-read for anyone who is active in the property business. The Interest-rate increase will put a lot of developers in a similar position as Charlie. The dynamics of this book represent the solutions and impact on society of large scale bankruptcies even nowadays. Netflix has found the perfect timing for a mini series based on this book.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Sociología de la sociedad diversa en EE UU
Reviewed in Spain on July 7, 2021
Una gran novela. Aquellos que comprendan bien el idioma Inglés disfrutarán de ella.