Journal Entry 1 by JudySlump612 from Minneapolis, Minnesota USA on Thursday, February 16, 2012

This book really impresses me. To write it, Wolfe had to live close enough to New York's many inner circles to pick up the details, and yet still maintain the critical distance to satirize them. He also had to create interesting characters, involve them in a great story with lots of subplots, and write with such energy and humor that you just can't stop turning the pages.

Since I'm neither a wealthy person nor a New Yorker, I could enjoy this thoroughly without worrying about finding myself held up for skewering, and that's probably true of most readers. I'd love to know what the targets here thought about their portraits (if they ever sit down and read a 690-page book). Just the accents alone are fun.

There are lots of favorite bits here. The top of the list is Chapter 15, the dinner party. Wolfe lets his hilarious imagination run free (calling the young blond trophy wives "Lemon Tarts), and Sherman McCoy, the self-proclaimed Master of the Universe, spends a miserable evening calculating the expenditures he's forced to make (a $200+ limousine for a distance of six blocks).

Oh there's so much more! Parts of this book stayed vividly in my memory for years. It's a wonderful capture of a time and place, and even better, it's really fun to read. And as a small note, the art deco cover illustration fits the book perfectly.

P. S. By chance, I just now stumbled across a reference to the original bonfire of the vanities, in 1497, which I had literally never heard of before. Wow!

But that's just one person's opinion. Future readers, what do YOU think of this book? 

Journal Entry 2 by JudySlump612 at by mail, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, February 18, 2012

Released 3 mos ago (2/18/2012 UTC) at by mail, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Placed in jsmeltser's 1001 Book Box