Y’all might have to down some redbull (+ vodka) to keep up with vanilla suit connoisseur Tom Wolfe and his eighties brick, The Bonfire of the Vanities. It is, let’s say, equal parts energetic and problematic. We get into why, then do a juicy dive on the misguided movie adaptation starring, bewilderingly, Tom Hanks.
Books mentioned: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, A Man in Full & I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe; Furious Hours, Casey Cep; Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand; I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara; The Devil’s Candy, Julie Salamon.
A bonfire of sources:
- Tom Wolfe Obit (NYT)
- Retrospective on BoV (NYT)
- Wolfe on Fresh Air (NPR)
- Joseph Epstein on BoV (New Criterion)
- Louis Menand, Adam Gopnik and Paul Elie on Wolfe (New Yorker)
- BoV Movie Trailer
- Piece on The Devil’s Candy (LA Times)
- As always, Patricia Lockwood on Updike (LRB)
- Chuckle-slinger
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