A book review from The Movie Snob.

Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe. I read and enjoyed Wolfe's novel, A Man in Full, but for some reason I only just now got around to reading its predecessor, Bonfire of the Vanities. It, too, is a fun book, full of vivid characters and writing that is just a pleasure to read. The central character is Sherman McCoy: wealthy Wall Street bond trader, Park Avenue socialite, and self-styled Master of the Universe. He is also, fatefully, an unfaithful husband whose dalliance with a younger woman leads to disaster. While out with his mistress one night, he gets lost in the wrong part of town, and a traffic accident leaves a young black man in a coma. The case becomes a political cause celebre, and the noose gradually and inexorably tightens around McCoy's WASPy neck. The ending is perhaps a bit of a letdown, but the ride is so fun that I didn't really mind. Judging from the names of the various law firms that crop up in the book, I'd say that Wolfe is a big fan of lawyers: Dunning, Sponget & Leach. Curry, Goad & Pesterall. And Dershkin, Bellavita, Fishbein & Schlossel. Sheer poetry.