Book Review: A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

Friends and lovers- how's things?  This has been a whirlwind month of working + work travel for me, and I have let my personal reading list slip by the wayside as I've ingested tons of clean energy lit.  Oh renewable portfolio standards and public utility commissions!  Hark our clean energy future!  (errr...or not.  As usual, thanks for nothing Congress.)

Not only that, but my reading list queue has been hogged by this beast, Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full."  At almost 800 pages, the 'ol chap really outdid himself this time.  Looking back at a book it took me over a month to read, my only real comment, which is more a complaint, is that it was long.  Reading 800 pages of Tolstoy goes down like a glass of champagne; reading 800 pages of Tom is like my morning Jillian Michaels video:  watching the minutes pass on my clock but sticking through the pain because I know it's good for me (Love you Jillian darling!  Especially if I get my 6-week 6-pack!).  The man is just too verbose, the plot is just too predictable, and all of his characters are just too over the top.  Now I've never been one to practice moderation, but all of his antagonists are in a constant battle with themselves and you can cut the tension with a knife at any page in the book.  That's exhausting y'all! 

So if you're on the market to ingest 800 pages of racial and class tension in Atlanta during the boom 90s:  knock yourself out.  But if you're interested in a taste of Tom, you'd be well-served to munch on some Bonfire and take the next exit back to your bookshelf.

xx