THE BONFIRES OF THE VANITIES

I got a second-hand mass paperback edition, rather than the Kindle version, which reviewers say was shot through with errors. I thought the book was great, making the personalities who created and manned the Mercury program come alive.

I did have a question from the book. Wolfe made no secret of his feeling that the apex of the right stuff quality was to be found in the working test pilots. The astronauts had the right stuff, without question, but had a tough time keeping their edge since flying high-performance aircraft was not part of the astronaut training program.

Wolfe also more than hinted that the manned spaceflight exploration by the X-15 and X-20 experimental models was a lost opportunity when that program was cancelled.

I would have liked to see some informed speculation on whether an aircraft along the lines of the X-20 would be able to transition into orbital spaceflight, or was the X-15 program just a spectacular dead end? Perhaps "The Right Stuff" was not intended to consider such questions, but the book definitely lays out the view that the X-15 was cancelled for political, rather than technical, reasons.

At the beginning of the story, we meet a delusional Sherman McCoy. He believes he's a Master of the Universe because he takes nine-digit orders from clients every other day. Yet McCoy is only a middleman: as his wife explains to their little daughter, "If you pass around enough slices of cake, then pretty soon you have enough crumbs to make a gigantic cake." Besides, his elevation to a presumptive Master of the Universe was accidental: when he started in the bond department, the market was not that hot and his colleagues were known as "Bond Bores". Nor did he have to fight his way into New York high society - thanks to his father, a famous corporate lawyer.

Delusional, not despicable. Yes, Sherman is unfaithful to his wife; but... A professor's daughter, she has always looked down on him "from a wholly fictive elevation" while spending his money on attempts at interior design. To her credit, she does not turn against McCoy when he falls on hard times. She takes their daughter and merely disappears, unlike Sherman's duplicitous mistress.

The gods enlighten Sherman in their usual way, through pain and disgrace. Cured of the ignorance that fed his hubris, the man turns into a fighter - unless I am reading too much into the final scene. No, I don't think I am: this is not merely a story of a man stripped of his innocence - sorry, ignorance. Knowing Wolfe's later work and his affinity for Zola, I can think of The Bonfire as one installment from a never-written McCoy family history. Otherwise, why mention William Sherman McCoy, the protagonist's paternal grandfather, a hick from Knoxville, TN, in the eyes of aristocratic New Yorkers?

I take it as a clue: there's a fighting spirit, a certain stubbornness and stand-your-ground diehardism that run in the family and come out when the youngest McCoy is pushed to the wall. "In well-reared girls and boys, guilt and the instinct to obey the rules are reflexes, ineradicable ghosts in the machine." True, but when Sherman faces a demented crowd, his fear and loathing erase this defeatist deference.

By the way, why would a Southerner be named Sherman? My guess is because Knoxville is different: it's in the east of Tennessee, by the mountains; incidentally, Charlotte Simmons of Wolfe's third novel grew up a little further east, over the border in North Carolina. In 1861, East Tennessee voted to stay in the Union; Republican sympathies were strong; Knoxville was divided; pro-Union local guerrillas burned bridges during the 1861-63 Confederate occupation; the 1st Alabama cavalry regiment which escorted Sherman to the sea was largely Tennessean. So there's "Sherman" - the hard-war general and the hard-war tank - and there's "McCoy", but which of them is the real one? - and there's some obstinate farmer in the background who'd fight the slaveholders both sides of the Blue Ridge.

Really good writing! TW's descriptions of the thinking of the characters has wonderful depth and approaches poetry. Same for his description of things and places. The multi-threaded plot keeps your full attention. Great read.

When World War Two was over, the American Air force started to work with jet planes. Planes the were faster, more agile, and had more altitude. The Cold War was heating up when in 1957. The Russian launched Sputnik 1 into space. This set the Americans on a small edge. The American government was afraid the Russians would put nuclear weapons in space and launch them at America. So the U.S. decided to start their own space program. Only America wanted to put people in space. The Mercury Project was established and was indented to train and put people in space. The Astronauts were selected based on their aviation history with rocked planes. Then the candidates would be brought to a facility to be tested on to see if they were capable enough to be shot into space(did they have to right stuff). The seven astronauts were selected and mission started. The American space program was slow and by the time one capsule was working the Russians had launched many more. The program was finally successful when Alan Shepard went into space and when John Glenn orbited earth. The book introduces struggles that NASA and America overcame to go to space.

There were many things that I liked about this book. The way the author describes the setting makes you feel as if you were there in the early 1960's with them. I really enjoyed reading this book because it explain a lot of the behind the stage astronaut activity not many know about. I was very interesting to learn about the tests and struggles the pilots had to go through to became astronauts. One of the only things that I didn't like about the book was the fact that the "story" did not really carry out. The book only focused on a six year period from 1957-63. There is no doubt in my mind that these were very significant years in the space race, but the book didn't mention the moon landing I really did enjoy this book though. There were not really any themes or messages in this book because it was a non-fiction book.

If anyone is interested in space of history this would be a great book for them. Since this boo;k is about the space race it is focused on America's retaliation to Russia's launch of Sputnik 1. This book is about America building a space program and trying to bet Russia to space. If you ire into history this would also be a good book for you. This book is filled with historical information. The book takes place in 1957-1963. During the Cold War many historical space events occurred. The heat was on as Russia and America went heat to head in a battle for the stars. So if your into history or space, This would be a great book for you.

This story easily entered my Top 5 books within the first 2 chapters. It only grew from there. Wolfe's style, pacing, and his narrative voice demonstrate an extraordinary gift of storytelling surpassing many past and present peers. That narrator voice is pretty unique in writing - conversational and familiar, sharp and analytical, a bit of the South in it...

Wolfe was not afraid to let his own opinions show (which I guess was the critical component of "New Journalism") but he doesn't attempt to pass opinions as facts aka John Reed, et al. You know it's a person telling it as they see it with the resulting knowledge that you know where they're coming from. Additionally, when he's relating how a witness perceived an event, it is still in the narrative voice, rather than adopting the voice of the person who used it. In many ways, this could have been a disastrous approach, but it works. You feel this is a guy telling you a story.

There was hilarity on most pages, even in the morbid statistics. I loved the portions on the chimps. You really felt for Ham and Enos and the tortures they endured. The worse the picture became, the more Wolfe ratcheted up the wide-eyed, can-you-believe-this-crap comedy.

Moving. Fascinating. America needs to be adventurous in space. Chuck, Gordo, Al, Wally, Gus, Scott, John, Deke, and the rest are American hero's. Our first steps in space were adventures by men, men with the Right Stuff. And they should be again

When World War Two was over, the American Air force started to work with jet planes. Planes the were faster, more agile, and had more altitude. The Cold War was heating up when in 1957. The Russian launched Sputnik 1 into space. This set the Americans on a small edge. The American government was afraid the Russians would put nuclear weapons in space and launch them at America. So the U.S. decided to start their own space program. Only America wanted to put people in space. The Mercury Project was established and was indented to train and put people in space. The Astronauts were selected based on their aviation history with rocked planes. Then the candidates would be brought to a facility to be tested on to see if they were capable enough to be shot into space(did they have to right stuff). The seven astronauts were selected and mission started. The American space program was slow and by the time one capsule was working the Russians had launched many more. The program was finally successful when Alan Shepard went into space and when John Glenn orbited earth. The book introduces struggles that NASA and America overcame to go to space.

There were many things that I liked about this book. The way the author describes the setting makes you feel as if you were there in the early 1960's with them. I really enjoyed reading this book because it explain a lot of the behind the stage astronaut activity not many know about. I was very interesting to learn about the tests and struggles the pilots had to go through to became astronauts. One of the only things that I didn't like about the book was the fact that the "story" did not really carry out. The book only focused on a six year period from 1957-63. There is no doubt in my mind that these were very significant years in the space race, but the book didn't mention the moon landing I really did enjoy this book though. There were not really any themes or messages in this book because it was a non-fiction book.

If anyone is interested in space of history this would be a great book for them. Since this boo;k is about the space race it is focused on America's retaliation to Russia's launch of Sputnik 1. This book is about America building a space program and trying to bet Russia to space. If you ire into history this would also be a good book for you. This book is filled with historical information. The book takes place in 1957-1963. During the Cold War many historical space events occurred. The heat was on as Russia and America went heat to head in a battle for the stars. So if your into history or space, This would be a great book for you.

This story easily entered my Top 5 books within the first 2 chapters. It only grew from there. Wolfe's style, pacing, and his narrative voice demonstrate an extraordinary gift of storytelling surpassing many past and present peers. That narrator voice is pretty unique in writing - conversational and familiar, sharp and analytical, a bit of the South in it...

Wolfe was not afraid to let his own opinions show (which I guess was the critical component of "New Journalism") but he doesn't attempt to pass opinions as facts aka John Reed, et al. You know it's a person telling it as they see it with the resulting knowledge that you know where they're coming from. Additionally, when he's relating how a witness perceived an event, it is still in the narrative voice, rather than adopting the voice of the person who used it. In many ways, this could have been a disastrous approach, but it works. You feel this is a guy telling you a story.

There was hilarity on most pages, even in the morbid statistics. I loved the portions on the chimps. You really felt for Ham and Enos and the tortures they endured. The worse the picture became, the more Wolfe ratcheted up the wide-eyed, can-you-believe-this-crap comedy.

Moving. Fascinating. America needs to be adventurous in space. Chuck, Gordo, Al, Wally, Gus, Scott, John, Deke, and the rest are American hero's. Our first steps in space were adventures by men, men with the Right Stuff. And they should be again

Wolfe's novelized account of the early days of NASA and Project Mercury is amazing, not just for the breadth of its scope, but for the larger-than-life way he portrays the astronauts, test pilots, and other personalities involved. Wolfe does a spectacular job of capturing the peculiar mindset that compelled men to volunteer - willingly! - to climb aboard an unreliable rocket and cross their fingers. There's a great mix of human drama and technical detail, international politics and individual rivalries, not to mention a lot of humor. It's definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the space program or Cold War history.

I love this book, although it is somewhat dated and I did reflect on how it may have developed if the story had taken place during the cell phones era. A very interesting story of everyman and the continuing class and racial struggle which is timeless.

After I read this book, I could understand some of the thinking of Jordan Belfort's mind from "The Wolf Of Wall Street" as this was one of the books he read! This book "The Bonfire Of The Vanities" definitely brought to light the way politics can influence people to use others for personal gain. This book for me had an unexpected twist at the end. I would recommend this book for people who love to live on the edge.

Awesome but I question how the USA can barely manage shooting a man on little more than a ballistic arc into near space in 1961 yet 8 yrs later they have a team on the moon... I wish TW had written The Right Stuff part 2....

Since I have been watching ABC's Astronaut Wives Club mini series this summer, I thought it would be fun to have some additional background on the space program. I initially thought I would read the book the show is based on, The Astronaut's Wives Club; however, after reading several negative reviews about the editing errors of the book, I decided on The Right Stuff. I will say this book is extremely enlightening and gives great background and facts on the space program. I am just not a huge fan of Wolfe's writing style as some of his catch phrases are too repetitive and can become annoying.

John Lithgow's voice work is OUTSTANDING! His ethnic and cultural accents are perfect. He brings life and spirit to Tom Wolfe's characters. An amazing performance that does justice to a great story. I highly RECOMMENDED it!

John Lithgow's voice work is OUTSTANDING! His ethnic and cultural accents are perfect. He brings life and spirit to Tom Wolfe's characters. An amazing performance that does justice to a great story. I highly RECOMMENDED it!

At the time of publishing, besides the official NASA press releases there was very little information available to the public about the early US astronaut program, and as such this book represented an interesting look behind the scenes of a very public and at the same time rather secretive part of modern US history. These early astronauts basically overnight changed from being a anonymous pilots to lived their lives in the public eye.

The very entertaining way in which Tom Wolfe presents his view on their lives and the program stands the test of time, although the book looses (at least) one star due to the at times rather one-sighted comments and conclusions (like in the case of Gus Grissom). A revised edition, benefiting form the new information that has been made public since the original publication, would definitely be welcomed - recommended.