Redstone or others who have read "A Man in Full"

drivinwest

9:58p, 7/15/07

**SPOILERS BELOW**

I'm curious to know what you (or others) thought about the ending. I was disappointed. The book took forever to build to a contrived ending; that is, everyone got theirs in the end. Except perhaps for Charlie's ex-wife, who married Peepgrass it would seem out of fear of not being validated.

Also, did it ever mention what happened to Fareek Fanon?

Great, entertaining read, though. Sometimes, as in other Wolfe books, I find myself wanting to yell "get on with it" at the book.

Redstone

10:01p, 12/11/16

I am a fan of Wolfe, primarily because he enters the world of his characters through on the ground reporting of locations and peoples outside of his own Virginia and New York City.

I think he "got" Atlanta here - especially the tension of fans, boosters, college administrators, co-eds, and players all thrown together in a "game" that can go very high stakes very quickly. The cultural clashes are very funny, except when serious crimes are committed and covered up. The Stoicism bits are not very appealing, however, and a recurring theme with Wolfe.

Many times Wolfe draws out fascinating facts that other authors would simply skip over, such as muscle to fat ratios. He is correct to point out to the reader interesting and important facts from this, such as that hormones drive a lot of behavior.

And holy balls are there some serious set pieces - "In the Breeding Barn," is a detailed description of the process by which thoroughbred racehorses are forced into mating, and it is quite...something.

Roger Too White is a fascinating character. The book could be a great tv series.
So-
Recommended.

FancyKetchup14

11:03p, 12/11/16

No idea what this thread is about but what a bump.

Whoop04

9:01a, 12/12/16

In reply to Redstone

Amazing bump. Well done.

Thunder18

10:52a, 12/12/16

Redstone

Philo B 93

12:01p, 12/12/16

Good book. I read it years before Redstone.

drivinwest

1:01p, 12/13/16

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate your thoughts.

cone

1:45p, 12/13/16

i want to believe that upon seeing the thread 9 years ago, the book was put on a texags related to-do list and that it then took about 4 years to get through the 750 pages, which he/she finished Sunday night

jeffdjohnson

1:55p, 12/13/16

In reply to Redstone

Redstone said:
I am a fan of Wolfe, primarily because he enters the world of his characters through on the ground reporting of locations and peoples outside of his own Virginia and New York City.

I think he "got" Atlanta here - especially the tension of fans, boosters, college administrators, co-eds, and players all thrown together in a "game" that can go very high stakes very quickly. The cultural clashes are very funny, except when serious crimes are committed and covered up. The Stoicism bits are not very appealing, however, and a recurring theme with Wolfe.

Many times Wolfe draws out fascinating facts that other authors would simply skip over, such as muscle to fat ratios. He is correct to point out to the reader interesting and important facts from this, such as that hormones drive a lot of behavior.

And holy balls are there some serious set pieces - "In the Breeding Barn," is a detailed description of the process by which thoroughbred racehorses are forced into mating, and it is quite...something.

Roger Too White is a fascinating character. The book could be a great tv series.
So-
Recommended.

Wolfe is always showing us something we haven't quite noticed. But after three thick novels and a novella (surely he will never write a short story), the issue remains: Why does a writer whose ambitions are so fundamentally journalistic insist on processing his reportage into fiction? You may never put down a Tom Wolfe novel. But you never reread one, either

Belton Ag

2:15p, 12/13/16

Redstone reads these threads and files them away and sits on them for YEARS waiting to bump them.

He truly is one of the masters.

agdaddy04

1:02a, 5/7/24

Came upon the thread by accident. Whatd yall think of the Netflix series?

deadhead aggie

7:09a, 5/7/24

granted, i never read the book and had no clue what the premise of the Netflix series was, i thought it was a good watch.....based on what i've read about the book above, it sounds as though the series ending is entirely different......i'm guessing it will aggravate fans of the book....

as to the reference to "In the Breeding Barn" above, yeah, that scene wasn't too enjoyable....but it aligns perfectly with Jeff Daniel's character.......

a good series overall......

Atreides Ornithopter

12:32p, 5/7/24

In reply to agdaddy04

agdaddy04 said:
Came upon the thread by accident. Whatd yall think of the Netflix series?

Ask Redstone

Diggity

12:58p, 5/7/24

In reply to agdaddy04

I don't know if the acting is intentionally hammed up, but I couldn't get over how bad it was and gave up after two episodes.

Redstone

1:12p, 5/7/24

2 major problems with the adaptation -

- Roger Too White is a major character. Gutted and changed in the adaptation. The company is a breathing meme at this point - is there a Black "bad guy" here? The novel is layered and nuanced - far from racism is bad mmmmkay

In real life, and in Atlanta, people from all backgrounds are complex, a mix of good and evil to varying degrees. Wolfe understood and appreciated that. Kelly doesn't.

- Wolfe in A Man in Full and in Charlotte Simmons pointed out that modern white Southerners are intensely solicitous of the welfare of black football players accused of crimes, especially sex crime ….. he predicted Baylor and Briles situations EXACTLY as Rev. Bacon was before Sharpton.

Here?

Well, what makes the novel go? THIS.

The adaptation? A joke.