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kleinbl00 · 2165 days ago · link · · parent · post: Tom Wolfe death: Influential US author of 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' dies at 87
Name the book that defines the 90s. 70s. 60s. 50s. I mean, even if you go back a hundred years you're going to fight between Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath. O e of the problems I have with Bonfire of the Vanities is it's advertised as satire, but it’s a deeply aspirational book. There's a very clear desire to be Sherman McCoy in it, only without being an insensitive dick. And fucking hell it hasn't aged well. There's a lot of deeply racist shit in it. Bonfire of the Vanities is the book that defines the assholes that put Rudy Giuliani in power, that destroyed the economy in 2007. It is their anthem. And the fact that the book rewards their basest instincts and prejudices is reason enough to stop celebrating it.