The Bonfire of the Vanities

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

This bitingly hilarious American satire will forever define late twentieth-century New York style.

Tom Wolfe’s bestselling modern classic tells the story of Sherman McCoy, an elite Wall Street bond trader who has it all: wealth, power, prestige, a Park Avenue apartment, a beautiful wife, and an even more beautiful mistress, until one wrong turn sends Sherman spiraling downward in a humiliating fall from grace.

A car accident in the Bronx involving Sherman, his girlfriend, and two young lower-class Black men sets a match to the incendiary racial and social tensions of 1980s New York City. Suddenly, Sherman finds himself embroiled in the most brutal, high-profile case of the year, as prosecutors, politicians, the press, the police, the clergy, and assorted hustlers rush in to further their own political and social agendas. With so many egos at stake, the last priority on anyone’s mind is truth or justice.

©1987 Tom Wolfe (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A big, bitter, funny, craftily plotted book that grabs you by the lapels and won't let go." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Sheer entertainment against a fabulous background....Often hilarious, and much, much more." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Erupting from the first line with noise, color, tension and immediacy....brilliant." ( Publishers Weekly)

Wow

I listen to about 30 audiobooks a year and this is by far the best audiobook I've ever listened to.

Puts Tom Wolfe in an entire new light; he is surely one of our greatest authors.

A super performance by the narrator.

Loved the book, amazed by the performance.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Masterful writing, dry humor, the hours flew by.

What about Joe Barrett’s performance did you like?

Joe Barrett gave an amazing performance. Not just a reading but a 6 star performance. I am going to look for more books narrated by him.

Any additional comments?

It is incredible how current events of the past 13 months mirror this story from nearly 30 years ago.

A classic depiction of NYC in the 80's

Joe Barrett does a phenomenal job narrating the varied characters I didn't want to turn it off.

great story and great performance!

The ending is a bit disappointing but the plot is very solid overall.

I really hated the British joirnalist's accent. Very caricatural, sounded like he was drunk all the time.

Bonfire of the Vanities — Again

Years ago I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it, but was disappointed in the movie. On a whim I decided to buy the audio version. Couldn't have been more pleased.

The story is as good as ever, but Joe Barrett is a MASTER of delivery. Not only did his accents portray the various cultural levels and geographic areas, but the speech patterns were spot on. From the manipulating Reverend Bacon to the somewhat slurry speech of the British tabloid journalist, Peter Fallow to the Bronx vernacular of defense attorney Tommy Killian. And I'll never forget the thunderous voice of Judge Myron Kovitsky. The characters truly "came alive" as I listened.

Highly recommend this as a first read, or as I did: a re-read.

Narrator

Listening to Joe Barrett is like listening to a different person for each character. He’s my favorite narrator. This is probably my favorite audiobook so far! Going to look for another Joe Barrett book now!

Great reading of a great book

Loved the book. Loved the reading. Good use of voice and tone to set off characters. Well done!

Completely engrossing

The reader is the best i have experienced in ANY audiobook.

Highly recommend this to all.

Stop with the terrible voices

Great book and story but the narrator keeps trying to do imitations of all the characters and the imitations are bad and irritating.

Outstanding

As applicable now as it was when it first came out. Very highly recommended.