Back to Blood

A Novel

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Lou Diamond Phillips

Length: 20 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A big, panoramic story of the new America, as told by our master chronicler of the way we live now.

As a police launch speeds across Miami's Biscayne Bay - with officer Nestor Camacho on board - Tom Wolfe is off and running. Into the feverous landscape of the city, he introduces the Cuban mayor; the black police chief; a wanna-go-muckraking young journalist and his Yale-marinated editor; an Anglo sex-addiction psychiatrist and his Latina nurse by day, loin lock by night - until lately, the love of Nestor's life; a refined, and oh-so-light-skinned young woman from Haiti and her Creole-spouting, black-gang-banger-stylin' little brother; a billionaire porn addict; crack dealers in the 'hoods; "de-skilled" conceptual artists at the Miami Art Basel Fair; "spectators" at the annual Biscayne Bay regatta looking only for that night's orgy; yenta-heavy ex-New Yorkers at an "Active Adult" condo; and a nest of shady Russians.

Based on the same sort of detailed, on-scene, high-energy reporting that powered Tom Wolfe's previous best-selling novels, Back to Blood is another brilliant, spot-on, scrupulous, and often hilarious reckoning with our times.

©2012 Tom Wolfe (P)2012 Hachette

Why, why, why, why????

What did you like best about Back to Blood? What did you like least?

Great story, great well developed characters, vividly painted scenes.

What other book might you compare Back to Blood to and why?

I don't recall a book that was so good and so bad at the same time. And the bad could have so easily been simply not written by Mr. Wolfe or even more simply edited out of the audible book.

What aspect of Lou Diamond Phillips’s performance would you have changed?

Generally very good, but he should have ditched the irritating laugh of Norman. Readers are smart, they get it that Norman is obnoxious, vain, and self-absorbed, but the repeated attempt at a laugh that, I suppose, is meant to support these characteristics got old very fast.

Did Back to Blood inspire you to do anything?

To warn readers that they should be ready for a combination of good and bad writing. I read many books without writing a review, doing so only when I feel compelled by something very good or very bad.

Any additional comments?

Why did Tom Wolfe feel he had to use endless repeated words to make a point. I was happy to see from earlier reviews that my reaction was not exclusive to me. As I said above, readers of Wolfe are smart people. The repeated repeated repeated words became so irritating I wanted to scrap the book many times, but as I said the story was very good. I only would ask the editors to please please please please use better judgment and do what their job title implies.

A Tom Wolfe Tour de Force!

What made the experience of listening to Back to Blood the most enjoyable?

Lengthy, meaty plot, snarky tone and point of view.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Back to Blood?

Opening scene in which protagonist scales a sailboat mast to rescue/capture a refugee.

What does Lou Diamond Phillips bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pacing of the reading -- If I just read the book I would be tempted to race ahead and would miss the full impact (and fun) of some of the subplots.

If you could rename Back to Blood, what would you call it?

Title is as good as anything that I can think of.

Any additional comments?

One of the best from Tom Wolfe in a long, long time.

Atomospheric, Touristic, Impression of Miami

Cuban neighborhood cop learns about the bigger world of race politics, women, and media. His traditionally minded, but ambitious girlfriend leans what it means to be used by powerful men. Will they break up or stay together? It's a weak narrative that is just a frame for Wolfe's social commentary. So, if you are looking for a great story, it's not here.

But Wolfe delivers the details. It's a smokey ride through Miami so rich you can feel the heat. Riding a small story about a art forgery, we learn a lot about Miami and it's race relations and it's immigrant base. Along the way Wolfe skewers pornography disguised as art, pornography, the super rich, strippers, reality TV, sycophantic social wanna be's, cops, newspaper reporters, black, whites, Cubans, Russians, and active living Jewish retirees. Wolfe is as sharp as ever blending into the background and commenting on all the things no one can talk about. He takes on subjects that defy polite company like skin color racism, pornography and the decadence of tasteless parties in graphic detail that does not judge. Lou Diamond Phillips is just outstanding in narration, hitting accents and reading flawlessly. I'll look for more of his reading based on this performance.

Irreverent and thought provoking.

Would you consider the audio edition of Back to Blood to be better than the print version?

I have only the audio edition of the book, so I can't tell. This audio edition is very well narrated. More like a performance, than a reading.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The police chief. He is flawed, but not rotten to the bones.

Have you listened to any of Lou Diamond Phillips’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Who was the most memorable character of Back to Blood and why?

Each character is memorable in its own way and place, but I couldn't single out any one of them. They are quintessential for their own types.

It's pretty messy down Miami way

What did you love best about Back to Blood?

The tropical warmth and beauty of Miami... kind of spoiled by mishmash social milieu.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I enjoyed the gangster Russian 'art dealer' because he lived in Miami the way Miami deserves to be lived in.

What about Lou Diamond Phillips’s performance did you like?

Unbelievably good... I never knew he had such range.

If you could rename Back to Blood, what would you call it?

Adios America.

Any additional comments?

We're in the grinder now.

No much of a story

Not really a story in this one. There are characters and scenes and everything but nothing really happens. I kept waiting for an event to take place (a murder or some other thing to get the story going) but after 15 hours still nothing had happened. Very disappointed with this novel, especially after the last one.

Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much.

Get the picture? Tom Wolfe holds a unique place in American journalism over the past fifty years. Ever since Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers, Mr. Wolfe has been writing extraordinarily over the top stories about whatever catches his fancy. IMHO, the Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full are his best works by far. His gifts are many. His ear for dialects across the country is amazing. He creates some of the most cinematic scenes that you will ever read. Much of his writing is really memorable. He has roamed around our culture and chosen some wide-ranging aspects of it, each of his books being meticulously detailed to the nth degree. Lou Diamond Phillips, BTW, is the perfect narrator for these books. He has actorly skills, but in this book he is forced to make a large number of noises that should have been edited out. Rigorously slashed.
And here lies the problem. Mr. Wolfe is now so large and iconic that editors must blanche at the sight of him. Overdoing is his trademark. There are times when this approach works beautifully. There are other times when he should turn down the volume, way way down. And he doesn't. This is a story about Miami, and about all of its various races-ethnic-cultural-artistic (see what I mean?) dimensions. It is over-reaching, but in some places it hits the mark. Nestor Camacho rescues a Haitian Immigrant from the top of a seventy foot mast, and manages to first climb up the mast with only his arms. Then he grabs the guy with his legs (oh so incredibly muscular) and crabwalks him down to the deck. By this time there is a gigantic traffic jam, newscopters, onlookers, etc. It's a very vivid scene, and it sets up many facets of the plot(s) in a gorgeous, writerly way. You can see why it takes him eight years or so to knock out these monsters. There is so much going on that, after a while, you need a scorecard to keep the players straight. There are Russian "oligarchs" (read: criminals who have stolen much of the riches of the former Soviet Union in order to flash around their wealth); Haitian immigrants and politicians; Cubans everywhere; occasionally a Jew, a WASP, an Italian, you name it. We are the melting pot, and Tom has thrown us all in, stirred, and concocted a heady stew of stuff (stop me before I start getting rhapsodical). Nestor's girlfriend at the beginning is Magdalena Otero, a naif who is so blazingly beautiful that she gets drawn into the upper echelons of Miami's richest. She works for a psychiatrist who specializes in "pornography addiction." Norman, the psychiatrist, is a shameless self-promoter and a disgusting individual in his own right. Ghislaine is a (of course) beautiful young woman, the daughter of a professor who is being forced to teach Creole, the language of the lowest of the immigrants. See how this is beginning to pile up all around you? I could go on, but I wish that Tom hadn't. By the third segment I really couldn't stand the book any more. Waaay too much of a sometimes good thing.

I get it, I get it, I GET IT!!!!!

Would you try another book from Tom Wolfe and/or Lou Diamond Phillips?

Yes, I'm a fan of Tom Wolfe. I keep the hope.

Would you recommend Back to Blood to your friends? Why or why not?

Not this one, and it pains me to say that

What about Lou Diamond Phillips’s performance did you like?

Lou Diamond Phillips has many convincing voices and gives a great show

Was Back to Blood worth the listening time?

yes, but irritating

Any additional comments?

Mr Wolfe's use of repeated, repeated, repeated words and phrases was probably supposed to paint a picture and impress the reader of the importance of that sentiment. It worked for the first three or four times, then it turned old, old, old. I felt nagged, nagged, NAGGED and whacked over the head --over and over and over again. Bam, bam, bam, bam...you get the picture. Was the story not long enough? Did he feel he had to quadruple the length of the content? Did he not trust his readers to GET IT? Did he think he was writing a film script? As much as I liked Mr Phillips' dramatic performance, I started to have an urge to stuff a pillow in his face. It is still a credit to Mr Wolfe's story telling genius that I stuck through the whole thing, but irritated, irritated, irritated!!!

Masterful Story-tel!ing & Great Narration!

Tom Wolfe has done it again! No one tells a story like Wolfe. As always,l his command of the English language combined with great story-telling and a liberal dose of satire has resulted in a novel that I simply could not stop listening to, even though I really needed to get some sleep. Lou Diamond Phillips' narration was amazing. I didn't feel like he was reading the book, but rather telling a colorful story. I also enjoyed the added production value of Latin music that made me feel like I was actually in Miami. I highly recommend this highly entertaining listen.

Great story

What made the experience of listening to Back to Blood the most enjoyable?

I have not finished the book yet, but I have to tell you...I live in Miami, and the pronunciation of some of the areas in Miami is horrendous... It's Brickell Ave, not BRICK-EL! Come On- Man!
I can't stand the obnoxious laugh of the doctor. Even with this, it is one of the best books I have listened to in a long time. I do not want it to end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nestor... so real

What does Lou Diamond Phillips bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He would be great if he learned how to pronounce the names of some of the most famous areas in Miami... It's Brickell, not BRICK - EL, and the annoying laugh of the Doctor.

Who was the most memorable character of Back to Blood and why?

so far, all of them