I'm surprised to read the other reviews about how this book is stuck in the 80s when it was written. Substitute the dark rosewood, green marble floors and shiny brass with travertine tile, granite countertops and silver in the McCoy apartment, and keep the entire plot and characters (without the shoulder pads and big hair) and it would be compleltly believable in 2010. Wolfe gave a glimpse into the life of Park Avenue that we now see on reality shows. They may seem like charactitures from an outsider's perspective, but as McCoy shows it all seems like reality when one is in the hive and constantly isolating oneself from the majority of society. Some things have changed, of course. For one, I've walked down the Grand Concourse in the Bronx so it has been cleaned up from the Gibraltar and wagon train scenes Wolf depicts. There are some great observances of the people/government of New York. I loved the way he showed how the "chow" (criminals in the bronx) fed the system and how these crack dealing kids in the projects kept thousands of government workers with a job. His description of the press/media and how they encite people to mob/demonstrate/riot is spot on (look at the recent town hall meetings this year to see that this is still a relevant topic). Overall, a good book that I'd recommend. ( )

The story is fantastic, but what makes the book so superb is Wolfe's ability to capture the time and setting in which the stories take place in so successfully and articulately; this one being the dynamic times of NYC during the 80's.

So while you're enjoying an entertaining story, you're also learning about culture and society during a dynamic time in history, all through the quirky and creative words of Tom Wolfe. ( )

Keeping the perspective that my age was single digits during the "Greed is Good" 1980s, I liked this book, but it wasn't a favorite.

The story is amusing, and the satire is thick (and deep and wide). The characters (or should I say caricatures) embody steteotypes: loyal-to-a-fault Irish cop, arrogant-yet insecure Wall St tycoon whose wealth is shallow, Southern Belle money digger, underpaid civil servant who craves the spotlight and reassurance from an affair, condescending British journalist who succeeds despite his drunken behavior.

It's a light read. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I spent the 1980s with big shoulder pads and even bigger hair instead of Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony. ( )

I connect this book with Tortilla Curtain by T. Corraghessan Boyle, because both are stories of of hit run incidents combined with class issues.

Great roman a' clef tale of the 1980s. ( )