EDF book review, recommendations, etc - the mbillie edition

[slickpoppa]

Great thread mbillie. I was actually just thinking of starting a book thread because I was in need of recs, but I just ordered three books from this thread.

Here are some books I've read recently and brief reviews. I suck at reviewing books, but here I go anyway:

Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
This is one of the best books I've ever read. It takes place in 1980s Manhattan and the main character, Sherman McCoy, is a Wall Street bond trader and self-styled "master of the universe." The plot centers around an incident in which Sherman and his mistress hit and run a black teenager in the Bronx. When a witness comes forward saying that the teenager was hit by a white guy driving Mercedes, the class and racial overtones of the story generate a media circus. The real genius of this novel is the way in which Wolfe weaves together the stories of so many characters, ranging from Larry Kramer, the young prosecutor assigned to the case, to Reverend Bacon, the Al Sharpton clone who stokes the racial outrage of the NYC black community, to Peter Fallow, the perpetually drunk and freeloading journalist who breaks the story, and of course to Sherman himself. I love how Wolfe goes into great and humorous detail describing the often incredibly superficial and vain thoughts of not only Sherman, but of all the characters.
5/5

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
I read this after Bonfire of the Vanities because of its similar theme and style. It's a nonfiction account of Michael Lewis' experiences working as a bond trader/salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s. This book does a pretty good job of chronicling the evolution of finance and portraying life on Wall Street in the 1980s, but I was kind of disappointed given how many people had raved about it to me. I had heard that the book was supposed to be incredibly funny, but I found the humor to be too forced. Anyway, this is a decent book, but doesn't live up to the hype in my opinion.
3.5/5

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
This book was a fun read and different from most books. It's written from the perspective of a young autistic boy who's investigating the murder of his neighbor's dog. It's kind of hard to describe why I liked this book, other than that it's pretty funny and is written from a very interesting perspective.
4/5

I'll maybe review some of the following, all of which I recommend, if I have time:
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Disgrace by JM Coetzee
The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

[shemp]

Re Saramago. I recommend him whenever I see these threads. I think "Balthusar and Blimunda" and "The History of the Seige of Lisbon" are masterpieces. And I like the rest to varying degrees (I've read all of his fiction which has been translated to English).

A handful of people have recommended "The Corrections" to me, so I'll probably read that next.