“Vanities”
Leonard’s quick review of Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities. Maybe this was a TV commentary? After a
short summary of the tension points in the plot, Leonard write, “Only Tom Wolfe
could descend into the sears of the criminal justice system and find, for his
hero, a white victim…Only Wolfe… [could] not notice the real-estate hucksters
and homeless.” He calls the book a “surly whelp of Evelyn Waugh and Joseph de
Maistre” and that “Satire means never having to say you’re sorry, no matter how
much there is for which you ought to apologize.”
Another example of Leonard criticizing the blurring of
reality in literature to read like a gritty account, but skip all the real
dirt. Although, he does end on an interesting note saying the “Wolfe can really
sweat our sock.”
New phrase: Leonard coins the term “good-bones law firm” to
signify a prestigious, old school law partnership.
New learning: Joseph de Maistre is a French
philosopher and diplomat from the post revolution period. He is known for being
a key figure in the “Counter-Enlightenment.” Who ever came up with that term
for the movement needs to work on their branding.
Great photo on the cover of the 2002 Picador
version of the book:
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