1
of
1
The Bonfire of the Vanities
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 85,823 ratings, 4,009 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY
Found a better price? Request a price match
The Bonfire of the Vanities
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Sherman McCoy is a WASP, bond trader and self-appointed 'Master of the Universe'. He has a fashionable wife, a Park Avenue apartment and a Southern mistress. His spectacular fall begins the moment he is involved in an accident in the Bronx. Prosecutors, newspaper hacks, politicians and clergy close in on him, determined to bring him down.
As influential as Martin Amis's MONEY and Oliver Stone's film WALL STREET, this is an exhilarating satire of Eighties excess and a book that captures the roiling spirit of New York
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
An exhilarating satire of Eighties excess that captures the effervescent spirit of New York, from one of the greatest writers of modern American prose.
The Bonfire of the Vanities follows the story of Sherman McCoy, a WASP, bond trader, and self-appointed 'Master of the Universe'. He enjoys a fashionable lifestyle with a wife, a Park Avenue apartment, and a Southern mistress. However, his life takes a dramatic turn when he becomes involved in a hit-and-run accident in the Bronx. As a result, prosecutors, newspaper hacks, politicians, and clergy surround him, determined to bring about his downfall.
Exuberant, scandalous, and exceptionally discerning, The Bonfire of the Vanities was Tom Wolfe's first venture into fiction and cemented his reputation as the foremost chronicler of his age.
'The air of New York crackles with an energy that causes the adrenalin to pump... The feeling is perfectly reproduced in Wolfe's novel... Electric' - Sunday Times
'The quintessential novel of The Eighties' - The Guardian
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities is a satirical take on Manhattan's Wall Street culture, praised for its readability and capturing the spirit of the 1980s. Critics have likened Wolfe to literary giants like Dickens and Balzac, noting his skill in weaving sardonic humour and keen observations into a modern morality tale. The novel vividly portrays the dynamic, frenetic energy of New York City, highlighting themes like racial tension and political opportunism. Its wit and ambition have been recognised in various reviews.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780099541271
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 January 2010
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage Classics
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 38.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 547g
Pages: 752
About the Author
Tom Wolfe (1930-2018) was the author of more than a dozen books, among them The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, I Am Charlotte Simmons and Back to Blood. He received the National Book Foundation's 2010 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Also by Tom Wolfe
View all-
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe is a genre-defining ride through the 1960s, published in Vintage Classics for the first time to mark its fiftieth anniversary. The book features an introduction by Jarvis Cocker. In the summer of 1964, author Ken Kesey and his Merry Band of Pranksters set out on an awesome social experiment like no other....Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Transformative and mind-bending, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe is a pioneering work of New Journalism that immerses readers in the psychedelic world of the 1960s counterculture. Follow the journey of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they crisscross the United States in a brightly painted school bus, spreading messages of peace, love, and enlightenment...Paperback$2699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff is the best, the funniest, and the most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program. A wonderful novel and perfect book club choice, The Right Stuff is a wildly vivid and entertaining chronicle of America's early space programme. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY US ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY 'What is it,' asks Tom Wolfe, 'that makes a...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips mid August -
Bonfire of the Vanities
Reissued for today's reader with a cover by the renowned artist Seymour Chwast and an introduction by the critically acclaimed author Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The Bonfire of the Vanities is vintage Tom Wolfe at his best. "No one has portrayed New York Society this accurately and devastatingly since Edith Wharton." β The National Review "A page-turner . . . Brilliant high...Paperback$6200Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
A Man In Full
A Man In Full offers a dissection of greed-obsessed America, a decade after The Bonfire of the Vanities and on the cusp of the millennium, from the master chronicler of American culture, Tom Wolfe. Charlie Croker, once a fabled college football star, is now a late-middle-aged Atlanta real estate entrepreneur-turned conglomerate king. His expansionist ambitions and outsize ego have at...PaperbackSold Out -
The Kingdom of Speech
From the author of The Bonfire of the Vanities, the maestro storyteller and reporter provocatively argues that what we think we know about speech and human evolution is wrong. 'A great journalist with a whip-like satirical prose style... Wolfe's great gift is to make the heavy seem light and this book is such an entertaining polemic that I read it...PaperbackSold Out
More from General Fiction
View all-
The Wedding People
'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...Set$12400Elsewhere:$15500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Theo of Golden
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came fromβ¦His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance β...Paperback$2899Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Score
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Goal
Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Mistake
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseYesteryear
A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseOn Mystic Lake
One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...Paperback$3100Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Legacy
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from the Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Legacy now for the much-anticipated answer to the question: Where are they now? Four stories. Four couples. Three years of real life after graduation . . . A wedding....Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New ReleaseLand
Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, theΒ new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, TomΓ‘s and his reluctant son,Β Liam, are working for the great...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Signed BookplateNew ReleaseLight Wielder
THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* βThe BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindleβ βββββ βThe author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!β βββββ...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
General Fiction lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listGeneral Fiction
Gothic Reads for Dark Nights
With the advent of movie adaptations like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, it looks like pop culture is seeing a revival of the...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Top 10 Most Recommended Books
These are my Top 10 books that I always recommend to my friends and whΔnau when they ask for recommendations for getting...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Books to Escape a Reading Slump
A reading slump can be a frustrating feeling and hard to break out of, but we've gathered together a list of crowd...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Star Shipped]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Pride Fiction Picks!
June marks Global Pride Month so in case you're looking for your next great fiction read, here's a list of some of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Readersβ Top 100 Novels of All Time - from The Guardian
There was some controversy when The Guardian released their critics and authors list of the top 100 novels of all time, but...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Favourite Books of 2026
The first half of 2026 has been packed with brilliant books, making it hard to choose favourites but here are a few...View the list
