His humiliation is at the centre of a satire on the decaying class, racial and political structure of New York in the 1980s. The next day a young Black is in hospital in a coma as McCoy heads for disaster. It is an easy read, but no less fascinating for it. One night in the Bronx a millionaire, Sherman McCoy, and his mistress have an accident. It is about Holly Golightly, a stylish, vivacious young woman, living and enjoying life in Manhattan, not even wanting to think of her past, while men who admire her continue to speculate and probe into her mysteries and the secrets to her success.

Capote’s novella is short, and both sweet and melancholy in a way. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets” (2001: 36, Capote). “ What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 satirical novel by Tom Wolfe. Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780553381344. One of the chapters is titled The Masque of the Red Death, so there is plenty of nuance and hidden irony. Books similar to The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Though, in terms of plot, it probably takes cues from both The Great Gatsby and the Spanish film Death of a Cyclist, Wolfe’s novel is still a pure joy to read: witty, bitter-sweet and engrossing. We get a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the New York’s privileged, while also mull over the lives of the disadvantaged living in the Bronx and those on the media outlets’ outskirts desperate to make a big story whatever it takes. Tom Wolfe’s acclaimed novel is set in New York as it tells of a high-flying bond trader Sherman McCoy and his eventual fall from the societal ladder when he is involved in a hit-and-run accident alongside his strikingly-beautiful lover Maria.

Bonfire of the vanities book