The Bonfire of the Vanities

This article is about the book and subsequent film; for the historical event, see Bonfire of the Vanities.

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The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York. The story is a satire about ambition and greed in a nightmarish New York City, centered around protagonist Sherman McCoy, a successful and very self-conscious bond trader.

Related Topics:
1987 - Tom Wolfe - Satire - New York City

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The novel was a bestseller and a phenomenal success, even in comparison with Wolfe's other books.

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A 1990 film adaptation, directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Hanks as Sherman, was a critical and commercial failure, despite opening with arguably one of the most amazing tracking shots ever filmed. The interiors parodied the home decorated by Robert Denning and Vincent Fourcade for Carolyne Roehm and Henry Kravis. Filmed in Technicolor.

Related Topics:
1990 - Brian De Palma - Tom Hanks - Robert Denning - Vincent Fourcade - Henry Kravis - Technicolor

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The title is a reference to a real life event, the Bonfire of the Vanities, which took place in 1497, in Florence, Italy, when the city was under the rule of the Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola. The story told in the book and the movie is not a retelling of this historic event, it merely used the phrase as a fitting title.

Related Topics:
Bonfire of the Vanities - 1497 - Florence - Italy - Girolamo Savonarola

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