The Bonfire of the Vanities

Why it’s on the list: Wolfe’s 1980s New York: a bond salesman who calls himself a Master of the Universe, one wrong turn into the Bronx, and the press, the courts and the boroughs that turn it into a case.

Where I saw it: A reply to @WillManidis’s question on X, June 2, 2025 — “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” — recovered from that thread and saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Books To Read”. Thread: https://x.com/willmanidis/status/1929527399718269081

A novel, offered in a thread about books that explain an industry — the industry here being the bond desk.

Connections

• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the saved thread this recommendation came from.
• Tom Wolfe · Wall Street · Literature · Journalism — where this sits in the corpus.