Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe

Remember Bonfire of the Vanities? A Man in Full? The Right Stuff ?  Did you love them? I did!
When Back to Blood hit the bookstores, I was right there, looking forward to another great story.  I knew it had received mixed reviews, but I still felt optimistic.  Sadly, I lost that optimism fairly early in the reading.

I simply could not get into the style of writing Wolfe employed in this story:

SMACK the Safe Boat bounces airborne comes down again SMACK on another swell in the bay bounces up again comes down SMACK on another swell and SMACK bounces airborne with emergency horns police Crazy Lights exploding SMACK in a demented sequence on the roof SMACK...

and this continues for entire pages; the flow of the story completely shredded beyond redemption by italics, random capitalizations, sound effects, ridiculous footnotes, etc.

The story takes place in Miami and from the viewpoints of many diverse characters.  My only thought is that Wolfe may have been attempting to mimic the diversity of that city?? If so, it just didn't work for me.

I have very, very seldom stopped reading a book, but Back to Blood qualified for that short list.  And, now that I'm finished posting about it, right into the recycling bin it goes!!

Rating: *