Instead, it's the characters who are wonderfully memorable, especially the anti-hero Sherman, who is a pitiable character simply because he seems incapable of choosing the correct advice to take. However, while from my hazy background knowledge of this book, I was expecting a lot more about the machinations of Wall Street, I was surprised at how little a part McCoy's job plays in the novel. I've read several of the non-fiction books about Wall Street in the 1980s, such as the superb Liar's Poker, and so the world of Sherman McCoy was immediately familiar to me. But when McCoy and his mistress Maria Ruskin end up lost in the Bronx, and an accident leads to Lamb being hit by McCoy's Mercedes, a chain of events start which will lead to his downfall. Under normal circumstances, it's clear that McCoy's world and Lamb's world would never overlap. Henry Lamb is a black student from the projects. He has a pleasant wife, a beautiful mistress, and a sweet six-year-old daughter. In his own mind, bond trader Sherman McCoy is a 'Master of the Universe'. Summary: Superb novel brilliantly satirises New York in the 80's, with a cast of compelling characters.
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