Ambush at Fort Bragg

by Tom Wolfe

In Tom Wolfe's audio-only Ambush at Fort Bragg, no one escapes the author's satiric barbs. The doughy, rumpled network producer of a hard-hitting 60 Minutes-style TV show dreams of fame, while the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Audio CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553455680
• ISBN13: 9780553455687
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Length: 2 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 4.9"

Customer Reviews

Dont Listen To Anyone Who Puts This Book Down

This book is excellently narrated by Edward Norton(American History X). It a perfect example of how the media is corrupt to get a good story. Anyone whos loves those media "specials" read this.

Art imitates life

Wolfe's satiric edge, reporter's eye for detail, and understanding of our media institutions are as sharp as ever. I'm amazed by the number of otherwise literate-sounding reviewers who say that the audionovel seems "incomplete," or just plain don't grasp the ending. As for those who believe the scenario is far-fetched, well, just read a little about the purported "hate crime" down at Fort Jackson, current news as I write...

A Modern Dickens.

The genius of Tom Wolfe lies not in his ability to devise ingenius plots; but like Dickens a century and a half before, he has the uncanny ability to capture many contemporary personality types with a very few verbal brush strokes. He then puts those created characters into a situation, consistent with contemporary reality. This is what he did in Bonfire of the Vanities, and this is what he did again in the audio novella, Ambush At Ft. Bragg. Anyone who has ever written a novel, which strives for verisimilitude knows that at some point your characters at least try to take over the story. We all find our original plot schemes bending,at least, as we interact with our creations. But in Tom Wolfe's case, one strongly suspects that it isn't even a battle. He first creates characters which perfectly reflect the contemporary American reality, and then chronicles the inevitable interaction of those characters. His novels plot themselves; and plot themselves with a reality which reflects the genius of their creation. In this short work one will see a picture of contemporary American TV "Journalism" that one may not like. But it sure does ring true! The man is a modern American treasure.

great example to show the force of the mass media

The tittle "Ambush at Fort Bragg", gives a previous hint of what the plot of the novel will be about. It creates a great conflict between two different points of view that share a friction trying to justify the illegal methods to disclose certain hidden facts that the audience should have knowledge of, but on the other hand, it shows the deonthological rules that journalists, as reporters of reality, have to follow to create an as-most-objective-as-possible (although objectiveness is impossible) representation of the happenings. I also see own interests that under my perception would NOT be justified, such as the want to increase audience percentages and things that turn into monetary profits. Jose Larrucea

An incredibly entertaining 3 hours!

Academy Award-nominated actor Edward Norton doesn't just read the book - he PERFORMS it. It is worth the price just to hear him do it.