District Attorney Larry Kramer sees a conviction as a
means to increase his income, as well as his status
with his boss and with the woman he wants to make
his mistress. Meanwhile, the shrewd Reverend Ba-
con of Harlem stirs up journalists, including tabloid
reporter Peter Fallow, in order to further his own po-
litical agenda. As a result, an initially obscure acci-
dent captures the public’s attention, as it is made by
journalists and politicians to stand for racial and
class divisions in the city. As the novel ends, the
tough, impartial Judge Myron Kovitsky, a Jewish
American like Weiss and Kramer, has lost his re-
election campaign, and McCoy has lost the status he
once thought essential. In its place, he has gained
the shrewdness and ferocity of a beast fighting for
survival in the jungle of the United States’ biggest
city.
Impact The title of Wolfe’s novel alluded to Giro-
lamo Savonarola’s famous bonfire in Florence, Italy,
on February 7, 1497, at which thousands of objects
were burned as occasions of sin. As he suggested
with this title, Wolfe used the novel figuratively to
burn away the vanity of status in 1980’s American
culture. While the book offended one group after
another, it detailed the importance of sexual, mone-
tary, and political power to that culture, as well as the
consequences of both the obsession with obtaining
power and the fear of losing it.
Further Reading
Bloom, Harold, ed.Tom Wolfe. Broomall, Pa.: Chel-
sea House, 2001.
Ragen, Brian Abel.Tom Wolfe: A Critical Companion.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Shomette, Doug, ed.The Critical Response to Tom
Wolfe. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1992.
Victor Lindsey
See also African Americans; Book publishing;Do
the Right Thing; Jewish Americans; Journalism; Liter-
ature in the United States; Poverty; Racial discrimi-
nation;Wall Street.
Bonin, William
Identification Serial killer and rapist known as the
Freeway Killer
Born January 8, 1947; Downey, California
Died February 23, 1996; San Quentin, CaliforniaWilliam Bonin’s crime spree terrorized residents of South-
ern California during the early 1980’s. Parents feared for
the safety of their children, and schools warned students of
the dangers of hitchhiking.William Bonin was a notorious sex offender and se-
rial killer in the early 1980’s. His earliest reported of-
fenses occurred during his early teens, leading him
to be sentenced to several terms in correctional facil-
ities. His crimes escalated to the brutal rape and
murder of boys and young men, aged twelve to nine-
teen. With one of his four accomplices (George Mat-
thew Miley, James Michael Munro, William Ray Pugh,
and Vernon Robert Butts), Bonin cruised the free-
ways of Southern California looking for male vic-
tims, most of whom were hitchhikers or prostitutes.
Victims were raped and killed, usually by stabbing or
strangulation. Bonin was dubbed the Freeway Killer
because of his preference for finding victims and
dumping their bodies along the freeways of Los An-
geles and Orange Counties.
Bonin’s crime spree ended on June 11, 1980,
when he was arrested while in the process of sodom-
izing a teenage boy in the back of his van. One of his
former accomplices, Pugh, had identified him to the
police in order to avoid being charged with another
crime. Psychiatrists who examined Bonin concluded
that his tortured past, including his own probable
sexual abuse by older boys, contributed to his crimes.
Bonin eventually confessed to the rape and murder
of more than twenty-one victims between May 28,
1979, and June 2, 1980. Because of a lack of evi-
dence, he was charged with only fourteen murders,
ten in Los Angeles County and four in Orange
County. On March 13, 1982, a remorseless Bonin was
sentenced to death. Bonin unsuccessfully appealed
the court’s decision on multiple occasions.Impact Bonin’s murders of more than twenty-one
young men over a one-year period instilled fear in
the public, causing parents and schools to take steps
aimed at protecting vulnerable children. The mur-
ders and the profile of Bonin that emerged during
his trial also contributed to a growing fascination126 Bonin, William The Eighties in America