I was seven in 1990 but the decade has a reputation. Because I was seven in 1990 what do I really know? I can see the argument that Bruce Springsteen songs embody the decade better. That gets overshadowed in my mind by the reputation for yuppie greed
Name the book that defines the 90s. 70s. 60s. 50s. I mean, even if you go back a hundred years you're going to fight between Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath. O e of the problems I have with Bonfire of the Vanities is it's advertised as satire, but it’s a deeply aspirational book. There's a very clear desire to be Sherman McCoy in it, only without being an insensitive dick. And fucking hell it hasn't aged well. There's a lot of deeply racist shit in it. Bonfire of the Vanities is the book that defines the assholes that put Rudy Giuliani in power, that destroyed the economy in 2007. It is their anthem. And the fact that the book rewards their basest instincts and prejudices is reason enough to stop celebrating it.
The bad guys are all black or jewish caricatures (shylock bad) while the good guys are all either Irish or midwesterners. The basic drive of the book is "New York is being destroyed by a shitty caricature of Al Sharpton and his negro militia while Ed Koch watches the world burn."
I'm sorry you went through that As a person with direct Chicago ties but who never actually lived I don't think they get enough credit for being not completely terrible about their own sense of self importance as a city. Reminds me of an AA joke about wanting credit for not committing one crime or another