Financial "Master of the Universe" Sherman McCoy sees his life unravel when his mistress Maria Ruskin hits a Black boy with his car. When journalist Peter Fallow enflames public opinion with a series of distorted tabloid articles on the accident, the case is seized upon by opportunists like Reverend Bacon and mayoral candidate D.A. Abe Weiss.
The Bonfire of the Vanities
After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight and attracts the interest of a down-and-out reporter.