Major Tom

Actually in Wolfe's case, the world was waiting. And tonight, in the Cotillion Room at the Pierre Hotel on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the wait is finally over.

It's the Nov. 12 publication party for A Man in Full. Underneath the hall's two Titanic-size chandeliers, New York's glitterati are sipping white wine and nibbling expensive hors d'oeuvres (mmm-mmmmmm, these little Roquefort cheese morsels are tasty). Among the revelers: George Plimpton, William Buckley, Charlie Rose, Gay Talese, Walter Cronkite, Morley Safer, and Frederique, the Victoria's Secret supermodel.

Okay, so it's no Radical Chic Evening — but it is the most important publishing event of the year. At least it is for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, which must have spent six figures on this lavish fete. Wolfe is by far FSG's biggest star, and the publisher is pulling out all the stops. It's reportedly poured half a million dollars into a promotional blitz for the book (on top of the $5 million to $7 million advance the company's said to have paid Wolfe). And it's printed an astonishing 1.2 million first copies of the novel.

FSG has reason for optimism. Except for Updike's swipe, the reviews have been almost all glowing. True, the book did get a lukewarm reception in Hollywood — the film rights still haven't been sold — but after the disastrous Bonfire flick, maybe that's a blessing in disguise ''After that one it would not disturb me in the least if this book never got made into a movie,'' says Wolfe. ''I don't think it could be made into a movie. It would have to be five hours long.''

All in all, it's easy to understand why the champagne is being uncorked in FSG's business offices. ''We've never done this big a first printing,'' says marketing exec Laurie Brown. ''But we got the first week of sales figures and it's No. 1 at every location. So we're pretty happy.''

Wolfe definitely looks happy. Or maybe just incredibly relieved. One thing about those white suits — he's always easy to spot, even in a hotel ballroom packed with hundreds of people. He's standing in a corner with his wife, Sheila, and two children, Alexandra, 18, and Tommy, 13, grinning as brightly as the chandeliers up above. With all his friends and fans clustered around him, it's impossible to elbow in close enough to hear his voice. But if you stare hard enough, you can almost read his lips. And after the last 11 years, what he's saying looks something like this:

Hernia, hernia, hernia, hernia, hernia, hernia...