Wolfe, Tom (1931—)
Since the 1960s, American journalist Tom Wolfe has been one of the chief chroniclers of the times. Known for analyzing trends and exposing inherent cultural absurdities, Wolf...
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American journalist and novelist Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr. (born 1931), was a major figure in the "New Journalism" which began in the 1960s.Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr., was born in Richmond, Virginia,...
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The foremost theorist and best-known practitioner of New Journalism, Tom Wolfe has become almost synonymous with the journalistic movement he helped foster in the mid 1960s. Critics praise or reject n...
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Tom Wolfe might be called the literary son of Mark Twain. Famous for his white suits and his high-speed, highly exclamatory, highly italicized delivery, Wolfe is one of America's leading prose stylis...
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In the following essay, Crawford analyzes how Wolfe's protagonists often exhibit the characteristics of an “outlaw gentleman,” a rogue who clothes himself in respectability.
Dedic...
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In the following interview by Plimpton, Wolfe discusses how he became a journalist, the influences and inspirations behind his various works, why he chose to write novels, and his work habits as a pro...
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In this essay, Fishwick gives an overview of Wolfe's life and career, focusing on the segments of American culture that Wolfe profiles in his work.
The Big Bad Wolfe is loose on the land—...
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In the following essay, Rouse recalls a personal meeting with Wolfe, while also discussing the writer's early years and development into a journalist.
It was in the 1960s. My wife and I were fl...
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In the following essay, Crawford dissects the typical Wolfe protagonist, portraying them as well-tailored anti-heroes and heroic outlaws who only have allegiance to themselves.
Dandyism is the last sp...
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In the following essay, Stokes focuses on the relationship between the narrator and the subject of Wolfe's works, and the effect that relationship has on the reader.
“What a feast was sp...
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In the following essay, Stull criticizes Wolfe for his stereotypes of women and minorities, and for his generalizations about status and politics. Stull believes that Wolfe's “detached o...
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In the following essay, Card discusses Wolfe's development of the social-realist novel and his belief that highly-detailed realism is “the future of the fictional novel.”
Tom Wolf...
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In the following essay, Varsava compliments Wolfe on the realism of The Bonfire of the Vanities, but states that the novel doesn't live up to the values of the social-realist novel that Wolfe h...
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In this negative review of Wolfe's “Stalking the Billion-Footed Beast: A Literary Manifesto for the New Social Novel,” Epstein criticizes the essay for its suggestion that “...
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In the following essay, Harvey discusses the origins of the “New Journalism” that Wolfe helped to create and the effect that it has had on the world of American journalism.
A few decades...
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In the following interview by Reilly, Wolfe discusses the research and the work that went into creating his account of Ken Kesey's travels across America, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
Tom W...
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In this essay, Konas analyzes the mythic, rebellious heroes of subculture that Wolfe focuses on in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and The Right Stu...
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In the following essay, Kennedy discusses how Wolfe portrays urban realism in The Bonfire of the Vanities and how the novel uses New York City as “a microcosm of contemporary American society.&...
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In the following essay, Bing profiles the research, time, and massive marketing campaign that went into the publication of Wolfe's A Man in Full.
It took a decade to write. It is the panoramic ...
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In the following review of A Man in Full, O'Sullivan compliments Wolfe's comic set-pieces and looks at the novel's general critical reception in an attempt to identify the basic t...
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Critical Essay by Thomas Powers
Tom Wolfe is not a generous writer. He's gifted in almost heroic proportion, not only with the writer's ear for irresistible words (a common enough talent...
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Critical Essay by Ben Yagoda
Wolfe's major theme has always been the changes wrought in American style and sensibility by the post-World-War-II money boom; in the early 60's, technology,...
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Wolfe, Tom (1931—)
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.
Tom Wolfe
