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RIP Tom Wolfe

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:24 pm
by KEND
One of my favorite writers, the Radical Chic was a work of genius
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930[a] – May 14, 2018) was an American author and journalist widely known for his association with New Journalism, a style of news writing and journalism developed in the 1960s and 1970s that incorporated literary techniques.
Wolfe began his career as a regional newspaper reporter in the 1950s, achieving national prominence in the 1960s following the publication of such best-selling books as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (a highly experimental account of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters) and two collections of articles and essays, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby. In 1979, he published the influential book The Right Stuff about the Mercury Seven astronauts, which was made into a 1983 film of the same name directed by Philip Kaufman.
His first novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, published in 1987, was met with critical acclaim and also became a commercial success. It was adapted as a major motion picture of the same name directed by Brian De Palma.
IMHO this was a dreadful movie, the book was incredible

Re: RIP Tom Wolfe

PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:45 am
by vadaga
Electric Kool Aid Acid Test is an all time favorite of mine. I thought 'A Man in Full' was a bit underwhelming for such a doorstop... good writer on the whole

Re: RIP Tom Wolfe

PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:44 am
by KEND
My favorite was Radical Chic where he eviscerates Leonard Bernstein and his pretentious associates. Quoting from Wikipedia:
In 1970, he published two essays in book form as Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. "Radical Chic" was a biting account of a party given by composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein to raise money for the Black Panther Party. "Mau-Mauing The Flak Catchers" was about the practice by some African Americans of using racial intimidation ("mau-mauing") to extract funds from government welfare bureaucrats ("flak catchers"). Wolfe's phrase, "radical chic", soon became a popular derogatory term for critics to apply to upper-class leftism.