Conversations with Tom WolfeDorothy McInnis Scura Literary journalist, ""lowly social historian,"" ""chronicler of his times,"" and ""champion of realism"" are among the many epithets heaped upon Tom Wolfe by himself and his myriad admirers and critics. In this collection of interviews spanning his richly productive career, Wolfe is seen as a writer imitating no one and riding the crest of each latest wave in contemporary America. For more than a quarter of a century he has been the vivid and varied chronicler of our time--from the Californian car customizers and Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters of the sixties to the ambition-driven inhabitants of New York City in the eighties. His hybrid of reporting and fiction-writing has received perhaps more applause than any other literary journalism, and his first major work of fiction, Bonfire of the Vanities, rested at the top of the bestseller lists for more than a year. Here is Tom Wolfe talking--about the subjects of his eight books, about the writers he admires, about the discipline of writing, about his politics and his disposition to satire and parody. As he explains his attempt ""to show the world 'life in our times,'"" this collection of delightfully witty and informative interviews reveals the insights and the intellect of one of America's brightest and most appealing authors. |
Contents
How to Wolfe a Tangerine at a Tangent Terry Coleman | 3 |
Tom Wolfe on the Search for the Real Me Lawrence Dietz | 18 |
Pop Writer of the PeriodTom Wolfe Talks to Michael | 24 |
Tom Wolfe Michael Mok | 30 |
Tom Wolfe Joe David Bellamy | 36 |
Sitting Up with Tom Wolfe Joe David Bellamy | 56 |
Tom Wolfe and the Painted Word William F Buckley Jr | 73 |
Wolfe Foresees a Religious Great Awakening Philip Nobile | 95 |
An Interview with Tom Wolfe | 167 |
CA Interview Mary V McLeod | 178 |
Tom Wolfe Ron Reagan | 186 |
The Evolution of Dandy Tom Toby Thompson | 199 |
Never Try to Fit In Tom Wolfe Advises Young Writers Heath | 221 |
Tom Wolfe Brant Mewborn | 230 |
The Police Reporter at the Garden Party Hilary DeVries | 241 |
The Book on Tom Wolfe John Taylor | 255 |
The Earthling and the Astronauts Adrianne Blue | 103 |
Tom Wolfe Examines Why The New Left Disappeared U | 111 |
Tom Wolfe Martin L Gross | 121 |
Tom Wolfe Chet Flippo | 129 |
Tom Wolfe Joshua Gilder | 158 |
Common terms and phrases
actually American art world artists astronauts Balzac Bauhaus Bellamy Bonfire Bronx Buckley called century Clay Felker Clement Greenberg critics dress editor Electric Kool-Aid Acid Esquire example fact fashion feel fiction Flak Catchers Franz Kline Gay Talese going happened Herald Tribune idea intellectual interested interview journalism journalists Ken Kesey kind Kool-Aid Kool-Aid Acid Test literary live look Manhattan Mau-Mauing the Flak mean Merry Pranksters movie Moyers never newspaper nonfiction novelists Painted Word person piece political Pranksters Pump House Gang Radical Chic realism religion reporting Richmond Right Stuff Rolling Stone Sixties social sort started status story style talking Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby television tell there's thing thought Tom Wolfe what's white suit Wolfe says Wolfe's written wrote Yale York Herald Tribune York Magazine young