Tom Wolfe, electric and one of a kind
Flashy pioneer of New Journalism, dead at 88, gave us The Right Stuff
Author Tom Wolfe, who immortalized America’s astronauts in The Right Stuff, died in a Manhattan hospital on Monday.
He was 88. His many best sellers over the years include The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Wolfe also was a pioneer practitioner of The New Journalism in the 1960s and
’70s, a form of journalism that used literary conventions to tell stories in a colorful, “gonzo” form.
Wolfe coined the influential phrase “The Me Decade,” to reflect Americans’ obsession in the 1970s with self-fulfillment, in his essay “The Me Decade and the Third Great Awakening.”
He continued to write into his 80s: In
2016, he published The Kingdom of Speech, a non-fiction book that made the case that speech, not evolution, is responsible for mankind’s achievements.
In a review for USA TODAY, Don Oldenburg wrote: “He brings to this academic debate the same irreverence and entertaining quality that lit up Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test — without the trippy, ’60s, Merry Prankster craziness. You’ll find here the same manic prose, the hip rhythms and cleverly crafted arguments of the genius Tom Wolfe.”
Wolfe was a memorable stylist not just in words, but in his wardrobe. He had a penchant for white three-piece suits and top hats that eschewed the usual sloppy journalist’s style.
Or, as Wolfe put it: “You never realize how much of your background is sewn into the lining of your clothes.”
His two best-known books are the non-fiction title The Right Stuff, published in 1979, and his first novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, released in 1987 to critical acclaim. Both became movies.
In The Right Stuff, he lauded the exploits of the Mercury Seven astronauts as daring adventurers. The 1983 movie version starred Sam Shepard and Ed Harris and won four Oscars.
The Bonfire of the Vanities marked Wolfe’s debut as a fiction writer, and it was a huge, timely hit. It centered on a young investment banker named Sherman McCoy whose life falls apart after an accident in the Bronx and dealt with issues such as racism and Wall Street excesses.
The 1990 movie starred Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis but was not as wellreceived as The Right Stuff.
Wolfe wrote several more novels after Bonfire. In A Man in Full (1998), a No. 1 USA TODAY best seller, he moved the action to Atlanta but continued with his favorite themes of racism and male ennui in the story of a college football star turned real-estate developer.
In I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004), Wolfe focused his keen eye on college campuses through the eyes of his cen- tral character.
In 2012, Wolfe published his fourth, and it turned out, final novel, Back to Blood, set in Miami and again dealing with wealth, class divisions and status.
In an interview then with USA TODAY, Wolfe said he had no plans to retire: “The great thing about being a writer is that they can’t fire you. They can stop publishing your stuff, but so far that hasn’t happened.”
Little, Brown had paid a reported $7 million advance for Blood. When asked about the amount, Wolfe said: “I won’t say no.”