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W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 10:18 am
by wlu_lax6
not putting him in obscure thread

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 10:22 am
by sancarlos
I read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in college. It was an eye-opener.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 10:27 am
by brian
An important, yet overrated writer. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:00 am
by Nonlinear FC
Well, just on Bonfire and All the Right Stuff, dude deserves his own thread.

I should probably go back and read Koolaid Acid Test. I think I tried to read it when I was way too young and just didn't understand most of what was going on.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:01 am
by DaveInSeattle
sancarlos wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 10:22 am I read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in college. It was an eye-opener.
It was high school for me.

The Right Stuff is an amazing book as well.

His fiction stuff? 'Bonfire of the Vanities' is pretty good, 'A Man In Full' is mediocre, at best, and 'I Am Charlotte Simmons' is wretchedly bad.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:06 am
by P.D.X.
I saw Kesey talk in college. He equated Wolfe to a floating turd.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:10 am
by brian
I should qualify his non-fiction stuff is pretty damn good. His fiction is all hot garbage, even Bonfire.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:23 am
by wlu_lax6
I have mentioned it here before but when I Am Charlotte Simmons had been published he did a seminar at W&L (a yearly thing he does on different topics). The one I was at was Buster Olney, Michael Lewis, a few faculty, and him. Got to spend some time, realized that the white suit brand was part of the package, and that he was a really nice guy (Buster Olney was the best though).

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 11:55 am
by Pruitt
A great writer.

Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff, A Man In Full, Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing The Flak Catchers all books I devoured, among others of his I read.

Funny that a guy who dressed like a patrician fop was responsible for such radical (at the time) and muscular writing.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 1:12 pm
by brian
wlu_lax6 wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 11:23 am I have mentioned it here before but when I Am Charlotte Simmons had been published he did a seminar at W&L (a yearly thing he does on different topics). The one I was at was Buster Olney, Michael Lewis, a few faculty, and him. Got to spend some time, realized that the white suit brand was part of the package, and that he was a really nice guy (Buster Olney was the best though).

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 3:54 pm
by sancarlos
brian wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 1:12 pm
wlu_lax6 wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 11:23 am I have mentioned it here before but when I Am Charlotte Simmons had been published he did a seminar at W&L (a yearly thing he does on different topics). The one I was at was Buster Olney, Michael Lewis, a few faculty, and him. Got to spend some time, realized that the white suit brand was part of the package, and that he was a really nice guy (Buster Olney was the best though).
What Wolfe said there makes a lot of sense. Counterpoint: I once read a comment by Hunter S. Thompson about the difference between Wolfe's style and his. In his non-fiction books such as Hells Angels and On the '72 Campaign Trail, Thompson immersed himself and tried to experience all the same things as his subjects. He felt it gave him a credibility with his subjects that Wolfe could never get by just being an outsider observing. Rightly or wrongly, Thompson considered Wolfe a dilettante.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 6:03 pm
by Avram
Bonfire of the Vanities is one of the few books I have read that made me laugh out loud while reading it.

Highly enjoyable book. Dreadful movie

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 7:40 pm
by Pruitt
sancarlos wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 3:54 pm I once read a comment by Hunter S. Thompson about the difference between Wolfe's style and his. In his non-fiction books such as Hells Angels and On the '72 Campaign Trail, Thompson immersed himself and tried to experience all the same things as his subjects. He felt it gave him a credibility with his subjects that Wolfe could never get by just being an outsider observing. Rightly or wrongly, Thompson considered Wolfe a dilettante.
Or, he was a journalist. In his non-fiction, there's no character named "Tom Wolfe," or if there is, I don;t remember him as playing a prominent role.

Thompson's best writings are about Hunter Thompson reacting to the weirdness around him. Wolfe lets the weirdness speak for itself.

(Just love putting the old English Degree to good use!)

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 7:41 pm
by Pruitt
Avram wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 6:03 pm Bonfire of the Vanities is one of the few books I have read that made me laugh out loud while reading it.

Highly enjoyable book. Dreadful movie
I am an aficionado of bad movies, but that one was impossible to sit through.

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 6:58 am
by wlu_lax6
This came across my twitter feed
My favorite thing about Tom Wolfe: once came to my college (his alma mater) to do a reading and a guy I knew saw him on campus but didn't have a book for him to sigh, so he asked him to sign his ratty Kierkegaard, and Wofle wrote "Tom Wolfe is fabulous! Love, Soren Kierkegaard."

Re: W&L Grad Tom Wolfe

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 8:01 am
by wlu_lax6
Also from an article that I just read. After he graduated from W&L he was given a try out with the New York Giants (baseball)