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Tom Wolfe Has Died

nytimes.com

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Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#91

Post by indescions_2018 »

RIP. Feels like the end of an era for New Yorkers. A certain longform vigor. Jimmy Breslin on JFK's assassination. Peter Maas and Serpico. Norman Mailer running for mayor of the "51st State"

In addition to all the excellent suggestions on this page. Also check out The Painted Word (1975).

Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Tom Wolfe and The Painted Word

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5NBoe5qHRE

Art of Fiction Interview with George Plimpton

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/15/tom-wolfe-193...

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#92

Post by bradleyjg »

swampthinker wrote: post #3

I have to admit, I've never read a Tom Wolfe book. Does anyone have some good recommendations?

It depends on what you like, but having read all his full length books, I’m firmly of the opinion that A Man in Full is the best novel qua novel. In terms of craftsmenship it’s his masterpiece. On the other hand, Bonfire of the Vanities is the most Wolfian of the books—it’s the book that most of any of them could not have been written by anyone else (with honorable mention to Back to Blood).

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#93

Post by majos »

pitt1980 wrote: post #15
jgrahamc wrote: post #4

Years ago when I was living in the Bay Area, Tom Wolfe was hanging around doing research for a book on Silicon Valley. The rumour was that he left with the opinion that nothing interesting worth writing about happened there.

He wrote a pretty interesting profile of Robert Noyce, one of the co-founders of Intel https://web.stanford.edu/class/e145/2007_fall/materials/noyc...

Thanks for the pointer. I was unaware of 1. how important midwesterners have been to Silicon Valley, and 2. how old the Silicon Valley-Wall Street cultural divide is. Plus, just a fun read.

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#94

Post by dang »

bch wrote: post #86
dang wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wallflower has more than made amends by providing some of the best reading on Hacker News for many years.

I’m not really fussed by ‘wallflowers transgression, but I find rationalizing stealing from a public library by posting in an a Gucci tech/business website a bit problematic.

Oh I agree, but was just trying to mitigate the harshness with a little good feeling. We all have enough to point fingers at ourselves about.

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#95

Post by dictum »

acampbell28 wrote: post #64
jgrahamc wrote: post #4

Years ago when I was living in the Bay Area, Tom Wolfe was hanging around doing research for a book on Silicon Valley. The rumour was that he left with the opinion that nothing interesting worth writing about happened there.

His daughter, Alexandra Wolfe, did write a book about SV called "Valley of the Gods": https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Gods-Silicon-Story/dp/15011470... I haven't read it, but I subscribe to author Ryan Holiday's reading list email newsletter and he had this to say when the book came out: "A nice new read about the Silicon Valley written by Wall Street Journal reporter (and Tom Wolfe's daughter). It's more pleasant and…

> Anyway, some great sentences in this book. Not sure how it will stand up over time but was worth a couple hours of my time.

I'm not familiar with Ryan Holiday's work, but this almost sounds like a backhanded compliment, especially when you consider how long (and much work) it takes to write a passable book.

It's no longer about Alexandra's book; it's about Ryan's tight schedule.

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#96

Post by evasote »

majos wrote: post #93
pitt1980 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wrote a pretty interesting profile of Robert Noyce, one of the co-founders of Intel https://web.stanford.edu/class/e145/2007_fall/materials/noyc...

Thanks for the pointer. I was unaware of 1. how important midwesterners have been to Silicon Valley, and 2. how old the Silicon Valley-Wall Street cultural divide is. Plus, just a fun read.

It was a really great read. My dad was a solid state electrical engineer working on silicon, and went to Grinnell as well for his undergrad. We are from just south of there. Nice to hear about the place

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#97

Post by wallflower »

dang wrote: post #94
bch wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not really fussed by ‘wallflowers transgression, but I find rationalizing stealing from a public library by posting in an a Gucci tech/business website a bit problematic.

Oh I agree, but was just trying to mitigate the harshness with a little good feeling. We all have enough to point fingers at ourselves about.

Thanks, dang! I appreciate all you do for this community.

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#98

Post by wallflower »

teachrdan wrote: post #31
swampthinker wrote: post #3

I have to admit, I've never read a Tom Wolfe book. Does anyone have some good recommendations?

I'd immediately recommend Bonfire of the Vanities. It perfectly captures NYC in the 80s: the racial divides, the wealth inequality, and the many ways individuals cross race and class lines. And his vivid description of how bond traders make insane amounts of money (for the time) is unforgettable. Frankly, Bonfire is worth reading just for unforgettable lines like this one: "If a conservative is a liberal who's been m…

Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" (Going broke on a million a year), p.137

"One breath of scandal, and not only would the Giscard scheme collapse but his very career would be finished! And what would he do then? I’m already going broke on a million a year! The appalling figures came popping up into his brain. Last year his income had been $980,000. But he had to pay out $21,000 a month for the $1.8 million loan he had to take out to buy the apartment... Of the $560,000 remaining of his income last year, $44,400 was required for the apartment’s monthly maintenance fee… $18,000 for heat, utilities, insurance and repairs, $6,000 for lawn and hedge cutting, $8,000 for taxes. Entertaining at home and in restaurants had come to $37,000. This was a modest sum compared to what other people spent..."

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#99

Post by wallflower »

segmondy wrote: post #19
wallflower wrote: post #12

I remember discovering "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" in my high school library. I eventually stole it by taking out the plastic-encased metal security dingy and devoured it more. I read it over and over until the paperback fell apart. It introduced me to a world so foreign and sparkly and rusty dangerous and yet so real. RIP Tom Wolfe for bringing us into your worlds of observation and intrigue.

You denied other's the chance to do the same. You need to make amends.

I never really thought about it that way back then. You are right. I will buy a few copies of this book and leave them in the train stations or on park benches. Thanks.

Re: Tom Wolfe Has Died

#100

Post by plankers »

vermontdevil wrote: post #88

Tom Wolfe writing on hangovers: The telephone blasted Peter Fallow awake inside an egg with the shell peeled away and only the membranous sac holding it intact. Ah! The membranous sac was his head, and the right side of his head was on the pillow, and the yolk was as heavy as mercury, and it rolled like mercury, and it was pressing down on his right temple… If he tried to get up to answer the telephone, the yolk, the…

Every year, the morning after my birthday, this metaphor plagues my mind.
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