Tom Wolfe (1) (1930–2018)
Author of The Bonfire of the Vanities
For other authors named Tom Wolfe, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. was born in Richmond, Virginia on March 2, 1930. He received bachelor's degree in English from Washington and Lee University in 1951 and a Ph.D in American studies from Yale University in 1957. He started his journalism career as a general-assignment reporter at The show more Springfield Union. While he was working for The Washington Post, he was assigned to cover Latin America and won the Washington Newspaper Guild's foreign news prize for a series on Cuba in 1961. In 1962, he became a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune and a staff writer for New York magazine. His work also appeared in Harper's and Esquire. His first book, a collection of articles about the flamboyant Sixties written for New York and Esquire entitled The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, was published in 1968. His other collections included Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers and Hooking Up. His non-fiction works included The Pump House Gang; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test; The Painted Word; Mauve Gloves and Madmen, Clutter and Vine; In Our Time; and From Bauhaus to Our House. The Right Stuff won the American Book Award for nonfiction, the National Institute of Arts and Letters Harold Vursell Award for prose style, and the Columbia Journalism Award. It was adapted into a film in 1983. His fiction books included The Bonfire of the Vanities, Ambush at Fort Bragg, A Man in Full, The Kingdom of Speech, I Am Charlotte Simmons, and Back to Blood. He was also a contributing artist at Harper's from 1978 to 1981. Many of his illustrations were collected in In Our Time. He died on May 14, 2018 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Tom Wolfe
From Bauhaus to Our House 1,350 copies
Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers/The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test/The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake… (1990) 128 copies
Bonfire of the vanities 2 copies
Wolfe Tom 2 copies
The Mid-Atlantic Man 1 copy
A Bonfire of The Vanities 1 copy
Newsweek Condensed Books: The Right Stuff / Kennedy and Roosevelt / The Fall of Fortresses / Heyday / The Dictionary of… (1980) — Contributor — 1 copy
Två ironiska reportage 1 copy
Associated Works
The 50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion (2011) — Contributor — 246 copies
Three Novels : Mildred Pierce; Double Indemnity; The Postman Always Rings Twice; (1934) — Introduction, some editions — 211 copies
An American Album: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper's Magazine (2000) — Contributor — 132 copies
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (Expanded 10th-Anniversary Edition) (2008) — Contributor — 93 copies
New York Stories: Landmark Writing from Four Decades of New York Magazine (2008) — Foreword — 67 copies
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy Classic Rock & Pop Writing from Elvis to Oasis (1996) — Contributor — 31 copies
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 29 copies
Beyond the Boom: New Voices on American Life, Culture, and Politics (1990) — Introduction — 14 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Wolfe, Tom
- Legal name
- Wolfe, Thomas Kennerly, Jr.
- Birthdate
- 1930-03-02
- Date of death
- 2018-05-14
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Cause of death
- antibiotic-resistant infection
- Places of residence
- Richmond, Virginia, USA
New York, New York, USA - Education
- St. Christopher's School
Washington and Lee University (BA|English|1951)
Yale University (PhD|American Studies|1957) - Occupations
- baseball player
editor
reporter
novelist
essayist
artist (show all 7)
social commentator - Organizations
- Springfield Union
The Washington Post
New York Herald Tribune
Esquire
New Journalism
Rolling Stone (show all 7)
Harper's Magazine - Awards and honors
- Jefferson Lecture (2006)
Washington Newspaper Guild Award ( [1961])
Society of Magazine Writers Award for Excellence (1970)
National Humanities Medal (2001)
Frank Luther Mott Research Award (1973)
John Dos Passos Award (1984) (show all 17)
Virginia Laureate for Literature (1977)
Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Institute of Arts and Letters (1980)
Art History Citation (National Sculpture Society ∙ 1980)
Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence (1986)
St. Louis Literary Award (1990)
National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (2010)
Gari Melchers Medal (1986)
Benjamin Pierce Cheney Medal (Eastern Washington University ∙ 1986)
Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2003)
Golden Plate Award (American Academy of Achievement, 2005)
Carl Sandburg Literary Award (2008) - Agent
- Lynn Nesbit (Janklow and Nesbit)
Members
Discussions
Bonfire of the Vanities: Tom Wolfe in Someone explain it to me... (March 2021)
Reviews
Page 227, said by Martha Croker: Here I am at fifty-three, trying to start over as a woman--in this ludicrous factory for boys with breasts!
Page 259, said by Harry Zale: Lenin had it easy. He didn't have to clean after a shithead like Charlie Croker.
Page 259, said by Harry Zale: Lenin had it easy. He didn't have to clean after a shithead like Charlie Croker.
Highly enjoyable critique of the origin and content (Flatness!!) of Abstract Expressionism and other Modern Art schools. No more trouble to read than a lengthy essay.
Finally finished the bastard---it was a real slog. I'm sure the writing is some people's cup of tea, but not mine.
The most interesting part of it, and the only part that has stayed with me strongly, was the description of how it all went sour---the point where the civil rights movement stopped being cool and was dropped in favor of drugs. Definitely a warning.
The most interesting part of it, and the only part that has stayed with me strongly, was the description of how it all went sour---the point where the civil rights movement stopped being cool and was dropped in favor of drugs. Definitely a warning.
Lists
Five star books (2)
1960s (1)
Unread books (1)
to get (1)
First Novels (1)
Read These Too (1)
Page Turners (2)
Favourite Books (1)
Seeking the Soul (1)
100 New Classics (1)
Books (1)
Fiction For Men (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 45
- Also by
- 35
- Members
- 36,859
- Popularity
- #496
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 540
- ISBNs
- 668
- Languages
- 22
- Favorited
- 99
This novel is unique. I can appreciate the efforts and how it’s written. Few authors can write like this and do it well. That being said, it was hard to focus on at times.
You’re either on the bus or off the bus...and I guess I’m just off the bus.