Wolfe, Tom

Wolfe, Tom (Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.), 1931–, American journalist and novelist, b. Richmond, Va. Wolfe first gained fame for his studies of contemporary American culture in a style known as New Journalism, which combined personal impressions and opinions, reconstructed dialogue, slang, and academic jargon. His journalistic works include The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965), The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Radical Chic and Mau-mauing the Flak Catchers (1970), The Right Stuff (1975), From Bauhaus to Our House (1981), and the anthology Hooking Up (2000). He has also written novels: The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), a satiric look at a New York City torn by race and class; A Man in Full (1998), the saga of an Atlanta millionaire and a tellingly comic portrait of the New South; and I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004), a glimpse at randy contemporary collegians.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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