Tom Wolfe:

The Man in the White Suit

"Believe me, there is no insight to be gathered from the life of the working-class milieu..."

Wolfe on the cover of Time Magazine, a testiment to his popularity.

     Tom Wolfe is one of the most renowned journalists of the late 20th century, as controversial and thought-provoking as his subjects are.  He is also a best-selling novelist and the chief theorist of the literary movement known as "New Journalism." Critics love to disparage Wolfe's works as the ramblings of a man who often indulged too much in the lifestyles and cultures that he wrote about, but his writings continue to captivate readers.  He spawned a movement in New Journalism that incorporated the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Joan Didion -- all writers who utilized the techniques of realistic fiction to make their coverage of an event read more like literature. 

      Born March 2, 1931, in Richmond, Virginia, Wolfe was introduced to the arts, and the art of the English language in particular, at a young age.  His father, a successful businessman who was able to afford his family a genteel lifestyle, experimented in the fields of fiction and journalism, while his mother taught him to write and sketch.  By the age of 9, Wolfe had written a biography of Napoleon, as well as an illustrated book on the life of Mozart.  Little did he know, these illustrations would pay off later on in life.

     Wolfe attended Washington and Lee University, where he was a standout baseball player as well as the sports editor of sthe school's newspaper.  While still attending college, Wolfe got his fix for creativity by establishing a new literary magazine, Shenandoah, before graduating cum laude in 1951 and going on to a brief career as a minor-league pitcher for the New York Giants.  After abandoning baseball, Wolfe pursued a Ph.D. in American Studies at Yale University.

     While writing his thesis at Yale on how the post-graduate system of education in America stifles creativity, he began his first job in journalism by working for the Springfield Union as a general assignment reporter.  His journalism career soon blossomed into an award-winning string of works for The Washington Post, The New York Herald-Tribune, and the newly created New York magazine. He has since been a regular contributor to The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair, among others.  He once claimed that he would stick solely to non-fiction because he believed, as he said in his book The New Journalism, applying fictional techniques to reporting would ultimately be the downfall of the novel.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  A painting of Wolfe in his patented white suit, which he is almost more well known for than his writing.

 "Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America - that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement."

     Betting on his own ability to write a novel worth reading despite his own chilling prediction, Wolfe has gone on to become one of America's premier novelists. His novels -- A Man in Full, The Bonfire of the Vanities, I Am Charlotte Simmons, and his newest , for which he was reportedly paid $7 million, Back in Blood -- have been greeted with critical and commercial success.

     The ability of Tom Wolfe to influence such a strong population of readers, a sort of cult following, is surpassed only by his ability to influence writers and journalists alike from all walks of life.  Although many may see Wolfe as being surpassed in terms of importance in the literary world as he has made this transition from journalist to novelist, able to address the American public less often in his novels than he was once able to with his columns, it can be argued that his impact is being felt as strongly as ever.  An example of such reverence by his contemporaries would be the not so subtle allusion to Wolfe by Chilean novelist and poet Roberto Bolano in his immensely succesful novel The Savage Detectives.  Bolano is known specifically for his references to fellow authors, but it is out of pure respect that he makes this allusion to Wolfe because not only in the context of the story is the "man in the white suit" regarded with veneration, as it is clear that the other characters admire him, but most if not all allusions to other authors made by Bolano are for fellow South American writers, and the occasional European ex-patriot living in South America, but never an American.  While this is just one example of his greatness in the eyes of important, modern day writers, it is a ringing endorsement of his influence on many of the greatest that are around today.

     Tom Wolfe is a paradox if nothing else. He posseses a revolutionary writing style, but in other matters is a traditionalist. He has even been called the "moralist of the modern age."  

Tom Wolfe on "The Simpsons"  a testiment to his pop-culture status.

  Whatever the trend of the moment may be, the "apocalypse du jour," Wolfe is against it, but captures it brilliantly, elaborately depicting scenes of madness with his breathtaking style. His humor is not often bitter or scathing, but unusually detached in order to better "illuminate the silliness of these times he has chosen to record."  One such example is when Wolfe chose to write The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  In writing this book, Wolfe traveled for months with Ken Kesey and his "band of merry pranksters."  He documented his trip across the United States in a psychedelic painted school bus to a number of different places including Grateful Dead concerts and Mexico where Kesey was in exile, all while the group he was with was "experimenting" heavily with LSD and other drugs.  He may have conveyed scenes of youthful exuberance and overindulgence from his times with Kesey and his followers for example, but never extolled the virtues of taking LSD.  To Wolfe, he saw these times as just being a journalist, out there in the field, documenting the actions of his subject and covering a story.

"The notion that the public accepts or rejects anything in modern art is merely romantic fiction. The game is completed and the trophies distributed long before the public knows what has happened." 

Clip of Wolfe discussing Back in Blood and his life   

•  Clips of Wolfe describing the importance of reporting and journalism, among other various ramblings of a brilliant mind
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tKTBJpk6-o&feature=related
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gdvJdPsnb0
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLud7BHcLI

Annotated Bibliography

Esten, Hugh.  Achievement.org. Tom Wolfe.  Academy of Achievement, 1996.  On-line.  November 2, 2009.       <http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wol0pro-1>.

      A site with a comprehensive list of professionals who have achieved acclaim in their given field.  The site has a brief introduction to and biography of Wolfe, as well as a revealing in-depth interview with him.  Although not up to date with his latest endeavors  -- it was last edited in 2005 --, it is informative.

Wolfe, Tom, and E.W. Johnson, eds.  The New Journalism.  New York: Harper & Row, 1973.  Print.

     This  anthology of "New Journalism" pieces contains an introduction by Wolfe that ultimately became a manifesto of this literary movement, a precursor to today's creative nonfiction.

McKeen, William.  Tom Wolfe.  New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995.  Print.

     McKeen dubs Wolfe the "Great Emancipator of Journalism." The book deals briefly with Wolfe's life, but is more concerned with how he wrote and what he wrote.  McKeen admires Wolfe's work and praises him almost to a fault,, but is still insightful about the type of writing done by Wolfe and his contemporaries.

Weingarten, Marc.  The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight.  New York: Crown, 2006.  Print.

     This book deals with the revolution represented by "New Journalism."  With portions of the book dedicated to the likes of Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson,and others, it delves into the nuances of this radical movement in journalism.  Chapter 4 is dedicated solely to Wolfe and his escapades on acid while writing The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test  (1969), but the book has a litany of quotes, ideas, or anecdotes about him and his writing.

Wolfe, Tom.  The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  New York:  Picador, 1969.  Print.

     Written about Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, this book chronicles the adventures of hippies in the 1960s as they travel the country taking LSD.  With Wolfe there to document the experience, Kesey called these trips "acid tests."  Wolfe's ability to research like a journalist while writing like a novelist is fully on display and make the book a prime example of "New Journalism."

Tom Wolfe.Com.  Picador On-line, 1995.  On-line.  November 3, 2009.  <http://www.tomwolfe.com/index2.html>

     This is a site maintained by Wolfe's publisher, Picador.  Unless one is looking to purchase his books, it won't be much help, aside from a bio page.

Wolfe, Tom.  Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died.  OrthodoxyToday.org, 1996.  On-line.  November 3, 2009.

          <http://orthodoxytoday.org/articles/Wolfe-Sorry-But-Your-Soul-Just-Died.php>

     Another example of Wolfe's ability to tackle any topic and with his distinct flare make it interesting and worthwhile.  Written in 1996, this article predicts accurately the mindset of man in the world of today as well as Wolfe's ideas on religion and science.

Wolfe, Tom.  One Giant Leap to Nowhere.  NewYorkTimes.com, July 2009.  On-line.  November 3, 2009.        <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19wolfe.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all>

     After writing an entire book on the community of astronauts and more specifically the likes of Alan Shepard and John Glenn called The Right Stuff, Wolfe continues his admiration for these heroic figures with his plea to expand the use of our space program and undergo more daring expeditions.  Displays his love for the heroic character type and ability to have his finger on issues that are important yet not conventional or popular.

Grossman, Lev.  I am Still Tom Wolfe.  Time.com, November 2004.  On-line.  November 9, 2009.       <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995572,00.html>

     A quick exploration into the ways Tom Wolfe has adapted to a more slow-paced lifestyle, while still attempting to write in his old fashion of throwing himself completely into his subject, immersing himself in the culture behind his projects.  The piece discusses his novel, I am Charlotte Simmons, and whether or not Wolfe was able to "party with the frat boys" while writing it, or if he simply drew on past experiences.