Tom Wolfe
From Philosopedia
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe (2 March 1931 - )
A major figure in "new journalism," Wolfe graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1957 and received his Ph. D. from Yale University in 1957.
His The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in 1968 is an example of the new form of journalistic writing in which a variety of literary techniques are mixed - in narrating the life of Merry Pranksters, he used eccentric punctuation such as multiple exclamation marks, onomatopoeia, and free association in order to get across the personalities of Ken Kesey and his followers. He and E. W. Johnson, in The New Journalism (1975), brought together comparatiave selections of such varied writers as Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, and Norman Mailer.
A 1989 essay in Harper's, "Stalking the Billion-footed Beast," took the position that if there is any hope for the future of the American novel it will be one in which the novelist becomes more like a reporter, much as illustrated by Zola's using literary naturalism [[1]]. The idea did not go over well with other authors, but Wolfe's works like A Man in Full headed The New York Times bestseller list for ten weeks and sold 1.4 million copies in hardcover.
Wolfe, the son of a Virginia gentleman farmer, reportedly writes with a manual Underwood typewriter, earns up to $20,000 for his lectures, dresses in white suits, and lives in New York City on the 14th floor of an Upper East Side building with his wife Sheila, their daughter Alexandra, and their son Tommy.
He is not known to be a member of any organized religion, nor are members of his family. Nor is he a member of a cult, which he has concisely defined:
- A cult is a religion with no power.
