Customer Reviews (2)

20th Century Documents, Documented
This is a wide slice of the mid-century New Journalism epoch. It features charged work from every major player (including Terry Southern and others curiously ignored in Weingarten's overview). The predictions in Wolfe's manifesto haven't panned out as pervasively as he expected - if anything, today's writerly writers, by and large, are more gimmicky, narcissistic and insulated than ever - but that's capital-L Literature's loss, and the night is young. Bring this thing back into print, and don't fear the carnival.

Sorry To See This Book Out of Print
I'm sorry to see that this book out of print. It's both an excellent collection of articles, and a "how-to" for budding writers on how to write in the style of the "new journalism". I'd love to seethis book back in print, or even better, a revised edition, with moreup-to-date articles (anyone for acollection of New Journalist articles onthe 80s and 90s?) and perhaps a new assortment of writers. ... Read more

Product Description
Santa Claus, elves, gnomes, wizards. These fanciful characters delight and mesmerize us. All of them are magical creatures, possessing great and wondrous powers. Tom Wolfe has a bit of this magic himself. In his hands a piece of wood, carved with the simplest tools, is transformed and takes on a personality of its own. They come to life. The projects he shares in this book are perfect for the beginning carver, or the person who likes to whittle for fun and relaxation. They also give the opportunity for the more experienced carvers to be creative and expand their repertoire. Whether the carver is experienced or not, the objects in this book are just plain fun and make wonderful gifts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

TOM WOLFE - A DOWNHOME WOOD CARVER
Another excellent Wolfe carving book. I enjoy his easy style and detailed photos. Excellent Christmas gift (notice I did not say holiday gift!) ... Read more

Product Description
"Literary journalist," "lowly social historian," "chronicler of his times," and "champion of realism" are among the many epithets heaped upon Tom Wolfe by himself and his myriad admirers and critics. In this collection of interviews spanning his richly productive career, Wolfe is seen as a writer imitating no one and riding the crest of each latest wave in contemporary America.

For more than a quarter of a century he has been the vivid and varied chronicler of our time---from the Californian car customizers and Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters of the sixties to the ambition-driven inhabitants of New York City in the eighties. His hybrid of reporting and fiction-writing has received perhaps more applause than any other literary journalism, and his first major work of fiction, BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, rested at the top of the bestseller lists for more than a year.

Here is Tom Wolfe talking---about the subjects of his eight books, about the writers he admires, about the discipline of writing, about his politics and his disposition to satire and parody. As he explains his attempt "to show the world ‘life in our times,’" this collection of delightfully witty and informative interviews reveals the insights and the intellect of one of America’s brightest and most appealing authors. ... Read more

Product Description
Among the most popular of Tom Wolfes carving books is Tom Wolfe Carves Dragons. From the day it came off the presses Tom has received letters asking for a Wizard book to go with it. What good is a dragon without a Wizard? one reader asked. Well, here it is! These fanciful figures let the imagination run wild. You can make them friendly or sinister, young or old, comic or deadly serious. Tom gives patterns and step-by-step instructions illustrated in full color. The gallery has a coven of Wizards, in both full-figure and bust forms. But that is only the starting point. From there a change in costume, setting, or facial feature can lead to an infinite variety of figures. As a companion piece or by itself, this is an exciting new project for carvers. Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
The list of classic works of New Journalism goes on and on: In Cold Blood, The Right Stuff, Armies of the Night, Dispatches, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hiroshima, Slouching Towards Bethlehem: not only are they all still in print after 40 years, but also as accepted classics. Their authors - Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Michael Herr, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer - are also acknowledged as some of America's greatest twentieth-century writers. But they wrote non-fiction, not novels, about big subjects like Vietnam, the Hippie culture, notorious murders, the space programme. And the then revolutionary new brand of non-fiction they pioneered - narrative and novelistic, yet documentary and often with a spacedout, forensic detachment - has now become so much part of the mainstream that we can read books like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil without realising their debt to the early New Journalists of the sixties. Marc Weingarten's book tells for the first time how they pushed reportage beyond its narrow limits and changed the literary culture, and the fascinating stories behind the research and writing of books such as in Cold Blood. ... Read more

Product Description
From the ancient Chinese to St. George to Dungeons and Dragons, these mythical beasts have had a place in the human imagination. Now, with his own imagination running rampant, Tom Wolfe turns his artistry to the dragon. As always, he brings creativity and skill to the task, along with a desire to share the joy of carving with his readers. All steps to carving a dragon are illustrated in color photographs, with concise descriptions of what to do and what effects you are trying to achieve. In addition there is a gallery with patterns and photographs of three other dragons that can be carved using the same techniques. These are dramatic carvings that will challenge the carver and delight those who see the final product. Tom uses both traditional hand carving tools and rotary tools to get the effects that make these dragons so realistic. The carver will find the insights into the techniques for using all these tools quite instructive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

dee's opinion
Tom Wolfe's "Carves Dragons" is an excellent book for a novice carver. He instructs from the very beginning of the creation. Patterns are included.
Starting with copying the pattern to the wood, to carving out the parts, to connecting the separate pieces,and attaching these parts are invaluable. The finishing of the dragon is interesting. I belive it is up to each individual to choose their own finishing for their own creation.

His tools are a knife, a gouge and a rotary tool.
The instruction are given step by step in photos.

I found this book to be valuable in carving other items as well as dragons.

PROJECTS OF A MASTER CARVER.
I am new to the carving and pyrography scene and found everything in this great book, to be very useful.
Mr. Wolfe is certainly one of the best and anyone can benefit from his teachings.

rave review
As a beginning carver with pretensions of grandure I found this book excellent, not so much for the text, but for the photos, which take you step by step through roughing out, and detail carving a dragon. As a visual thinker, the photos convey what the text is saying in a very real way, making it much easier for me to see what the author is trying to relay.

He uses power tools not available to me (that I wish I had!), but with a lot of patience, I think this project is do-able for the amature carver.

Really loved his dragons - they aren't chinese or asian dragons, but european dragons, and he shows several of his different carvings to whet the appetite. ... Read more

Product Description
Some of our most illustrious writers have tried their best to sink their fellow authors, using all the weapons at their commandwit, humor, sarcasm, and invective. In these eight profiles of quarrels between famous scribes, readers will find both wonderful literary gossip and insight into our social and intellectual history. Included are such lively literary barbs as:Mary McCarthy on Lillian HellmanEvery word she writes is a lie, including and and the Gore Vidal on Truman CapoteIt is inhumane to attack Capote. You are attacking an elf.lso included are the quarrels of Tom Wolfe and John Updike; Sinclair Lewis and Theodore Dreiser; Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein; and others.Literary Feuds is the perfect gift for literature lovers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A gem of the first water
This is the sort of book you read once a year: witty, erudite, entertaining, thought-provoking. Its author has his subject inside out, and manages to be compassionate and searing at the same time. The bottom line is delivered time and again on the towering giants of the American scene (plus several Brits): perfect mini-biogs, balanced assessments of their status within the canon - and in between delicious accounts of the friendships-gone-sour which eventually reached flashpoint. A brilliant Rough Guide to the Disunited States of American Letters.

The Famous can be Just as Petty as Anyone Else
As a voracious reader myself, I've heard of some of these feuds, but Anthony Arthur summarizes them competently in this volume, Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels - From Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe.His scholarship is evident and he tells the stories in an interesting manner - kind of like talking to the smartest gossip on the block. The book was a literary guilty pleasure.

For me some of the feuds were more interesting than others.I enjoyed reading about Hemingway and Stein, while I learned nothing new about Twain and Harte.I thought the Wilson/Nobokov tiff was particular clever and filled with intellectual insults where they each struggled for the high road while dragging their relationship through the public gutter.Capote and Vidal was anticlimactic and I suspect there's more to their feud than what's written here, because it didn't seem very satisfying as a "great feud."

I'd recommend reading the parts you're interested in and skipping the authors you care little about.The prose is good and the material juicy.Enjoy

- CV Rick

Middle of an interesting road
Anthony Arthur is, I bet, a fine teacher. Prodigiously well-read, entertaining, and not one to either worship at or wantonly tear down the authorial altars, he gives a brief but entertaining look at some important, and some not-so-important, feuds between writers.

The Library Journal review has it all wrong. We do not need yet another ponderous explication of these authors and their social climates and cultural milieus. There are hundreds of unread monographs and dusty stacks of periodicals (both paper and electronic) chock full of such dreck. For the purposes of this book, Arthur does a fine job of giving a flavor of who these folks are and what they were up to. In fact, a little more of the battles might have been nice; reading about fisticuffs between two aging authors (and Hemingway wasn't one of them) did indeed liven things up and tells us quite a lot about what these writers were.

Where this book lost me was in its missed opportunities. Twain, Hemingway, Dreiser, Lewis. I knew these were difficult men. Why they chose to hang on to a silly or destructive idea was interesting, but somehow I never fully felt Arthur captured the core of their animosities. The F.R. Leavis/C.P. Snow (leave it to the only two Englishmen among these 16 to be identified by their initials) is my favorite piece, but also the most disappointing. Arthur gets behind the authors into the armies they generaled. This is not social milieu but a significant argument between two intelligent and passionate men who have vital and differing viewpoints about something of consequence. But we get too much about whether Snow is a good novelist, which has nothing to do with the strength of his arguments. And too little of an analysis of their dispute.

The final three chapters, on the feuds between relatively negligible, but very PR conscious, writers, left me cold. 100 years from now, I'm thinking most of these folks will be footnotes at best, and their squabbles will be reduced to tales as important as any battles fought by George Meredith or Marie Corelli. Vidal and Capote, excellent writers, but neither excellent thinkers nor human beings, McCarthy and Hellmen, shrill harridan and pathological dissembler, Irving, Wolfe and Updike.....blah, who cares? (One fun thing though was the Ratheresque defense of Hellmen by her never-say-die admirers, an early appearance of the "Well yeah, maybe she lied, but she was telling a fundamental truth" line of reasoning; that would have been an interesting line to follow.)

I enjoyed this book. I'm not sorry I spent a pleasant evening reading it. I even learned a few things I didn't know. But overall, this is an unfortunately slight effort, not enough of one thing, not enough of the other. He misses the views on both sides.

ego writings
an enlightening and humorous look at the ego battles amongst celebrated writers. One discovers that the competitive nature of writers rivals that of sports and rock stars.

Am amusing and insightful read that is akin to reading several biographies simultaneously.

More than gossip
This is great entertainment but Arthur also uses these anecdotes to illuminate his insights into the nature of literary reputations.Why do some bestsellers and Nobel prizewinners fade into oblivion within a generation? Why do some writers get to be taught in college? (One useful tip is that if you want academic immortality after you are dead you should not make your books too long).
Like any anthology it omits some favorites. One of my favorites in the Nabokov-Wilson wars was an acrimonious exchange of letters in the British journal "New Statesman''They were arguing about whether or not Pushkin knew English. Nabokov said he did not. Wilson seemed to have won the battle by proving that he did know a few words. Nabokov wrote conceding the point and saying "Let us end by agreeing that Pushkin had about as much English as Mr. Wilson has Russian."
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Product Description
Always controversial, Tom Wolfe's writings inarguably have had enduring cultural impact through the decades, starting with his short stories in the 1960s and the publication of his first "nonfiction novel," The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968). This book offers the fullest treatment of Wolfe's life and literary output available to date, with full analysis of his major works including The Right Stuff (1979), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), and his most recent novel A Man in Full (1999). With insightful historical perspectives to Wolfe's literary and cultural contributions, this book situates all the book-length works both in the context of Wolfe's own life and of the literary forms he either shaped or rebelled against. Wolfe's readers will enjoy the fascinating account of his personal and professional life. A full chapter is devoted to exploring Wolfe's place in contemporary American literature, which places the writer alongside other notable writers who made their start in journalism, including Twain and Hemingway. ... Read more

Product Description
Dogs are a favorite subject of carvers everywhere. Sometimes they are shown as companions of the human subject in a carving and sometimes they stand by themselves. Whatever your carving needs, this treasury of Tom Wolfes dog patterns will be a valued tool. In his long and creative career as a woodcarver, Tom Wolfe has created literally hundreds of dog patterns. 90 of the best of these is offered here for the first time in print. Clear line drawings of a variety of dogs will give carvers all they need to produce wonderful creations. The breeds covered include everything from poodles to coon dogs, and dachshunds to terriers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Surely his worst yet
I loved Bonfire Of The Vanities, it's one of the best books
of the 20th Century. A Man Full was good but not great. This
book of dog carvings was awful. I don't get it... was Tom
Wolfe trying to be ironic?

Should be Called Tom Wolfe's Sketch Book
While the drawings in this book are well done and, many times, amusing, they by no means constitute patterns for the wood carver.The are nothing more than line drawings and as such, could be found in any coloring book of dogs.

True patterns should consist of front side and back, or top views of the subject and Mr. Wolfe doesn't provide this for any of his drawings.What he offers is one view, mainly side view, of the subject, not true patterns at all.

Mr Wolfe does state in his introduction that he shows only one view and that's because he prefers to work from one view, however Mr Wolfe is writing this book for the general public and most of us aren't quite as artistically inclined as Mr. Wolfe, something he should keep in mind.Also, I didn't know that the book contained drawings in the singular view until I'd order it, paid for it, received it, and read Mr. Wolfe's intro.By then it was too late.

I would definitely not recomend this book to anyone who isn't an experienced carver. ... Read more

Product Description
These four-legged friends of man have been a favorite subject for carving since the earliest years. From hunting dogs to the family pet, dogs have a special place in the hearts of people and Tom Wolfe manages to capture their personality in his own creative, witty way. Easy to follow step-by-step instruction, with color illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disapponted
Was looking for something for a beginning woodcarver but this one didn't work for me. Three pages of patterns were just about all side view coloring line drawings and half of them were just mirror images that could have be accomplished on a copier. One top view that didn't seem to be related to the carving. Only one dog was carved, and that was dog with bandange wrapped around its paw. Nice carving but wasn't all that helpful .The photos were not very helpful since lighting caused a lot of shadows on the carving. The other finished carvings shown were so dark and small it was hard to see details. I like Tom Wolfe's style and carvings and his classes might be great, he was selected as carver of the year by Woodcarving Illustrated, and he is a prolific author but I'll have to actually look at other books written by him before I decide to buy one.

Good quality.
This is another of Tom Wolfe's good quality carving books. It's good for beginners and experts alike. Tom always has something useful in his books. ... Read more

Product Description
The Purple Decades brings together the author's own selections from his list of critically acclaimed publications, including the complete text of Mau-Mauing and the Flak Catchers, his account of the wild games the poverty program encouraged minority groups to play.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Great
This is a fantastic sampling of Wolfe's work. Some parts I have re-read countless times. Wolfe is among the best writers we have. (And this book is nonfiction...which is why I'm glad his next book will be nonfiction). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (77)

It's okay
The book was more marked up than I expected, but it was cheap & arrived in a timely fashion, so no complaints.

Family and small towns- You can't escape them!
In this American classic, Thomas Wolfe presents the Gant family, a spirited, feisty, multigenerational family living restless lives but unable to resist the magnetic pull of family and the small town in which they live.The centerpiece of the novel is Eugene Gant, the youngest, most intelligent, and possibly weirdest of the clan.From the time of his first thoughts, Eugene has the urge to flee, escaping the confines of the situation he was borne into in order to find a richer existence; no matter what he does, however, he finds himself back at home, among the people from whom he desperately wants to escape.
Such is the story of every Gant member so brilliantly depicted in the novel.The oldest son fails to live up to any expectations and moves away in shame, only to return at the prospect of an inheritance.The daughters marry and try to create families of their own, only to return to help nurse the sick or with heads bowed down unable to conceive.The brothers strike out into the world in a variety of ways- as businessmen, soldiers, wanderers looking for a good time- only to find themselves back in the arms of their not too welcoming family.Each is a manifestation of their vibrant and restless parents, a drunk father who fights off an illness that has claimed many, and a money hungry mother who puts finances above family, all for the sake of the family.
The characters are unforgettable, and Wolfe's depiction of small town life captures a time in this nation that has long been abandoned.The writing is beautiful, sarcastic, insightful, whimsical, lyrical, and when it comes to capturing the emotions of life- first loves, first heartbreaks, death- powerful.
A must read.

HAUNTING AND POETIC COMING-OF-AGE STORY
After a recent visit to Thomas Wolfe's home in Asheville, I felt like I had to read this book. I was particularly curious as to why everyone in his hometown was in such an uproar upon its publication in 1929. Now I understand.

I checked this book out from the library, but now I simply must own it to add to my shelf of absolute favorites. It's a long book, so I spent a LONG time getting to know Eugene Gant/Thomas Wolfe, and I love the author all the more for letting me in on his autobiography in such a beautiful, poetic way.

Wolfe came from a difficult family situation, with an alcoholic father and a poor mother who worked herself to the bone trying to run her boarding house, known as Dixieland in the novel. You can tour this home in Asheville; the house is actually called the Old Kentucky Home. Throughout the novel, he's searching, trying to find meaning to his many losses: his brothers who died, a lost love, his innocence, his childhood.

In the end, Eugene Gant/Tom Wolfe finally feels free to leave his home forever. He'll be leaving North Carolina for Harvard, and now we all know that he left his life as a small-town boy with big dreams to become one of the most beloved authors of all time. I can't wait to read the sequel, Of Time and the River. I highly recommend Look Homeward, Angel to anyone who is a student of great American literature, and especially to writers of autobiographical fiction.

Good companions to this book are Thomas Wolfe's The Story of a Novel and John Chandler Griffin's Memories of Thomas Wolfe: A Pictorial Companion to Look Homeward, Angel. If you're reading Look Homeward, Angel for the first time, Griffin's volume is a must. You'll be able to see Wolfe's actual family photo album, from which he drew his characters. After staring into the real Ben Wolfe's eyes, it took me several days to fully grasp the haunting story of what happened to him (I won't spoil it for you.) I have definitely become a Thomas Wolfe fan and only wish he hadn't died so young so that we'd have more of his genius works to ponder and enjoy.

Not yet read
I wanted to find a book to read for pleasure (since I am typically found reading college text books).A Bad Religion song references this author/book, and that was why I chose it.However, I have not yet found time to sit down and start it, but it looks great and the subject matter sounds very interesting.I think anything that Bad Religion references would be an educational and interesting pick.

Masterpiece of the Highest Order
Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel is many things, all of them great; profoundly emotional yet deeply philosophical, it is one of the all-time best bildungsromans, an unforgettable evocation of the mountain American South in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, and a masterpiece of poetic prose. It is an immortal American classic absolutely essential for anyone even remotely interested in American literature.

The first thing we notice is the sparkling prose, which is some of the most poetic ever. Wolfe's writing is not simply beautiful but truly sublime; his sentences are lovely, his descriptions lush, and his tropes stunningly memorable. After two major successes, he fell out of favor in an era that valued concision and ambiguity, and time has only made him less conventionally palatable. The book is over five hundred pages, its sentences long, and its vocabulary dense; few readers would now not be scared by such a work. However, Wolfe shines at least as brightly as ever for those truly alive to language's beauty; his prose is near-unparalleled for inventiveness and sheer exquisiteness, making him one of America's great stylists.

More fundamentally, the main thing making Look still so undeniably great is its masterful bildungsroman aspect. The novel is above all Eugene Gant's coming-of-age story. There are of course many such stories, but this is one of the very best. We follow Eugene literally from birth until he truly comes into his own in young adulthood and are deeply interested in his journey. The story is firmly rooted in Wolfe's life and thus has many particular trappings, but youth's essential experiences are universal, letting the book speak powerfully to many. We truly feel with and for Eugene because we see ourselves in him; he reminds us of our own youth - what could have been as much as what was. Wolfe tells his story with truly engaging emotion, quickly drawing us in and never letting go; we feel Eugene's ups and downs almost as if they are ours - which of course they are to a large degree. Though admirable in many ways, Eugene has clear faults that only make him seem more human and thus easily identifiable. Few bildungsromans are so transcendentally relatable or thoroughly stirring.

However, calling Look a bildungsroman sells it rather short; it is a grand, sweeping epic of many facets. There are numerous other characters, a variety of situations, and several settings. The book is in a larger sense a story of the Gant family, following all members at various times and to various degrees. They are their own family, and we can admire or criticize as we please, but they are also in the truest sense archetypal. The interactions - strife at least as much as joy - that they represent are familiar to nearly everyone. We become as intrigued in their story as in Eugene's, feeling and growing along with them.

Characterization is another Wolfe strength. All the Gants have strong individuality and are drawn strongly and evocatively, as are other characters. Wolfe interestingly combines Dickensian eccentricities with American realism's best aspects, creating a genuinely engaging and unforgettable cast.

Look is also notable for bringing the Mountain South alive. Local color writing has a long and grand American tradition, and this is one of the best entries. Its Altamont is closely based on Wolfe's Asheville, North Carolina hometown, and he describes with the precision and subtlety only experience can give. Few writers have a greater sense of place. He makes us see landscapes nearly as if we are there and understand what it was like to live in such a place in regard to everything from speech to economics. On top of everything else, Look is thus of substantial historical value to anyone wondering how such people lived in such places in this era.

The great William Faulkner called Wolfe the best writer of their time, and it is easy to see why. His writing is universal in the best sense, but he mastered the truly American grain that began with Twain and ran through the likes of Faulkner and Steinbeck. Dialect and place are of course a big part, and Wolfe has them down brilliantly, but it also runs deeper. Faulkner said art is worth nothing unless shot through with eternal feelings and thoughts, and Wolfe handles them with unusual deftness. He makes us feel as few writers can but also makes us think. Look is a deeply philosophical work focusing on themes like life's meaning, individuality vs. wider responsibility, the loss of youth's illusions, aestheticism vs. practicality, etc. It also touches on issues like class and race that are integral to American art and culture - and indeed to the world's. Novels encompassing all these threads are very rare, and only a few dozen have tied them together so well, much less so movingly.

One problem with reading Look today is its unflinching racism depiction. Blacks are consistently treated poorly in it, the victims of prejudice and innumerable slurs from all white characters. More disturbingly, the narrative portrayal itself is grossly unflattering and lacks nuance, being also full of racial epithets and other highly derogatory comments. Jews are also shown unflatteringly but far more subtly.This is particularly worrisome in that Look is known to be highly autobiographical and that - unlike with, say, Twain - it is not satirical. It is impossible to deny that Wolfe grew up with many racial prejudices, at least some of which seem to have lingered when writing Look. His views later liberalized, as reflected in subsequent works, but Look remains clouded. Some will not be able to get past this, which is understandable. However, it is important to keep in mind that his prime purpose was realism; characters talk as people of the era really did, and the narrator writes as someone from Wolfe's background portraying such events almost inevitably would. The real problem is not Wolfe or the book but the era; he presents things as they were, for better or worse. This also adds to the historical value, though that of course does not atone. In fairness, we must remember that, however autobiographical, this is a novel and should not be used to determine personal views. I believe this should be a foundational critical principle, and it applies here as well as elsewhere. As for Look, all must judge by their own hearts and consciences. It is certainly a product of its time, which is no excuse but does explain the prevalence of views now rightly considered unacceptable.

Excepting this admittedly large caveat, Look is superb in all respects, an American literary monument that will not be soon forgotten.
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Product Description
The author writes about such diverse subjects as aerial combat over Vietnam and the upper echelons of society. Wolfe's drawings have appeared in one-man shows in New York galleries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

But lets talk about me
Worth buying for the cartoon "Utility Workers on Third Avenue" alone - didn't know Wolfe was such a talented sketch artist.

Wolfe might well be the world's greatest living writer. Evidence? He is the author of three unmatched masterpieces on post-war America: The Right Stuff, Radical Chic and Bonfire of the Vanities. The quality of most of his other writings is also extremely high. Take his overlong, turgid, absolute worst book - Man in Full - and its still better than most. In 20th century American writing there is Fitzgerald and Wolfe, and then the rest.

This is a collection of writings from and about the 1970s - as Wolfe coined it, the Me decade. What is satisfying about reading Wolfe's earlier magazine work here is seeing how some particular ideas of his - on masculinity, on the all-consuming importance of fashion - that later blossomed in his longer works were first proposed, developed and tweaked along the road. What you realise is that Wolfe is a writer that worked on his craft relentlessly, spinning ideas and motifs that would eventually resurface again and again. At heart Wolfe is not really a 'writer' at all, but a philosopher of sorts. Where are we? How did we get here? and Why did we get here? are all the questions he asks - and can answer. Mauve Gloves focuses on the 1970s - why were grown men and women lying face down on a thick carpet in a hotel conference room moaning about their hemorroids? Wolfe thinks he has the answers. He is also scary when he predicts the future here - who was calling in the early 1970s the rise of fundamental Christianity in American politics (and attributing it to LSD)? For Wolfe LSD gave rise to a new righteousness in American youth, fundamentalism (or even neo-conservatism) simply being the middle-aged righteousness without the substance abuse. There is just no one else out there who could think like this. Tom Wolfe - American genius.

It's All About Me
Mauve Gloves and Madmen, Clutter and Vine is a collection of essays published in the mid-70s that embody the New Journalism movement which Tom Wolfe helped to found.In New Journalism, the author intermingles literary technique with traditional journalism in order to bring the reader into the piece and make them feel as though they were experiencing it first-hand as opposed to simply reading someone else's account.As one might expect, Tom Wolfe is a more than the titular leader of this movement, he's one of its grand masters.

The book begins with the tale of a well-known but unnamed writer who is ritualistically going over last month's bank statement, canceled checks, and unpaid bills.While the expenses mount and are suggestive of living above one's means, the writer isn't unnerved as most readers would be.In fact, he is nearly ecstatic.Money spent on flowers (from the florists Clutter & Vine) and caterers (Mauve Gloves and Madmen) for a cocktail party is evidence that he's "made it."He doesn't have to be like his immigrant father who worked as a tailor for years.He needn't do manual labor at all.He's educated and successful and free to write books and articles about the repressive nature of America vis-a-vis the underclass.Needless to say, the irony is completely lost on our renowned author.

Other sketches follow and, while not always directly related thematically, they nonetheless paint a picture of the times.Famously, it is in one of the articles contained in this collection that Mr. Wolfe coined the phrase "The Me Decade" to describe the 1970s.As with any form of journalism, the choice of topics, the way they are presented, etc. reflect the perspective of the journalist and his editors.With Tom Wolfe, his perspective is clear and entertainingly presented.Wolfe's virtuosity with literary mise-en-scene is what differentiates him from his contemporaries.Whether you actually remember the 70's or not, you'll feel as though you do after reading this work.

An Often-Overlooked Collection Of Classic Wolfe Essays
When an author's canon includes such masterpieces as "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "The Right Stuff," it is easy to overlook his lesser-known, albeit no less brilliant, earlier work."Mauve Gloves and Madmen, Clutter and Vine" includes a handful of Wolfe's classic essays from the mid-1970s, including the title piece (which close Wolfe readers will notice he reprised in a "Bonfire" passage),"The Me Decade," and the hilarious "Street Fighters."Any Wolfe fan looking for something to nibble on while they await the long-overdue "A Man In Full" will thoroughly enjoy this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Man In Full
I read the book and led two discussion groups.I found the book to be excellent with a fine analysis of the poverty problem and prison.

I was a little disappointed in the physical quality of the volume received, since I believed it would be like new, but it was well used.I wanted it as a replacement for my copy that had been marked by me, then borrowed and never returned.

First edition provider
The provider would not return the book as I wanted original printing and this was the 3rd printing.

I sent the book back and it was returned due to the provider not being there.

They would not accept a return.

Very disappointed---This is a zero rating ... Read more

Product Description
Very few carvers can carve animals and people with the same skill. Fewer still can convincingly carve realistic figures and caricatures. Tom Wolfe is one of them. Following his book on carving realistic horses, he now he brings the same talent to bear on caricature horses. As always, Tom takes the reader step-by-step through the carving process, with each step illustrated with a clear color photograph. From the blank to the finished painted figure, everything a carver must do is clearly explained. In addition to the standing horse project carved in the book, there are patterns for other projects, a seated horse, a rocking horse, and an Indian on horseback with a dog. A great book for carvers at all levels of expertise. ... Read more

Product Description
The magazine that is the city that is the world

Just in time for its fortieth anniversary, New York magazine presents a stunning collection of some of its best and most influential articles, stories that captured the spectacle, the turbulence, and the cultural realignments of the past four decades.

Covering subjects from “Radical Chic” to Gawker.com, written by some of the country’s most renowned authors, here are works that broke news, perfectly captured the moment, or set trends in motion. In New York Stories, Gloria Steinem (whose Ms. Magazine was introduced in New York) broaches the subject of women’s liberation; Tom Wolfe coins “The Me Decade”; and Steve Fishman piercingly portrays the unwanted martyrdom of the 9/11 widows. Cutting edge features that invented terms like “brat pack” and “grup”; profiles of defining cultural figures including Joe Namath, Truman Capote, and long-shot presidential candidate Bill Clinton; and reports that inspired the acclaimed movies Saturday Night Fever, GoodFellas, and Grey Gardens–all are included in this one-of-a-kind compilation.

The writers who chronicled the times that began with Nixon’s campaign and end with Obama’s are at their best in New York Stories. It’s an irresistible anthology from a magazine that, like the city itself, is still making stars, setting standards, and going strong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Cultural History & Fun Read
You know that old chestnut..."I just couldn't put it down"? Well it applies to my experience with this amazing chronicle of the cool, the bizarre, and the fascinating. And all three apply to the first story by Tom Wolfe who takes us into a party hosted by Leonard Bernstein for the Black Panthers. This, like many of the stories, go back a few decades in the magazine's history and time and space have improved the tales. Pete Hamill provides a gritty account of class struggle and the now famous, The Secret of Grey Gardens, tells the story of Bouvier relations and their living conditions in the Hamptons which became the basis for a documentary and Broadway musical.

Comedy Isn't Funny is a snapshot of Saturday Night Live in one of its lowest periods and the result is a sad and hollow picture. I remember reading Hard To Be Rich when it came out in 1988 and credit it with prompting me to read every book on 1980's largesse and greed that has appeared since. The Crack In The Shield haunts you and offers more questions than answers on the subject of corruption. Henry Hill is profiled in Wiseguy which became Goodfellas and the creepy duo of Sid and Nancy do provide a nauseating love story.

There are many more and all are entertaining showcasing that very unique New York style of essay writing. I recommend it for enjoyment and for gaining a clearer picture on recent cultural history.

Must Read for any Literary Lover
This was a required book for one of my journalism classes.I highly recommend it for journalists and anyone interested in reading works from some of the best writers of the past four decades.
To read more about what I think of the book, visit my blog! [...]

a can't put it down kind of book
If you needed any proof, here are several dozen reasons why some of the best writing and journalism of the past four or more decades were to be found in the pages of NEW YORK magazine.Tom Wolfe's memory-filled foreword and ode to founding editor Clay Felker is worth the price of admission alone.But you don't need to live (or have lived) in New York to appreciate takes from Kurt Andersen on George W. Bush (and George H.W. Bush), Julie Baumgold on (the real) Truman Capote, Susan Berman on Bess Myerson (and Ed Koch), Jimmy Breslin on Joe Namath (and running for office with Norman Mailer), Michael Daly on "a good man who became a bad cop," Nora Ephron on cooking Julia Child, Steve Fishman on the post-9/11 "Dead Wives Club," Vanessa Grigoriadis on Gawker, Gael Greene on how to eat at snob restaurants, David Halberstam on Spiro Agnew, Pete Hamill on the white lower middle class circa 1969, Anthony Haden-Guest on Dr. Herman Tarnower (and Jean Harris), John Heilemann on John McCain (and Bob Dole and Hillary Clinton), Gary Indiana on life in the East Village, Mark Jacobson on "the king of prostitution," Joe Klein on race (and Bill Clinton), Ariel Levy on female chauvinist pigs, Nicholas Pileggi on the mob, George Plimpton on "the writer from Philadelphia" Jerry Spinelli and a visit to Elaine's, Richard Reeves on Jerry Ford, Nancy Jo Sales on pen-paling with Woody Allen, Jennifer Senior on Senator Barack Obama, John Simon on booing for a living, Chris Smith on a "comedy isn't funny period" of Saturday Night Live, Stephen Sondheim on crossword puzzles, Gloria Steinem on black power, women's liberation (and Richard Nixon, alone in a room), John Taylor on John and Susan Gutfreunds during the "gilded age" of Wall Street, when it was "hard to be rich," and Gary Wills on George Wallace (but really on Jimmy Carter).There isn't a bad story among this collection. ... Read more