Tom Wolfe

Author Tom Wolfe Dead at 88

He wrote 'Bonfire of the Vanities,' 'The Right Stuff,' was pioneer of New Journalism

(Newser) - Tom Wolfe, author of works including The Right Stuff, the Bonfire of the Vanities, and A Man in Full has died in Manhattan at age 88, reports the New York Times . The cause of death was unclear, but Wolfe had been recently hospitalized for an infection. In addition to his... More »

Patti Smith Snags National Book Award

Memoir about relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe wins nonfiction prize

(Newser) - Patti Smith was the darling of last night's National Book Award ceremony, where she won the nonfiction prize for her memoir about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, Just Kids. "I dreamed of having a book of my own, of writing one that I could put on a shelf,"... More »

50 Famous Authors Other Famous Authors Hate

Jane Austen gets clobbered by Mark Twain, Charlotte Bronte

(Newser) - Just because you're in the club, doesn't mean you like all of its members. To wit, Examiner.com lists 50 famous authors that other famous authors really don't like...in their own, well-penned words:

Mark Twain on Jane Austen: "Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I want to

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'Giant Leap' Was a 'Knee in NASA's Groin'

Ever since 1969, hope for a 'bridge to the stars' has faded

(Newser) - The US took a “giant leap” landing on the moon in 1969, but NASA's greatest moment of triumph was also "a real knee in the groin" for the space agency, writes Tom Wolfe in the New York Times. At the time, we thought we’d build “a... More »

Scammer: I Forged Author Signatures

'Autographed' first editions brought big bucks in eBay fraud

(Newser) - A man who made more than $300,000 by selling "autographed" first editions of books that actually contained forged signatures pleaded guilty to fraud in a Philadelphia court today. Forrest Smith's offerings on eBay included books by Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Anne Rice, Tom Wolfe, and Tom Clancy,... More »

Wall Street Loses Sex Appeal as Big Guns Struggle

Talented people risk little by trying out academia, government

(Newser) - The gravitational pull of Wall Street on the nation's best and brightest students has weakened dramatically, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times, as ridiculous pay packages and the thrill of risk-taking give way to layoffs and anxiety. "The whole cult and ethos of Wall Street, which... More »

This Year's Bad-Sex Winners

Paulo Coehlo, John Updike make shortlist for Bad Sex in Fiction award

(Newser) - Ten authors have joined the distinguished ranks of such literary luminaries as Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe—as nominees for the annual Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award. The dubious honor singles out “otherwise sound literary” fiction that includes “unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a... More »

Wolfe: Stars Went to Hedge Funds Long Ago

Tom Wolfe watches as the Masters of the Universe flee New York for Greenwich hedges

(Newser) - Tom Wolfe has been fielding a lot of questions about where the Wall Street crisis leaves the Masters of the Universe now, writes the author of the seminal book about the excesses of 1980s traders in the New York Times. But, he notes, the real investment banking superstars left for... More »

Wolfe on Felker: New York Was His Invention

And if that's not enough, so was the modern search engine

(Newser) - Tom Wolfe writes with great fondness—and more than a little self-indulgence—about the giddy heyday of the New Journalism, when he and Clay Felker, the legendary magazine editor who died last week, collaborated on the invention of New York magazine. With a gimlet eye for status and boundless social... More »

50 Favorite Cult Books

From Hunter to Ayn, the Telegraph lists books you can 'wear like a leather jacket'

(Newser) - It’s hard to define the "cult" book, but the Telegraph compiled 50 of the top contenders that “rewire your head.”

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (1968)
Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock (1946)
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1922)
The Fountainhead by