Tom Wolfe

I have come to the party late, but I have finally arrived.



One of the first books I ever read was "The Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak Catchers" by Tom Wolfe during the summer of 1969. I thought it was two of the funniest stories that could ever be told. Mr. Wolfe had his finger exactly on the pulse the the late 60's.



Somehow after that I never thought about him again. Until this summer. You may think of Mr. Wolfe only as the guy in the funny white suit. Perhaps seen him on the Simpsons, or caught him on Charlie Rose over the years. He has since become one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century.



Over the summer I have caught up on the Wolfe canon. For newcomers, start with "Hooking Up". It is a fairly recent collection of short stories and reprints of older magazine articles. After that work backwads through his book list. Each will give you a thorough grounding of the era it was written in.



I've begun collecting signed first editions. I hope he lives forever!



Toad

Photo courtesy of Todd Selby of theselby.com