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Tom Wolfe

    March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018

    Tom Wolfe, a founder of the New Journalism movement, delved into the inner workings of the mind, exploring the unconscious decisions that shape human lives. His signature style, marked by free association and onomatopoeia, became a hallmark of the genre. Wolfe's attention to the eccentricities of human behavior and language, and to questions of social status, is considered unparalleled in the American literary canon. He is also recognized for popularizing the term "fiction-absolute".

    Tom Wolfe
    The Sixties
    New Journalism
    Themes and Movements: Pop
    Modern Library Paperbacks: The Right Stuff
    Remembering Jack
    Reporting
    • The Kingdom of Speech

      • 160 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      'A great journalist with a whip-like satirical prose style... Wolfe's great gift is to make the heavy seem light and this book is such an entertaining polemic that I read it in a day and immediately wanted to read it again.' - Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times Tom Wolfe, whose legend began in journalism, takes us on an eye-opening journey that is sure to arouse widespread debate. The Kingdom of Speech is a captivating, paradigm-shifting argument that speech - not evolution - is responsible for humanity's complex societies and achievements. From Alfred Russel Wallace, the Englishman who beat Darwin to the theory of natural selection but later renounced it, and through the controversial work of modern-day anthropologist Daniel Everett, who defies the current wisdom that language is hard-wired in humans, Wolfe examines the solemn, long-faced, laugh-out-loud zig-zags of Darwinism, old and Neo, and finds it irrelevant here in our Kingdom of Speech.

      The Kingdom of Speech2016
      3.7
    • As a police launch speeds across Miami’s Biscayne Bay – with officer Nestor Camacho on board – Tom Wolfe is off and running.

      Back to Blood, English edition2012
      3.3
    • Liar's Poker

      • 256 pages
      • 9 hours of reading

      Michael Lewis retired from being a bond salesman at the age of 28, having risen from being a mere trainee. He looks back at his career, at the Golden Age of banking, at the company he worked for and the memorable figures within it, and at the spectacle of the financial boom which marks the 80s.

      Liar's Poker2011
      4.1
    • Embuscade à Fort Bragg

      • 143 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      À Fort Bragg, en Caroline du Nord, grande base d'entraînement militaire, un jeune soldat homosexuel a été battu à mort dans les toilettes d'un bar topless et les trois rangers coupables de l'agression sont restés impunis. Jusqu'à ce qu'entre en jeu l'obstiné Irv Durtscher, producteur d'une émission de télévision à succès. Son embuscade va mobiliser caméras cachées, micros espions et strip-teaseuse thaïlandaise sur les lieux du crime... Dans ce court roman à la fois truculent et ciselé au vitriol, c'est tout l'univers de notre " société du spectacle " qui se trouve férocement démonté et mis en pièces par Tom Wolfe.

      Embuscade à Fort Bragg2010
    • Moi, Charlotte Simmons

      Roman

      • 1009 pages
      • 36 hours of reading

      Lorsque Charlotte, sage jeune fille d'origine modeste, débarque de sa Caroline du Nord natale à Dupont University, l'Olympe de la connaissance, elle est certes brillante et déjà très jolie mais aussi un peu gourde... Le tourbillon de sa 1ère année (alcool, débauche, sexe...) va la révéler à elle-même, mais pas comme elle s'y serait attendue.

      Moi, Charlotte Simmons2007
    • Themes and Movements: Pop

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Exploring the evolution of Pop culture from the late 1950s to the late 1960s, this comprehensive survey examines its impact on art, film, photography, and architecture, highlighting the interplay between mass production and mass media. Unlike other works that focus solely on Pop art, it offers a holistic view of the movement's influence across America, Britain, and Europe, showcasing its diverse manifestations and cultural significance during this transformative era.

      Themes and Movements: Pop2005
      4.0
    • Dupont University - the Olympian halls of learning housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition- Or so it appears to beautiful, brilliant Charlotte Simmons, a sheltered freshman from Sparta, N

      I Am Charlotte Simmons2004
      3.5
    • Remembering Jack

      Intimate and Unseen Photographs of the Kennedys

      • 432 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      A stirring collection of never-before-seen photographs of the Kennedy family presented in this seminal work by JFK's personal photographer, Jacques Lowe.

      Remembering Jack2003
      4.4
    • ... und wie er die Welt sah

      • 350 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      Schlitzohrige Porträts, Mediensatiren, geschliffen scharfe Polemiken - Tom Wolfe, Dandy, Romancier und meisterhafter Stilist, zieht hier alle Register seines Könnens. Brillant recherchierte Reportagen und detailgenaue Analysen zu Paarungsverhalten, Quotenwahn, Eitelkeit im Literaturbetrieb u. a. „Die spitzeste Feder, die Amerika zu bieten hat.“ Die Weltwoche „Ein Feuerwerk von Polemik, Satire und Heldengesängen aus den Vereinigten Staaten von heute. meisterhaft.“ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung „Kaum ein anderer hat ein so feines Gespür für soziale Abstufungen, Statussymbole, gesellschaftliche Trends und die Lächerlichkeit der Selbstdarsteller.“ Frankfurter Rundschau

      ... und wie er die Welt sah2003
      3.0
    • The Candlelit Home

      • 160 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      Celebrating the candle as a home decorating item, the authors present more than a hundred well-illustrated ideas and settings designed to help readers choose and place candles for maximum effect.

      The Candlelit Home2001
      4.0
    • Dandys

      Texte von Alexander Puschkin, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Tom Wolfe, Evelyn Waugh und vielen anderen

      • 441 pages
      • 16 hours of reading
      Dandys2001
      4.0
    • Tom Wolfe, the internationally acclaimed author of The Bonfire of the Vanities, returns to the origins of his success with his first collection of essays and short fictin for twenty years.

      Hooking up2000
      3.3
    • Malaparte

      A House Like Me

      • 200 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      Malaparte: A House Like Me offers a captivating exploration of Curzio Malaparte and his iconic Casa Malaparte in Capri, Italy, often hailed as the most beautiful house in the world. Perched on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean, this architectural marvel reflects the complexities of its creator, a multifaceted figure who was a writer, filmmaker, soldier, and political figure. Malaparte's life was marked by paradox; he associated with Mussolini and Stalin, criticized Hitler, and admired Mao. His experiences as a journalist and war correspondent spanned cities like London, Paris, and Berlin, adding layers to his enigmatic persona. He famously referred to his home as "Casa come me," or "house like me," prompting speculation about its deeper meanings. The book features contributions from notable personalities, including architects, artists, and designers, who provide unique insights into Malaparte and his provocative residence. It includes a stunning collection of photographs by renowned Italian photographer Mimmo Jodice, along with archival materials, poetry, original art, letters, and commentaries. Edited by architect Michael McDonough, this work celebrates Casa Malaparte's contradictions, portraying it as a living literary masterpiece, an autobiography, and a mysterious tabula rasa—a house steeped in myth.

      Malaparte1999
    • In Our Time

      • 144 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      Wolfe focuses on the changing mores and social landscape of the 1980s, with drawings from two decades as a graphic artist. Reprint.

      In Our Time1999
      3.5
    • Ten years ago, The Bonfire of the Vanities defined an era - and established Tom Wolfe as the prime fictional chronicler of America at its most outrageous and alive. Now the master is back with a coast-to-coast portrait of America on the cusp of the millennium. Bold, caustic and hilarious, The Stoics' Game spares no one as Wolfe dissects the insatiable greed, vanity and hunger for bearings that characterise today's USA. The setting is Atlanta, Georgia - a racially mixed, late-century boom-town full of fresh wealth, avid speculators and worldly-wise politicians. The protagonist is Charles Croker, once a fabled college football star, now a late-middle-aged Atlanta real estate entrepreneur-turned-conglomerate king whose expansionist ambitions and outsize ego have at last hit up against reality. Charlie has a 28, 0000-acre quail-shooting plantation, a young and demanding second wife - and a half-empty tower downtown with a staggering load of debt.

      A Man in Full1998
      3.9
    • Hitler's diplomat

      Joachim von Ribbentrop

      • 352 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      This biographer of Adolf Hitler's notorious foreign minister is also an account of the social and political workings of Nazi Germany. The book combines narrative history with intimate familiarity with the people, events and social currents that animated Hitler's regime.

      Hitler's diplomat1997
      3.4
    • The Sixties

      The Art, Politics, and Media of Our Most Explosive Decade

      • 527 pages
      • 19 hours of reading

      Gathers essays written during the sixties by such people as Norman Mailer, Marshall McLuhan, Tom Wolfe, Eldridge Cleaver, and others about the changes in art, politics, and the media during that decade

      The Sixties1995
      4.0
    • The purple decades

      • 416 pages
      • 15 hours of reading

      In the 1960s and the 1970s Tom Wolfe rose to fame as a chronicler of the gaudiest period in American history. It began at a hot-rod custom-car show where he marvelled at the little nest of pink angora angel's-hair used for the purpose of glamorous display. It grew - with his fascination for the Las Vegas-style neon-sculpture boom and its electro-pastel surge through the suburbs - into the kandy-kolored tangerine - flake streamline baby and the new journalism was born.

      The purple decades1993
      3.9
    • Buttons

      • 174 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      Looks at the authors' collections of buttons, describing their history and value as art.

      Buttons1991
    • "When are the 1970's going to begin?" ran the joke during the l976 presidential bid. In these stories and essays Wolfe meets the question head-on -- even providing the label "The Me Decade".

      Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine1990
      3.6
    • Die neue Welt des Robert Noyce

      • 141 pages
      • 5 hours of reading

      Ein modernes Märchen von Tom Wolfe.Der Name Silicon Valley steht für Taschenrechner, Videospiele, Heimcomputer, Lasertechnik, Mikroprozessoren und viele andere elektronische Neuheiten. In diesem Tal nördlich von San Francisco sind Menschen mit sensationellen Ideen weltberühmt geworden. Auch Robert Noyce gehörte zu ihnen. In der amerikanischen Provinz als Kind eines Pfarrers geboren, studierte er Physik. Er kam als Angestellter in das Silicon Valley, gründete dort sehr bald seine eigene Firma und war mit 31 Jahren Millionär.Tom Wolfe erzählt auf unnachahmliche Weise die unglaubliche Geschichte über den innovationsbesessenen Erfinder, der die Welt veränderte.

      Die neue Welt des Robert Noyce1990
      3.0
    • MILDRED PIERCE is the story of a determined and ambitious woman who, after her feckless husband abandons her, builds a successful business through hard work and sacrifice in order to ensure the future of her pampered and selfish daughter. But she isn't prepared for the intrigues and devastating betrayals of those closest to her.

      Mildred Pierce1989
      4.0
    • ¿Quién teme al Bauhaus feroz?

      El arquitecto como mandarín - 3ª edición

      • 144 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      En la actualidad, se observa la arquitectura de los últimos cincuenta años con una nueva perspectiva. Tom Wolfe, maestro del «nuevo periodismo» y autor de La hoguera de las vanidades, ofrece una revisión irreverente del tema, comenzando desde el fin de la Primera Guerra Mundial y la aspiración del Bauhaus, liderado por Walter Gropius con su lema de «empezar de cero». Esta idea de reinvención se complementa con la necesidad de rechazar la arquitectura «burguesa», buscando erradicar lo antiguo y decadente para construir un mundo abstracto que celebre la unión del Arte y la Tecnología. Tras ser expulsados de Alemania por el nazismo, estos arquitectos encuentran refugio en Estados Unidos, donde la clase dirigente les entrega el poder de redefinir el paisaje arquitectónico. En este contexto, surge la paradoja de que una élite rica y poderosa financie una arquitectura fría, impersonal y abstracta, que prohíbe el lujo y el optimismo, como si fueran sinónimos de mal gusto. Wolfe se pregunta: «¿Existe otro lugar donde tanta gente rica y poderosa haya soportado tanta arquitectura que detesta?». Este análisis arquitectónico es comparable a su brillante exploración de la pintura moderna en La palabra pintada, mostrando cómo las modas intelectuales y sociales han moldeado la estética contemporánea, llevando a los creadores a renunciar a la individualidad en favor de la conformidad.

      ¿Quién teme al Bauhaus feroz?1988
    • The Bonfire of the Vanities

      • 659 pages
      • 24 hours of reading

      A thriller in which a New York City broker clashes with the Bronx.

      The Bonfire of the Vanities1987
      4.1
    • From Bauhaus to our house

      • 160 pages
      • 6 hours of reading

      A review of architectural trends in the twentieth century that attacks the modernist mainstream.

      From Bauhaus to our house1984
      3.3
    • Photographs

      • 200 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      Annie Leibovitz's first book. All celebrity portraits: The Stones, Townsend, Michael Douglas, Patti Smith, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, etc. 142 pages; color and b&w photographic plates through out; 9.25 x 12.25 inches.

      Photographs1983
      3.6
    • Tom Wolfe is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and The Bonfire of the Vanities. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his B.A. at Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in American studies at Yale. He lives in New York City.

      The kandy-kolored tangerine-flake streamline baby1983
      3.8
    • Modern Library Paperbacks: The Right Stuff

      • 352 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      Tom Wolfe began his exploration of American heroism during a time when such ideals were considered unfashionable, with the nation grappling with the fallout from Vietnam and the Iranian hostage crisis. His subjects' anachronistic courage captivated him, especially as he noted that in 1970, nearly one in four Navy pilots died in accidents. Wolfe's narrative reveals why these men were not just willing, but delighted to face such peril, contrasting sharply with the era's anti-hero sentiment. Drawing from his roots in New Journalism, Wolfe employs a limited omniscient perspective, immersing readers in the lives of key figures in the space program. The story begins with the fears of a test pilot's wife before delving into the late 1940s, when Americans first sought to break the sound barrier. Test pilots, including Chuck Yeager, embody a fast-paced, dangerous lifestyle, with Yeager's determination to conquer Mach 1 serving as a central theme. The focus soon shifts to the seven initial astronauts, highlighting Alan Shepard's suborbital flight and Gus Grissom's struggles at sea, along with an admiring portrayal of John Glenn's heroism. By the conclusion, Wolfe's narrative achieves epic proportions, solidifying its status as a vivid and humorous account of America's manned space program.

      Modern Library Paperbacks: The Right Stuff1979
      4.3
    • Reporting

      The Rolling Stone Style

      • 437 pages
      • 16 hours of reading
      Reporting1977
      4.8
    • The Pump House Gang

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Looking for new forms of status and power, the author travels from La Jolla to London in search of the 1960s subculture's wildest heroes. Reprint.

      The Pump House Gang1977
      3.6
    • New Journalism

      • 432 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      With an anthology edited by Tom Wolfe and E. W. Johnson

      New Journalism1975
      4.2
    • The author derails the great American myth of modern art in a scathing, witty, uncompromising critique of American art from the 1950s through the 1970s. Reprint.

      The painted word1975
      3.9
    • The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

      • 372 pages
      • 14 hours of reading

      Tom Wolfe's much-discussed kaleidoscopic non-fiction novel chronicles the tale of novelist Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters. In the 1960s, Kesey led a group of psychedelic sympathizers around the country in a painted bus, presiding over LSD-induced "acid tests" all along the way.

      The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test1969
      3.8