Talk:Tom Wolfe

Comments

"He is known for wearing his trademark white suit in public." Ha. This sentence seems to be based on something like, "I can't believe he wears that out in public." If it were objective, then public (as well as trademark) would be redundant.

This criticism is mistaken. Wolfe might have stated in a public interview that he wears a white suit while in his home, but not outside of his home. This possibility is consistent with the statement "He is known for wearing his trademark white suit", though it is not consistent with the criticized statement. The criticized statement is thus more informative while still being correct.

A Man In Full

The article claims this novel wasn't as well-received as his previous works. I don't think that's the case; as I understand it, the novel was well-received by many critics, as well as being a bestseller. It was only after the book's positive reception that some literary figures (namely those characterized by Wolfe as his three stooges) disparaged the book and its author. I've revised the article to reflect this, but if I'm mistaken, let me know. Neilc 03:33, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Is five million really the most an author has ever recieved for a movie deal? What about JK Rowling and Harry Potter?

Whoever is editing this page, let me suggest one change of some importance. Innovators or new journalism or creative nonfiction use the term "nonfiction" with no hypen. The New York Times in the Bestseller list uses the nonhyphenated form as do most bookstores. Whoever edits the final version, I suggest the more recent and widely accepted: nonfiction. Small point, but of some importance.

I believe the movie rights for HP were sold by Rowling relatively cheaply; the article on the first movie says "An agent of Warner Brothers bought the movie rights to the film at a relatively low price soon before the book's incredible success.", although I'm not sure if that refers to just the first film or subsequent films as well. Anyway, if someone has evidence that subsequent movie rights have been sold for more, the text can be adjusted to say $5 million was a lot "at the time". Neilc 07:36, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

The words "At the time" are already included in the article.Bengaska 04:07, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

relation to thomas wolfe

does anyone know if tom wolfe is in any way related to thomas wolfe (author of look homeward angel, etc.)? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.185.213.33 (talk • contribs) .

They're not related. (Please remember to sign comments on talk pages with four tildes, like this: ~~~~.) dbtfz^talk 02:40, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Charlotte Simmons Dubious Claims

I put a 'citation needed tag' on the comment that I Am Charlotte Simmons was praised by 'many college students' for 'accuracy and focus,' but honestly the statement itself, and the ones following it, are vague and weasely and probably can't be corrected in their current form.

I deleted 'ivy league' from the setting of the novel and replaced it with 'prestigious': the fictional university has scholarship athletes, much like Duke and Stanford (prestigious, but not Ivy), which do not exist in Ivy League schools.

Story about being reported dead

I hosted an evening with Tom Wolfe in Toronto on April 24th. He had never heard of the story about his being reported dead in 2003. Perhaps it should be deleted.

It's now sourced and brought up to date. The anecdote (and his reaction to it as published today in WSJ) is revealing about Wolfe and ought to stay IMHO Oldpilot 18:31, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

It's not sourced (the citation is for Wolfe's reaction in today's WSJ, and not for the original story). So we have an unsourced story, and a sourced denial of it. We should delete it. Guanxi 19:08, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

I removed it. Guanxi 19:18, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

I removed this again from the article. It's interesting but, per WP:ASR, I don't feel it's significant to his broader biography. For the interest of Wikipedians, the removed statement is below:

• Wolfe is quoted in The Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2007, as having written:

"Blogs are an advance guard to the rear. For example, only a primitive would believe a word of Wikipedia (which, though not strictly a blog, shares the characteristics of the genre). The entry under my name says that in 2003 "major news media" broadcast reports of my death and that I telephoned Larry King and said, 'I ain't dead yet, give me a little more time and no doubt it will become true.'

"Oddly, this news supposedly broadcast never reached my ears in any form whatsoever prior to the Wikipedia entry, and I wouldn't have a clue as to how to telephone Larry King. I wouldn't have called him, in any case. I would have called my internist. I don't so much mind Wikipedia's recording of news that nobody ever disseminated in the first place as I do the lame comment attributed to me. I wouldn't say 'I ain't' even if I were singing a country music song. In fact, I have posted a $5,000 reward for anyone who can write a song containing the verb forms 'am not,' 'doesn't,' or 'isn't' that makes the Billboard Top Twenty."

My goal will be to make this article sparkle until Tom cuts us some slack -- hey, Tom, we're only 6-years-old! --JayHenry 03:51, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Cultural references

• Wolfe is depicted in the Simpsons episode Insane Clown Poppy, though the real-life author does not actually make a guest appearance, as he has no speaking lines. In the brief clip, Wolfe's trademark white suit is splattered with chocolate; immediately he rips it off as if it were tissue paper, revealing another pristine white suit underneath.

• Wolfe guest starred alongside Jonathan Franzen, Gore Vidal and Michael Chabon in the Simpsons episode Moe'N'a Lisa, which aired November 19, 2006. He was originally slated to be killed by a giant boulder, but that ending was edited out. [1]

• Wolfe is mentioned in the 2005 animated film Madagascar where Mason the monkey says "I hear Tom Wolfe's speaking at Lincoln Center." (the other monkey, Phil, signs frantically) and Mason responds, "Well, of course we're going to throw poo at him!"

• Wolfe was featured on the February 2006 episode, "The White Stuff", of SPEED Channel's Unique Whips, where his Cadillac's interior was customized to match his trademark white suit.

• In the episode "Lorelai's Graduation Day" of Gilmore Girls, Rory meets Jess in New York who is reading Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". This book is also referenced in the episode "Take The Deviled Eggs..." when Town Selectman Taylor says something along the lines that people can drink as much "electric kool-aid" as they want.

The above was the "cultural references" section of the article. Since Wolfe is an author who wrote prolifically about 40 years of popular culture it seems rather... misplaced... to have this section suggesting that his role in pop-culture is best exemplified by his two appearances on the Simpsons. --JayHenry (talk) 05:56, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I think the section should go back in, for two reasons: first, I think it's interesting information, and second, people tend to like adding in the references-type stuff to articles, so there may as well be a space for it, instead of it ending up all over the article. Korny O'Near (talk) 15:12, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

AMERICAN ACADEMY CONTROVERSY

When Wolfe was first put up for membership of the American Academy of Arts and Letters he was rejected, this rejection being engineered by enemies within the Academy. A great deal of controversy was generated, although Wolfe was eventually admitted in 1999.

The article ought to mention this. Someone who really knows the particulars ought to add it.65.206.122.30 (talk) 22:23, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Cultural References

Happened to hit this page after Wolfe appeared on the Charlie Rose Show this week. I noticed in the cultural references that there is no mention of the Robert Altman film, The Player. Although Wolfe does not appear as a celebrity cameo, there is an ongoing joke about acquiring the rights to his "new book." I think Altman was poking fun at the fact that 2 Wolfe books had been adapted for the screen at the time and both were failures financially, even though Hollywood execs were falling over themselves to spend a fortune to produce a 3rd. Thought it might be worth mentioning. 99.231.11.56 (talk) 07:08, 13 June 2008 (UTC)