Product Description

In this, his first book and one of the landmarks of the New Journalism, Tom Wolfe managed to look at the American scene of the early 1960s afresh and to zero in on the more exotic forms of status-seeking then in vogue from New York to Los Angeles. In the dances, bouffant hairdos, stock-car racing and rock concerts, Wolfe found a unique American energy, and the incandescent style that produced The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is already in evidence. In the title essay - Wolfe's first magazine article - he eulogizes the flamboyant 'kustomized kars' California teens constructed with artistic dedication. And there's more - Phil Spectre, Cassius Clay, Las Vegas, the Nanny Mafia, Why Doormen hate Volkswagens. Classic Wolfe!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49381 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
"'This is a book that will be a sharp pleasure to reread years from now, when it will bring back, like a falcon in the sky of memory, a whole world that is currently jetting, or jazzing, its way to somewhere or other' Newsweek"

Metro, April 16, 2007
"a great example on how the genre cocked a snook at journalistic convention."

About the Author
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.

Customer Reviews

The Wolfe Perspective
Tom Wolfe puts together a pastiche of journalistic articles about 1960's America, ranging from such esoterica as demolition derbies to the media-celebrity culture of New York. As always, Wolfe's style of Beat-Journalism cuts sharply to the point without resorting to overused clichés, describing such cultures in his own highly original style and capturing his view perfectly.

Some of his articles are about life in the grime of reality, and some seem to be almost a grotesque caricature of life in the celebrity set. However for me this was an excellent retrospect of 1960's culture, whether as a reflection of reality itself, or as a reflection of how certain popular cultural icons were perceived by the general public.

Wolfe's style and wit are to me, unsurpassed and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the 1960's. Most complimentary of all, I would recommend this book to myself, for a second read sometime in the future.

A Tom Wolfe classic.
In a series of independant snap-shots of aspects of contemporary American culture in the 1960's, this snappily written book has something for everyone. It is a more interesting read now than when it was first published.

The title piece covers the custom car genre and contains first-hand accounts of encounters with some of the great characters of the time such as Ed Roth and George Barris. Also of interest to car enthusiasts is the chapter on "The last American Hero", with extraordinary tales of Junior Johnson the NASCAR race driver, and his formative days racing the police whilst running moonshine from the illicit stills in the hills.

Similar pieces cover the modern art scene, fashion, and numerous off-beat facets of New York life.

Highly entertaining - highly recommended.