An Outline of American Literature

by Claire Michelle Smith

American Prose Since 1945: Realism and Experimentation: Tom Wolfe 1931-?

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Tom Wolfe was born in 1931. He is known as one of the originators of 'New Journalism' and a leading social satirist and cartoonist. He had great influence on 'Beat' writers such as Jack Kerouac.

He wrote The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in 1968. A classic non-fiction novel of the 60's hippie period and the life-styles of authors Ken Kesey and Neal Cassady. Although he claims never to have taken part in any of their antics, the day-glo psychadelic style recreates the atmosphere of the period from a very subjective point of view.

His most famous book, The Bonfire of the Vanities, captured the madness of the 80s in New York, a city described as consumed with racial and ethnic hostilities. Along with The Right Stuff, it was made into a major budget film.

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