Wolfe

[Spencer Thiel]

My 0.02$:
Tom Wolfe's Man in Full is being made into a mini-series for ABC.  Anyone 
who writes a book that makes it into the hands of broadcast tv executives 
and passes the idiot box test is clearly writing with almost no thought and 
insight into almost any unknown or interesting aspect of American 
Culture.  Admittedly, I read and sort of enjoyed parts of A Man in 
Full.  But the scenes during spring break in Atlanta make me think that 
Wolfe has never spoken to a black person in his life.

I recently read an article (can't remember where, maybe the New Yorker) 
detailing Wolfe's spat with Irving, Mailer, et. al in which he said that 
the academia are just upset because his book was a success and the others 
weren't.  He went on to say that he didn't think all American writing was 
bad and he pointed to Douglas Coupland (really) as a shining 
beacon.  Another barely entertaining author who specializes homogenized 
versions of American Culture.

Wolfe would have been much better off sticking to non-fiction.

-st.