Tom Wolfe

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Read Next

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Britannica’s Book Bingo

10 Captivating Contemporary Novels Set in the British Isles

Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company

Periods of American Literature

Citizen Journalists

Discover

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

VAN, TURKEY - OCTOBER 25: A building and car ruined during the earthquake of Van-Ercis on October 25, 2011 in Van, Turkey. It is 604 killed and 4152 injured in Van-Ercis Earthquake.

What Is an Aftershock?

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

United States Electoral College votes by state

How Many Electoral College Votes Does Each U.S. State Have?

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Arts & Culture

Tom Wolfe

American author

Also known as: Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Feb 27, 2024 • Article History

Tom Wolfe

See all media

Category: Arts & Culture

In full:: Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.

Born:: March 2, 1930, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

Died:: May 14, 2018, New York, New York (aged 88)

Awards And Honors:: National Book Award

Notable Works:: “A Man in Full”; “Back to Blood”; “From Bauhaus to Our House”; “Hooking Up”; “I Am Charlotte Simmons”; “My Three Stooges”; “The Bonfire of the Vanities”; “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”; “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”; “The Kingdom of Speech”; “The Painted Word”; “The Right Stuff”

Movement / Style:: New Journalism

See all related content →

Tom Wolfe (born March 2, 1930, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.—died May 14, 2018, New York, New York) American novelist, journalist, and social commentator who was a leading critic of contemporary life and a proponent of New Journalism (the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism). After studying at Washington and Lee University (B.A., 1951), Wolfe, a talented baseball pitcher, tried out with the New York Giants but did not make the team. He then attended Yale University (Ph.D., 1957) and subsequently wrote for several newspapers, including the Springfield Union in Massachusetts and The Washington Post. In the early 1960s he moved to ...(100 of 462 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.