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The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby
"An excellent book by a genius," said Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., of this now classic exploration of the 1960s from the founder of new journalism.
"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 and jazzing its way somewhere or other."-- Newsweek
In his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965) Wolfe introduces us to the sixties, to extravagant new styles of life that had nothing to do with the "elite" culture of the past.
"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 and jazzing its way somewhere or other."-- Newsweek
In his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965) Wolfe introduces us to the sixties, to extravagant new styles of life that had nothing to do with the "elite" culture of the past.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
About the author
Tom Wolfe
150 books3,271 followersWolfe was educated at Washington and Lee Universities and also at Yale, where he received a PhD in American studies.
Tom Wolfe spent his early days as a Washington Post beat reporter, where his free-association, onomatopoetic style would later become the trademark of New Journalism. In books such as The Electric Koolaid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and The Bonfire of the Vanities, Wolfe delves into the inner workings of the mind, writing about the unconscious decisions people make in their lives. His attention to eccentricities of human behavior and language and to questions of social status are considered unparalleled in the American literary canon.
He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Tom Wolfe is also famous for coining and defining the term fiction-absolute .
http://us.macmillan.com/author/tomwolfe
Tom Wolfe spent his early days as a Washington Post beat reporter, where his free-association, onomatopoetic style would later become the trademark of New Journalism. In books such as The Electric Koolaid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, and The Bonfire of the Vanities, Wolfe delves into the inner workings of the mind, writing about the unconscious decisions people make in their lives. His attention to eccentricities of human behavior and language and to questions of social status are considered unparalleled in the American literary canon.
He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Tom Wolfe is also famous for coining and defining the term fiction-absolute .
http://us.macmillan.com/author/tomwolfe
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
May 15, 2018
Just heard on the news of the passing of Tom Wolfe, a writer who seems to have been around my entire life. I first read these great early essays with their over-caffeinated headrush prose and their ability to freezeframe the very geist of the zeit. Bonfire of the Vanities came much later & I loved that too, it's very hard to be a comic novelist and not wear out your welcome over the course of 700 pages or so and he got it right again. After that I let Tom all alone - he came out with other more dubious sounding novels; but I was recently persuaded to read A Man in Full - another 800 pager - and blow me down, the old white-suited rogue had still got what it takes. Okay, it did fall apart, but I called it the best bad novel I'd read for decades.
So long, Tom. You wrote cheerful books and you cheered me up.
So long, Tom. You wrote cheerful books and you cheered me up.
March 28, 2015
This was a fun and interesting read, from a 2014 perspective. (Although if I ever read the word "artherosclerotic" again I think I'll scream.) These essays/articles all came from the early 1960's and they showcase a world I hadn't a clue about.
For instance, the nanny mafia in New York? I wondered, is there still a nanny mafia? (I googled it, yes, apparently there is.) And who is Baby Jane Holzer? Had to do some research and asking around about her. I loved visiting Las Vegas in the early 1960's. It was great to be on the Strip that long ago. So much has changed, some things haven't. And Confidential magazine? Never heard of it. Boy, it sounded interesting, though! What with the publisher shooting his wife and then himself in the cab. . . .
New York society circa 1963. Wow.
I read this book primarily for the story on the southern California car culture. Hard to imagine anyone thinking a hot rods and customs car show would be all about punk kids and rock and roll. Ah, times have changed. So much that was on the fringe is now just mainstream. I go to car shows all the time and it seems like it's all old guys going!
I'd like to see an update on some of this - what's it like NOW? I want to be there RIGHT NOW. I like feeling the excitement of being right there in the moment, but then I realize I don't have a clue what Tom Wolfe is talking about. Words he uses to describe people and fashions and life - references no longer understandable in 2014 (if you haven't lived it in the 1960's). It would be fun to see essays like this on the 80's or the 90's.
For instance, the nanny mafia in New York? I wondered, is there still a nanny mafia? (I googled it, yes, apparently there is.) And who is Baby Jane Holzer? Had to do some research and asking around about her. I loved visiting Las Vegas in the early 1960's. It was great to be on the Strip that long ago. So much has changed, some things haven't. And Confidential magazine? Never heard of it. Boy, it sounded interesting, though! What with the publisher shooting his wife and then himself in the cab. . . .
New York society circa 1963. Wow.
I read this book primarily for the story on the southern California car culture. Hard to imagine anyone thinking a hot rods and customs car show would be all about punk kids and rock and roll. Ah, times have changed. So much that was on the fringe is now just mainstream. I go to car shows all the time and it seems like it's all old guys going!
I'd like to see an update on some of this - what's it like NOW? I want to be there RIGHT NOW. I like feeling the excitement of being right there in the moment, but then I realize I don't have a clue what Tom Wolfe is talking about. Words he uses to describe people and fashions and life - references no longer understandable in 2014 (if you haven't lived it in the 1960's). It would be fun to see essays like this on the 80's or the 90's.
September 25, 2008
Sorry, all you Hunter S. Thompson fans, but Tom Wolfe revolutionized journalism in the Sixties and didn't need biker colors or mescaline to accomplish the task. His first book (a compilation of articles for Esquire and others) is a brilliant assessment of pop culture (i.e. hot rod shows, fashion designers, Phil Spector, etc.) that captures the times beautifully. I also really like his crazy sketches of street life in New York, complete with hair style portraits. Mad props to Mr. Wolfe!
June 24, 2021
Hot rods wouldn't normally be my thing, but I went on a Wolfe binge and snapped them all up. Not one of my favourites then, even less so now when I am off Wolfe for good. It's not surprising that a white Southern man of his generation would be racist and sexist and complain about kids these days, but it's disappointing when a good writer can't get off his metaphorical ass and create a character that isn't just a shallow stereotype. I might still point someone to his nonfiction, which was stylish and topical. The Right Stuff might hold up. But there's a flavour of condescension now that I'm afraid would make even those books insufferable if I attempted a reread.
And in an unrelated note: what possible reason would the spellchecker have for turning "hot rods" into "not Todd"? Wouldn't "don't change words which are valid and correctly spelled" be one of the fundamental rules? The Kindle has truly awful word correction.
And in an unrelated note: what possible reason would the spellchecker have for turning "hot rods" into "not Todd"? Wouldn't "don't change words which are valid and correctly spelled" be one of the fundamental rules? The Kindle has truly awful word correction.
February 5, 2023
Nem gondolom, hogy ez egy inkoherens kötet volna. Wolfe könyvének minden sora egy nagyon is eredeti elméletre van felfűzve: arra, hogy a művészetben a mecénási szerepet mindig az arisztokrácia töltötte be, aki a maga meghatározott hagyományokra épülő igényeivel természetesen folyamatosan befolyásolta is azt. Ám a második világháború utáni Amerikában eljött a sosemvolt pillanat: először a kultúra történetében a nem-arisztokraták, a művészeti tradícióktól mentes prolik és gengszterek jutottak vagyonhoz, aminek következtében át is vállalták ezt a szerepet. És nem mellesleg a gazdaság robbanásszerű növekedése azzal járt, hogy hirtelen tömegeknek lett elkölthető pénze, tehát milliók váltak piaci célcsoporttá az autógyártók szemében éppúgy, mint a művészek számára – azzal pedig, hogy így történt, egyszeriben már nem csak a felső tízezer ízlése lett mérvadó, hanem gyakorlatilag majd mindenkié. Ez pedig egy elképesztően sokszínű kulturális univerzumot eredményezett, amiben ott a helye Cary Grantnek éppúgy, mint Mick Jaggernek vagy Andy Warholnak, sőt: akár Cassius Claynek is. Egy ilyen sokszínű és sokformájú rendszert egyszerűen képtelenség a hagyományos publicisztika módszereivel és nyelvén leírni – mert valami, ami úgy néz ki, mint egy kandírozott mandarinzselészínű áramvonal, a szokott szavakkal nem megragadható. Új szavakat, új megközelítéseket kell kikísérletezni, fel kell adni a linearitást, a tárgyszerűséget, a teljességre törekvést, szubjektívnek és szándékosan széttördeltnek kell lenni… és Wolfe-nak ez sikerült. Merem állítani: kötete a legautentikusabb beszámolók egyike a ’60-as évek Amerikájáról, a helyről és időről, ahol és amikor a fogyasztói társadalom megtanult a maga lábán (vagy a miénken) járni.
(A fordításról nem lehet nem beszélni. Nem irigylem Bartos Tibort – egy forradalmian újító szöveget kellett úgy megmagyarítania, hogy az akárhány év után, akár napjainkban olvasva is újnak hasson. Ez nem sikerült. Tudom, rohadt nehéz dolga volt – de mondjuk az a gyakorlata, hogy egyes kifejezéseket, amelyeket Wolfe egyértelmű újdonságként hozott be az irodalomba*, ő tájnyelvi vagy régies elemekre fordít át… nos, ezért én mindenképpen kárhoztatnám.)
* Itt van például a „srófkocsi” kifejezés, ami már az első fejezetben szembejött, és hát mellbe is vágott rendesen. (Amúgy ma tuningoltnak mondanánk az ilyen autót.) Lövésem sincs, hogy az eredetiben mi szerepelt, következésképpen Bartos eljárásáról sincs jogom bővebben nyilatkozni, de hát marha avétosan hangzik.
(A fordításról nem lehet nem beszélni. Nem irigylem Bartos Tibort – egy forradalmian újító szöveget kellett úgy megmagyarítania, hogy az akárhány év után, akár napjainkban olvasva is újnak hasson. Ez nem sikerült. Tudom, rohadt nehéz dolga volt – de mondjuk az a gyakorlata, hogy egyes kifejezéseket, amelyeket Wolfe egyértelmű újdonságként hozott be az irodalomba*, ő tájnyelvi vagy régies elemekre fordít át… nos, ezért én mindenképpen kárhoztatnám.)
* Itt van például a „srófkocsi” kifejezés, ami már az első fejezetben szembejött, és hát mellbe is vágott rendesen. (Amúgy ma tuningoltnak mondanánk az ilyen autót.) Lövésem sincs, hogy az eredetiben mi szerepelt, következésképpen Bartos eljárásáról sincs jogom bővebben nyilatkozni, de hát marha avétosan hangzik.
December 29, 2015
Tom Wolfe burst onto the literary scene in 1965 with the publication of his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, a collection of articles that he had written for Esquire and New York magazine, the Sunday supplement of the New York Herald Tribune. Surprisingly for a book of collected non-fiction, it sold extremely well, and helped shine a light on the burgeoning genre soon to be called “New Journalism.” Wolfe and other “New Journalists” of the 1960’s like Gay Talese were using some of the techniques of fiction to write non-fiction. Wolfe told stories in an interesting way, and these new techniques were paired with a flamboyant, sometimes over the top writing style, full of ellipses, exclamation points, and sound effects. Wolfe defended his unique writing style in a 1966 interview, saying, “People only write in careful flowing sentences; they don’t think that way and they don’t talk that way.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.12) Over the course of The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, you can see Wolfe’s style begin to emerge. The twenty-two pieces in the book were written over a period of just fifteen months, a time when Tom Wolfe went from obscure newspaper reporter to the capturer of the American zeitgeist of the 1960’s.
I’ve been a little obsessed with Tom Wolfe over the last few months. He’s an author I’ve always known about and been aware of, but until this year I had never actually read any of his work. I figured I needed to rectify that, so I dug out my copy of Smiling Through the Apocalypse, Esquire magazine’s history of the 1960’s, which included Wolfe’s articles, “The Last American Hero,” “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” and “Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can’t Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!!” After reading those three articles I was hooked and I knew I had to read more of Wolfe. The first book of Wolfe’s I read was his critique of modernist architecture, From Bauhaus to Our House, and next I read his 1976 essay collection Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine.
Here’s a more in-depth look at the articles in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby:
“Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can’t Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!!” The first article in the book, this is a classic look at Las Vegas, which at the time Wolfe wrote this article was beginning to emerge as an entertainment mecca out in the vast Nevada desert. The Las Vegas that Wolfe describes in 1964 has only gotten bigger, noisier, and more complete in its attempts to win your attention. Two of my favorite quotes from the article are:
“Men play the slots too, of course, but one of the indelible images of Las Vegas is that of the old babes at the row upon row of slot machines. There they are at six o’clock Sunday morning no less than at three o’clock Tuesday afternoon.” (p.6)
“Muzak pervades Las Vegas from the time you walk into the airport upon landing to the last time you leave the casinos. It is piped out to the swimming pool. It is in the drugstores. It is as if there were a communal fear that someone, somewhere in Las Vegas, was going to be left with a totally vacant minute on his hands.” (p.7)
Both of these quotes still very accurately describe the Las Vegas of the present.
“Clean Fun at Riverhead” is about the birth of the demolition derby, and fits in well with Wolfe’s other longer, and much more famous pieces about the burgeoning car culture of the 1960’s, the title piece and “The Last American Hero,” about NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. I was fascinated by demolition derbies when I was a young boy, so I found this piece really interesting.
“The Fifth Beatle,” is a profile of New York City DJ Murray the K, who hung out with the Beatles when they first came to America, and was probably the first person to call himself “The Fifth Beatle.” It’s an interesting piece about the early days of Beatlemania. Fortunately, Wolfe doesn’t make any editorial comments about the Beatles being a flash in the pan that would seem embarrassing now.
“The Peppermint Lounge Revisited” is a study of the types of people who were attending the New York City nightclub, which popularized the twist dance craze of the early 1960’s. It shows Wolfe’s keen eye for social details.
“The First Tycoon of Teen,” profiles record producer and songwriter, and future convicted murderer, Phil Spector. Dating from late 1964-early 1965, just after the release of his masterpiece “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” it finds Spector at the peak of his fame and influence. Wolfe does erroneously state that Spector worked with Elvis Presley. The key quote from the article is on page 65. Spector is talking about a man who pushed him at a nightclub and says, “I mean, I’ve studied karate for years. I could literally kill a guy like that. You know?” Simmer down, Phil.
“The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” now, this is the STORY! The one that launched Wolfe into the stars, made him THE writer of his time! Although now when you read it, it’s not really high style Tom Wolfe yet. You might read it and wonder, where are the ellipses…where are the exclamation points, where’s all the Tom Wolfe-isms??? All of those will come later. But the piece is written in a witty, conversational style that was a breakthrough in Wolfe’s writing. “Kandy-Kolored” sets up a general pattern that some of Wolfe’s most famous articles will follow, as Wolfe gives you the inside scoop on some heretofore uncharted subculture that you didn’t even know existed. “Kandy-Kolored” examines the subculture of car customizing, which was becoming very popular among teenagers in the early 1960’s.
“Kandy-Kolored” was Wolfe’s first magazine piece, written for Esquire, and Wolfe had a rather bad case of writer’s block as he was trying to finish the article, so his editor, Byron Dobell, suggested that Wolfe just type up his notes and someone else would work them into an article. Wolfe pulled an all-nighter, pounding out 49 pages on his typewriter, and when he showed the notes to Dobell, he simply struck “Dear Byron” and ran Wolfe’s notes as the article. Wolfe relates this story in the introduction to the book, and I didn’t realize that the story around the creation of the story is as old as the story itself. Wolfe’s style in “Kandy-Kolored” is conversational; as he throws in asides that he probably figured would be edited out, but those asides give the piece its style. After years as a newspaper reporter, Wolfe had finally found his voice.
“The Marvelous Mouth,” is a profile of Cassius Clay, written when he was in training to fight Sonny Liston. Clay’s upset victory over Liston made him the heavyweight champion. Shortly afterwards, Clay announced that he had converted to the Nation of Islam and was changing his name to Muhammad Ali. “The Marvelous Mouth” was written after “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” but was published in Esquire in October of 1963, a month before “Kandy-Kolored” appeared. In a 1966 interview with Elaine Dundy for Vogue magazine, titled “Tom Wolfe…But Exactly, Yes!” Wolfe said, “I missed the important story about him: that he was getting involved with the Black Muslims at the time I was seeing him.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.11)
“The Last American Hero,” is another profile of an athlete, NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. This is the story where Wolfe’s high style is on full, virtuosic display. “The Last American Hero” is full of onomatopoeia, ellipses, exclamation points, and digressions about various topics. Once again, Wolfe takes the reader into subcultures, moonshining and NASCAR racing, that were not widely known outside of the American South in 1965. “The Last American Hero” is one of Wolfe’s landmark articles. It popularized the phrase “good old boy,” and was adapted into a 1973 movie starring Jeff Bridges.
Wolfe tried his hand at the movie star profile in 1963’s “Loverboy of the Bourgeoisie,” about Cary Grant. Wolfe is sharp in his writing about Grant, who comes off as quite naturally funny and likable. But Wolfe is totally off the mark when writing about movies in general. Wolfe contrasts Grant to younger male movie stars, and he writes, “One has only to list the male stars of the past 20 years-Brando, Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Victor Mature, William Holden, Frank Sinatra-and already the mind is overpowered by an awesome montage of swung fists, bent teeth, curled lips, popping neck veins, and gurglings.” (p.176) What? What is Wolfe talking about? Brando’s acting style was decidedly different from all of the other actors Wolfe lists, so putting him together with the other actors doesn’t make a lot of sense. Wolfe seems to be criticizing Brando’s acting style, as critics charged that Brando was all Method mumblings and affectations. But does Wolfe seriously think that Burt Lancaster, William Holden and Rock Hudson were all “popping neck veins and gurglings”? Then he hasn’t seen very many of their movies.
Wolfe goes on to criticize the actresses of the 1950’s, writing, “As often as not the Brandoesque hero’s love partner is some thyroid hoyden, as portrayed by Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida or, more recently, Sue Lyon or Tuesday Weld. The upshot has been the era of Rake-a-Cheek Romance on the screen. Man meets woman. She rakes his cheek with her fingernails. He belts her in the chops. They fall in a wallow of passion.” (p.176) Again, what is Wolfe talking about? What movies was he watching? Wolfe completely misrepresents the actresses of the 1950’s. Bardot, Monroe, Mansfield and Lollobrigida were all bombshells who were huge sex symbols, but they were not at all typical of the Hollywood actresses of that time. The male actors that Wolfe mentions weren’t often starring with these bombshells; they were making movies opposite actresses like Deborah Kerr, Eva Marie Saint, Jean Simmons, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, and Doris Day. Bardot never made any significant American movies, and Jayne Mansfield was basically a poor man’s Marilyn Monroe who made B-grade movies. (Okay, so Mansfield did star with Cary Grant in 1957’s Kiss Them For Me, but the closest she got to A-lister Rock Hudson was starring in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, which used Hudson’s name and Tab Hunter’s to jokingly create the name of the character that Tony Randall played.)
Wolfe then goes on to lump Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Rock Hudson together, which makes no sense at all. Brando and Dean’s acting styles were completely different from Rock Hudson’s, and they were nothing alike as screen types.
Wolfe also discusses Ingrid Bergman in the context of the American middle class, writing, “There is no telling how many millions of American women of the new era know exactly what Ingrid Bergman meant when she said she loved playing opposite Cary Grant in Notorious: ‘I didn’t have to take my shoes off in the love scenes.’” (p.176-7) What Wolfe seems to be saying is that Bergman loved her shoes so much that she was very glad she could keep them on all the time. What I think Ingrid Bergman was actually saying is that she was happy she was playing opposite a tall leading man, as the 5’9” Bergman wouldn’t tower over the 6’2” Grant, even in heels.
Former Confidential magazine publisher Robert Harrison is profiled next in “Purveyor of the Public Life.” It’s an interesting look at a man who was down on his heels at the time Wolfe profiled him.
If you are really going to appreciate Tom Wolfe, I mean, really understand him, and understand where these early pieces are coming from, the one word you need to know, simply must know, is arteriosclerotic. Arteriosclerotic? Yes, that very word! It means a hardening of the arteries, and Wolfe uses it in piece after piece in this book to describe people who are old, square, rigid. Wolfe explained his use of “arteriosclerotic” in his 1966 Vogue magazine interview: “Repeating words means that they have become for me inseparable from the meaning I want. Eventually I get over them. Arteriosclerotic-I was obsessed for a while with people’s blood vessels getting stiffer and stiffer without them knowing it.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.11)
“The Girl of the Year” profiles socialite/model Baby Jane Holzer, who was a New York media celebrity from 1963-1965. Holzer hung out a lot with Andy Warhol and the Rolling Stones, and “The Girl of the Year” follows her to a Rolling Stones concert, and to her birthday party. “The Girl of the Year” is a look at fleeting fame, and how some people become famous for little or no reason at all.
A short illustrated section called “A Metropolitan Sketchbook” is next. It’s moderately intriguing, but I enjoy Wolfe’s writing more than his drawing.
“The Saturday Route” follows rich New Yorkers making the rounds of the art galleries on the Upper East Side.
“The Luther of Columbus Circle” profiles millionaire Huntington Hartford, who hated abstract art and opened the Gallery of Modern Art in 1964. This piece would have been more interesting if Wolfe would have been able to interview Hartford.
“The New Art Gallery Society” details a lavish party for the 1964 expansion of the Museum of Modern Art.
“The Secret Vice” is all about buttons on men’s suits. Again, Wolfe is bringing you information on something you didn’t even know you cared about! It’s the most John O’Hara-like piece in the book, as Wolfe points out tiny details that are subtle markers of status.
“The Nanny Mafia” is about the influence that nannies have over the rich families they work for. Again, Wolfe is delineating careful gradations of status. In his 1966 interview with Vogue magazine, Wolfe said, “Perfect journalism would deal constantly with one subject: status. And every article written would be devoted to discovering and defining some new status.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.9)
“Putting Daddy On” was, for me, one of the least interesting pieces in the book. It’s about a father tracking down his son who has dropped out of college to live in the East Village. The father drags Wolfe along for the ride.
“A Sunday Kind of Love” describes the thrill of lazy Sundays in New York. It’s a good little piece.
“The Woman Who Has Everything” is about the struggles of a young divorcee trying to find love in Manhattan. It’s well done, and it shows what a good reporter Wolfe is. Elaine Dundy quizzed Wolfe about his reporting habits in her 1966 interview of him, asking him, “Doesn’t the notebook put people off? Not at all, he claims, as we are all victims of what he calls ‘information compulsion’-i.e., the desire to unload whatever is currently on our minds.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.7-8)
“The Voices of Village Square” is a short piece about female prisoners yelling out the windows of the Women’s House of Detention, which overlooked Village Square, in the heart of Greenwich Village.
“Why Doormen Hate Volkswagens” is an interesting piece about a doorman who parks cars for his tenants.
“The Big League Complex” is right up Wolfe’s alley, as it is all about status in New York City. It’s a good piece to end the book with.
If you want to know where Tom Wolfe’s exciting writing style came from, go for a ride in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.
I’ve been a little obsessed with Tom Wolfe over the last few months. He’s an author I’ve always known about and been aware of, but until this year I had never actually read any of his work. I figured I needed to rectify that, so I dug out my copy of Smiling Through the Apocalypse, Esquire magazine’s history of the 1960’s, which included Wolfe’s articles, “The Last American Hero,” “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” and “Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can’t Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!!” After reading those three articles I was hooked and I knew I had to read more of Wolfe. The first book of Wolfe’s I read was his critique of modernist architecture, From Bauhaus to Our House, and next I read his 1976 essay collection Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine.
Here’s a more in-depth look at the articles in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby:
“Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can’t Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!!” The first article in the book, this is a classic look at Las Vegas, which at the time Wolfe wrote this article was beginning to emerge as an entertainment mecca out in the vast Nevada desert. The Las Vegas that Wolfe describes in 1964 has only gotten bigger, noisier, and more complete in its attempts to win your attention. Two of my favorite quotes from the article are:
“Men play the slots too, of course, but one of the indelible images of Las Vegas is that of the old babes at the row upon row of slot machines. There they are at six o’clock Sunday morning no less than at three o’clock Tuesday afternoon.” (p.6)
“Muzak pervades Las Vegas from the time you walk into the airport upon landing to the last time you leave the casinos. It is piped out to the swimming pool. It is in the drugstores. It is as if there were a communal fear that someone, somewhere in Las Vegas, was going to be left with a totally vacant minute on his hands.” (p.7)
Both of these quotes still very accurately describe the Las Vegas of the present.
“Clean Fun at Riverhead” is about the birth of the demolition derby, and fits in well with Wolfe’s other longer, and much more famous pieces about the burgeoning car culture of the 1960’s, the title piece and “The Last American Hero,” about NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. I was fascinated by demolition derbies when I was a young boy, so I found this piece really interesting.
“The Fifth Beatle,” is a profile of New York City DJ Murray the K, who hung out with the Beatles when they first came to America, and was probably the first person to call himself “The Fifth Beatle.” It’s an interesting piece about the early days of Beatlemania. Fortunately, Wolfe doesn’t make any editorial comments about the Beatles being a flash in the pan that would seem embarrassing now.
“The Peppermint Lounge Revisited” is a study of the types of people who were attending the New York City nightclub, which popularized the twist dance craze of the early 1960’s. It shows Wolfe’s keen eye for social details.
“The First Tycoon of Teen,” profiles record producer and songwriter, and future convicted murderer, Phil Spector. Dating from late 1964-early 1965, just after the release of his masterpiece “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” it finds Spector at the peak of his fame and influence. Wolfe does erroneously state that Spector worked with Elvis Presley. The key quote from the article is on page 65. Spector is talking about a man who pushed him at a nightclub and says, “I mean, I’ve studied karate for years. I could literally kill a guy like that. You know?” Simmer down, Phil.
“The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” now, this is the STORY! The one that launched Wolfe into the stars, made him THE writer of his time! Although now when you read it, it’s not really high style Tom Wolfe yet. You might read it and wonder, where are the ellipses…where are the exclamation points, where’s all the Tom Wolfe-isms??? All of those will come later. But the piece is written in a witty, conversational style that was a breakthrough in Wolfe’s writing. “Kandy-Kolored” sets up a general pattern that some of Wolfe’s most famous articles will follow, as Wolfe gives you the inside scoop on some heretofore uncharted subculture that you didn’t even know existed. “Kandy-Kolored” examines the subculture of car customizing, which was becoming very popular among teenagers in the early 1960’s.
“Kandy-Kolored” was Wolfe’s first magazine piece, written for Esquire, and Wolfe had a rather bad case of writer’s block as he was trying to finish the article, so his editor, Byron Dobell, suggested that Wolfe just type up his notes and someone else would work them into an article. Wolfe pulled an all-nighter, pounding out 49 pages on his typewriter, and when he showed the notes to Dobell, he simply struck “Dear Byron” and ran Wolfe’s notes as the article. Wolfe relates this story in the introduction to the book, and I didn’t realize that the story around the creation of the story is as old as the story itself. Wolfe’s style in “Kandy-Kolored” is conversational; as he throws in asides that he probably figured would be edited out, but those asides give the piece its style. After years as a newspaper reporter, Wolfe had finally found his voice.
“The Marvelous Mouth,” is a profile of Cassius Clay, written when he was in training to fight Sonny Liston. Clay’s upset victory over Liston made him the heavyweight champion. Shortly afterwards, Clay announced that he had converted to the Nation of Islam and was changing his name to Muhammad Ali. “The Marvelous Mouth” was written after “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” but was published in Esquire in October of 1963, a month before “Kandy-Kolored” appeared. In a 1966 interview with Elaine Dundy for Vogue magazine, titled “Tom Wolfe…But Exactly, Yes!” Wolfe said, “I missed the important story about him: that he was getting involved with the Black Muslims at the time I was seeing him.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.11)
“The Last American Hero,” is another profile of an athlete, NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. This is the story where Wolfe’s high style is on full, virtuosic display. “The Last American Hero” is full of onomatopoeia, ellipses, exclamation points, and digressions about various topics. Once again, Wolfe takes the reader into subcultures, moonshining and NASCAR racing, that were not widely known outside of the American South in 1965. “The Last American Hero” is one of Wolfe’s landmark articles. It popularized the phrase “good old boy,” and was adapted into a 1973 movie starring Jeff Bridges.
Wolfe tried his hand at the movie star profile in 1963’s “Loverboy of the Bourgeoisie,” about Cary Grant. Wolfe is sharp in his writing about Grant, who comes off as quite naturally funny and likable. But Wolfe is totally off the mark when writing about movies in general. Wolfe contrasts Grant to younger male movie stars, and he writes, “One has only to list the male stars of the past 20 years-Brando, Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Victor Mature, William Holden, Frank Sinatra-and already the mind is overpowered by an awesome montage of swung fists, bent teeth, curled lips, popping neck veins, and gurglings.” (p.176) What? What is Wolfe talking about? Brando’s acting style was decidedly different from all of the other actors Wolfe lists, so putting him together with the other actors doesn’t make a lot of sense. Wolfe seems to be criticizing Brando’s acting style, as critics charged that Brando was all Method mumblings and affectations. But does Wolfe seriously think that Burt Lancaster, William Holden and Rock Hudson were all “popping neck veins and gurglings”? Then he hasn’t seen very many of their movies.
Wolfe goes on to criticize the actresses of the 1950’s, writing, “As often as not the Brandoesque hero’s love partner is some thyroid hoyden, as portrayed by Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida or, more recently, Sue Lyon or Tuesday Weld. The upshot has been the era of Rake-a-Cheek Romance on the screen. Man meets woman. She rakes his cheek with her fingernails. He belts her in the chops. They fall in a wallow of passion.” (p.176) Again, what is Wolfe talking about? What movies was he watching? Wolfe completely misrepresents the actresses of the 1950’s. Bardot, Monroe, Mansfield and Lollobrigida were all bombshells who were huge sex symbols, but they were not at all typical of the Hollywood actresses of that time. The male actors that Wolfe mentions weren’t often starring with these bombshells; they were making movies opposite actresses like Deborah Kerr, Eva Marie Saint, Jean Simmons, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, and Doris Day. Bardot never made any significant American movies, and Jayne Mansfield was basically a poor man’s Marilyn Monroe who made B-grade movies. (Okay, so Mansfield did star with Cary Grant in 1957’s Kiss Them For Me, but the closest she got to A-lister Rock Hudson was starring in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, which used Hudson’s name and Tab Hunter’s to jokingly create the name of the character that Tony Randall played.)
Wolfe then goes on to lump Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Rock Hudson together, which makes no sense at all. Brando and Dean’s acting styles were completely different from Rock Hudson’s, and they were nothing alike as screen types.
Wolfe also discusses Ingrid Bergman in the context of the American middle class, writing, “There is no telling how many millions of American women of the new era know exactly what Ingrid Bergman meant when she said she loved playing opposite Cary Grant in Notorious: ‘I didn’t have to take my shoes off in the love scenes.’” (p.176-7) What Wolfe seems to be saying is that Bergman loved her shoes so much that she was very glad she could keep them on all the time. What I think Ingrid Bergman was actually saying is that she was happy she was playing opposite a tall leading man, as the 5’9” Bergman wouldn’t tower over the 6’2” Grant, even in heels.
Former Confidential magazine publisher Robert Harrison is profiled next in “Purveyor of the Public Life.” It’s an interesting look at a man who was down on his heels at the time Wolfe profiled him.
If you are really going to appreciate Tom Wolfe, I mean, really understand him, and understand where these early pieces are coming from, the one word you need to know, simply must know, is arteriosclerotic. Arteriosclerotic? Yes, that very word! It means a hardening of the arteries, and Wolfe uses it in piece after piece in this book to describe people who are old, square, rigid. Wolfe explained his use of “arteriosclerotic” in his 1966 Vogue magazine interview: “Repeating words means that they have become for me inseparable from the meaning I want. Eventually I get over them. Arteriosclerotic-I was obsessed for a while with people’s blood vessels getting stiffer and stiffer without them knowing it.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.11)
“The Girl of the Year” profiles socialite/model Baby Jane Holzer, who was a New York media celebrity from 1963-1965. Holzer hung out a lot with Andy Warhol and the Rolling Stones, and “The Girl of the Year” follows her to a Rolling Stones concert, and to her birthday party. “The Girl of the Year” is a look at fleeting fame, and how some people become famous for little or no reason at all.
A short illustrated section called “A Metropolitan Sketchbook” is next. It’s moderately intriguing, but I enjoy Wolfe’s writing more than his drawing.
“The Saturday Route” follows rich New Yorkers making the rounds of the art galleries on the Upper East Side.
“The Luther of Columbus Circle” profiles millionaire Huntington Hartford, who hated abstract art and opened the Gallery of Modern Art in 1964. This piece would have been more interesting if Wolfe would have been able to interview Hartford.
“The New Art Gallery Society” details a lavish party for the 1964 expansion of the Museum of Modern Art.
“The Secret Vice” is all about buttons on men’s suits. Again, Wolfe is bringing you information on something you didn’t even know you cared about! It’s the most John O’Hara-like piece in the book, as Wolfe points out tiny details that are subtle markers of status.
“The Nanny Mafia” is about the influence that nannies have over the rich families they work for. Again, Wolfe is delineating careful gradations of status. In his 1966 interview with Vogue magazine, Wolfe said, “Perfect journalism would deal constantly with one subject: status. And every article written would be devoted to discovering and defining some new status.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.9)
“Putting Daddy On” was, for me, one of the least interesting pieces in the book. It’s about a father tracking down his son who has dropped out of college to live in the East Village. The father drags Wolfe along for the ride.
“A Sunday Kind of Love” describes the thrill of lazy Sundays in New York. It’s a good little piece.
“The Woman Who Has Everything” is about the struggles of a young divorcee trying to find love in Manhattan. It’s well done, and it shows what a good reporter Wolfe is. Elaine Dundy quizzed Wolfe about his reporting habits in her 1966 interview of him, asking him, “Doesn’t the notebook put people off? Not at all, he claims, as we are all victims of what he calls ‘information compulsion’-i.e., the desire to unload whatever is currently on our minds.” (Conversations with Tom Wolfe, p.7-8)
“The Voices of Village Square” is a short piece about female prisoners yelling out the windows of the Women’s House of Detention, which overlooked Village Square, in the heart of Greenwich Village.
“Why Doormen Hate Volkswagens” is an interesting piece about a doorman who parks cars for his tenants.
“The Big League Complex” is right up Wolfe’s alley, as it is all about status in New York City. It’s a good piece to end the book with.
If you want to know where Tom Wolfe’s exciting writing style came from, go for a ride in The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.
December 14, 2021
A könyv címe hosszú évek óta bűvöl, alig vártam, hogy elolvashassam. Erre az elején egyre jobban körvonalazódó kétségbeesés kerített hatalmába, a harmadánál már az imádkozással ekvivalens dolgokra vetemedtem, könyörögtem Tom Wolfe-nak, hogy végre jöjjön már rá, miképpen is ír Tom Wolfe, mert ez rettenetes, elkalandozó, zavaros, önmagára csavarodó. Ahogy kedves molyismerősöm kérdésére válaszolva mondtam: pontosan úgy viselkedett, mint a nagyapám (ezekamaifiatalok stb.), az életkora pedig súlyosbító körülmény, hiszen alig harminc éves. Aztán a kötet közepe táján kezdett felvillanni, majd magára találni a későbbi Wolfe, a csúfondáros, okos, jó tollú esszéista, aki mindenféle területeken képes otthonra lelni és azok körüljárását egészen magas fokon művelni. Ezáltal a könyv is, én is megmentődtünk, hiszen a végére már élvezhettem is, amit olvasok. Mentő körülményként szolgáljon az, hogy ez volt az első könyve, azaz kezdőnek számít(ott). Attól eltekintve, hogy a választott témán belül igen változatos jelenségeket jár körül, nem tudom többre értékelni, mint amennyire. Noha a fordítás nem az ő bűne, sajnos emiatt is kénytelen voltam vonni. Ám – tadam, jön az örök, minden rosszban a jót meglátó! – érdemes elolvasni, noha nem nyújt maradéktalan élvezetet.
February 13, 2013
I remember reading this book in 1968 and being electrified by the wonderful descriptive passages that seemed to use a new language of buzz.
September 11, 2020
Tom Wolfe's first published book, a collection of articles he wrote for newspapers and magazines. I am a fan of his fiction but not so much of this writing. The collection does show how he influenced or perhaps even invented the creative non-fiction genre. It also gives a good cultural overview of the early 1960s in America.
August 17, 2023
Some of these essays and magazine pieces aren't as interesting as the author makes them out to be - but overall there's a big stylistic feature here, as well as a lot of American period culture. Good stuff, aged well enough.
Oh, and Tom Wolfe totally had a lead on Hunter S, and Bret Easton Ellis, and a whole lot of other great latecomers to this party.
Oh, and Tom Wolfe totally had a lead on Hunter S, and Bret Easton Ellis, and a whole lot of other great latecomers to this party.
November 4, 2024
3.5
Kind of felt like I woke up in New York in the 60s with amnesia while my quirky fast-talking companion tried to explain the world to me and every once in a while I got to say “oh! Muhammad Ali! I know that guy!” or “hmm…. This pop star you’re talking about…. Surely he doesn’t become a convicted murderer and die in jail in 50 years….” Cool to see what mattered then, and consider how little of contemporary culture will matter in 2080.
Kind of felt like I woke up in New York in the 60s with amnesia while my quirky fast-talking companion tried to explain the world to me and every once in a while I got to say “oh! Muhammad Ali! I know that guy!” or “hmm…. This pop star you’re talking about…. Surely he doesn’t become a convicted murderer and die in jail in 50 years….” Cool to see what mattered then, and consider how little of contemporary culture will matter in 2080.
November 28, 2022
BAM !! 4.5 ster voor deze bundel met een 20 tal korte verhalen waar het ontstaan van popculture in Amerika van de pagina's af spat. Tom Wolfe is er bij als rages ontstaan , de culturele elite aansluit en paparazzi het nieuws gaan bepalen . Het charisma van Cassius Clay of de waanzin van Phil Spector naast de it girls van Warhol en opkomst van stockcar race kampioenen zijn met zo veel uitbundigheid en humor verteld dat je er bijna bij bent. Wat een flashback ....
April 26, 2022
When I first sought out this book, I was expecting a gonzo psychedelic adventure a la "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," but I was wrong -- and enjoyed it anyway.
Tom Wolfe became known later in his life for his iconic white suit and his long novels such as "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "A Man in Full." But he cut his teeth on journalistic writings, and the essays in "Kandy-Kolored" come from this era, when he was writing for Esquire and The New York Herald Tribune, among others.
What struck me was that most of these essays were written in the early 1960s, with the subject matter often being topics that were of interest to regular people (the term "proles" makes an appearance frequently), and the target audience being upper crust types who had no experience with said topics. The piece from which the book takes its name was about Wolfe's visit to a convention of custom car enthusiasts in California, and his theme of reporting from the ground continues in essays about then-fairly-young Las Vegas, the growing phenomena of stock car racing and demolition derbies, mavericks challenging the "members-only" nature of the art world, music industry, and other exclusive 'clubs" while finding their niche in societies that don't really care to make room for them, and the status games related to New York's institutions both established and hidden, from social scenes to the delicate politics of the world of families with (or WITHOUT) nannies.
My favorite part of reading this book was the reporting of cultural phenomena by a contemporary. Reading about the roots of topics that are now reported as history (for example, Phil Spector and the rise of rock and roll, the fledgling years of Vegas, and the unlikely but apparently inevitable rise of auto racing and custom cars as cultural juggernauts). Reading about these things 60 years after the fact is one thing; reading them from the vantage point of someone who was actually there presents a much different perspective that is much closer to a primary source for someone like me, who is fascinated with popular culture and how it was shaped.
If that sounds right up your alley, then definitely seek out this book. I found myself constantly looking up terms that didn't ring a bell for me (such as "winkle pickers," a pointy-toed boot or shoe popular with certain rock and roll types in the early '60s, and "Chicago boxcar," a hairstyle that combined a flat-top with a ducktail back), which made the reading experience that much more rich. However, the flip side of that is that Wolfe wrote using the language of the day, which means that people may have issues if they are sensitive to certain words and ideas that may or may not be politically correct today. If you can get past that, though, you'll find that there is much here to enjoy.
Tom Wolfe became known later in his life for his iconic white suit and his long novels such as "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "A Man in Full." But he cut his teeth on journalistic writings, and the essays in "Kandy-Kolored" come from this era, when he was writing for Esquire and The New York Herald Tribune, among others.
What struck me was that most of these essays were written in the early 1960s, with the subject matter often being topics that were of interest to regular people (the term "proles" makes an appearance frequently), and the target audience being upper crust types who had no experience with said topics. The piece from which the book takes its name was about Wolfe's visit to a convention of custom car enthusiasts in California, and his theme of reporting from the ground continues in essays about then-fairly-young Las Vegas, the growing phenomena of stock car racing and demolition derbies, mavericks challenging the "members-only" nature of the art world, music industry, and other exclusive 'clubs" while finding their niche in societies that don't really care to make room for them, and the status games related to New York's institutions both established and hidden, from social scenes to the delicate politics of the world of families with (or WITHOUT) nannies.
My favorite part of reading this book was the reporting of cultural phenomena by a contemporary. Reading about the roots of topics that are now reported as history (for example, Phil Spector and the rise of rock and roll, the fledgling years of Vegas, and the unlikely but apparently inevitable rise of auto racing and custom cars as cultural juggernauts). Reading about these things 60 years after the fact is one thing; reading them from the vantage point of someone who was actually there presents a much different perspective that is much closer to a primary source for someone like me, who is fascinated with popular culture and how it was shaped.
If that sounds right up your alley, then definitely seek out this book. I found myself constantly looking up terms that didn't ring a bell for me (such as "winkle pickers," a pointy-toed boot or shoe popular with certain rock and roll types in the early '60s, and "Chicago boxcar," a hairstyle that combined a flat-top with a ducktail back), which made the reading experience that much more rich. However, the flip side of that is that Wolfe wrote using the language of the day, which means that people may have issues if they are sensitive to certain words and ideas that may or may not be politically correct today. If you can get past that, though, you'll find that there is much here to enjoy.
May 22, 2022
No doubt a strange book. And another book that’s good to experience in the audible format. It was published in the mid-1960s but apparently not converted to audible until about 2017 or thereabouts.
This book covers a wealth of territory but it is all apparently reflective of the 1960s. It has a number of segments about cars. A lot about dragracing in the south which is a little bit fascinating to me as a northerner who relocated to Virginia later in life. One time when I got a new job in the south the first question that people asked me when I started work was who my favorite NASCAR driver was? I have still managed to live in Virginia for 20 years now without having a favorite NASCAR driver. But I enjoyed listening to the stories about Junior Johnson and others.
There were also a number of stories about life in New York City for the rich people. Since this was set in the 1960s you have to remember that that is 60 years ago now. If you were not a person of my age which happens to be 75, a lot of the references from the 1960s might go right past you.
I am told that this is the first book by this well-known author and that it was a big hit. I am not quite sure if I believe that since it took over 50 years to make it to the Audible market.
This book covers a wealth of territory but it is all apparently reflective of the 1960s. It has a number of segments about cars. A lot about dragracing in the south which is a little bit fascinating to me as a northerner who relocated to Virginia later in life. One time when I got a new job in the south the first question that people asked me when I started work was who my favorite NASCAR driver was? I have still managed to live in Virginia for 20 years now without having a favorite NASCAR driver. But I enjoyed listening to the stories about Junior Johnson and others.
There were also a number of stories about life in New York City for the rich people. Since this was set in the 1960s you have to remember that that is 60 years ago now. If you were not a person of my age which happens to be 75, a lot of the references from the 1960s might go right past you.
I am told that this is the first book by this well-known author and that it was a big hit. I am not quite sure if I believe that since it took over 50 years to make it to the Audible market.
May 30, 2014
This was my first exposure to Wolfe, and though I think I can see the appeal of his writing, I have to admit that this book didn't really speak to me the way I hoped it would. The writing has a certain "beat" flair, though I'm not certain that Wolfe would appreciate being thrown in with beat writers.
I finished this book a couple of months ago, and now I am having difficulty remembering the topics Wolfe covered, indicating both that I have a weak memory but also that the book didn't make too big of an impression. The one exception is the essay on Cassius Clay (later to take the name Muhammad Ali) where Wolfe seems to be giving us a real look at Clay/Ali and the way he is balancing his public reputation against the tedious grind of celebrity niceties. It feels like we getting a sense of something true, and being made privy to an inner conflict that Clay/Ali usually kept hidden from cameras or the media.
At this juncture, I'm looking forward to reading more of Wolfe's works that are more mature, and seeing where he is able to take his writing. This collection ultimately feels undercooked.
I finished this book a couple of months ago, and now I am having difficulty remembering the topics Wolfe covered, indicating both that I have a weak memory but also that the book didn't make too big of an impression. The one exception is the essay on Cassius Clay (later to take the name Muhammad Ali) where Wolfe seems to be giving us a real look at Clay/Ali and the way he is balancing his public reputation against the tedious grind of celebrity niceties. It feels like we getting a sense of something true, and being made privy to an inner conflict that Clay/Ali usually kept hidden from cameras or the media.
At this juncture, I'm looking forward to reading more of Wolfe's works that are more mature, and seeing where he is able to take his writing. This collection ultimately feels undercooked.
April 12, 2015
How much of this fades into cultural referential obscurity and how much remains as a period piece of Deep Truths About the American Condition will continue to clarify with time I suspect. The name dropping density shies dangerously close to the thread count of the emperor's new clothes, but the bit about functional suit sleeve buttons is unequivocally for the ages.
June 27, 2020
Siamo nella prima metà degli anni sessanta in america, e c'è aria di novità per le strade: cambiano l'arte, l'intrattenimento, le convenzioni sociali e gli sport e tutto il resto, e i giovani...beh, sono sempre stati un enigma per gli adulti e adesso lo sono ancor di più.
Tom wolfe reagisce come solo un grande giornalista può fare e si mescola alle novità (in fondo lui stesso un elemento di disturbo, con i suoi completi bianchissimi) cercando di capire prima ancora di giudicare, e ne esce una fotografia perfetta del periodo.
Wolfe incontra le nuove figure del mondo giovanile (gli artisti delle auto rods, i piloti dei demolition derby, i surfers, il dj radiofonico murray the k, phil spector) assorbendone il gergo senza suonare ridicolo (un trucco che tanti giornalisti mainstream e poi tanti blogger tenteranno fallendo miseramente, e che invece l'autore ripeterà con successo anche in "l'acid test al rinfresko elettriko"), si interessa alla nascente industria dell'intrattenimento erotico/pornografico incontrando hugh hefner e la stripper carol doda, mostra il dietro le quinte del mercato della nuova arte e con il ritratto di marshall mcluhan mostra anche una possibile chiave di lettura di tutto questo.
Persino quando al giornalismo si affianca il velenoso pettegolezzo wolfe non perde stile e lucidità:la sua descrizione delle regole e degli habitat della nuova (più o meno) alta borghesia per quanto feroce non perde mai la voglia di capire e soprattutto di far capire ai lettori.
Solo una volta perde le staffe, ed è di fronte a quegli automatismi che pure nella villa del padre-padrone di playboy l'avevano incantato ma che burocratizzati nella struttura dell'albergo hilton si rivelano fonte di scene degne di "tempi moderni": ma qui è difficile non dargli torto...
Tom wolfe reagisce come solo un grande giornalista può fare e si mescola alle novità (in fondo lui stesso un elemento di disturbo, con i suoi completi bianchissimi) cercando di capire prima ancora di giudicare, e ne esce una fotografia perfetta del periodo.
Wolfe incontra le nuove figure del mondo giovanile (gli artisti delle auto rods, i piloti dei demolition derby, i surfers, il dj radiofonico murray the k, phil spector) assorbendone il gergo senza suonare ridicolo (un trucco che tanti giornalisti mainstream e poi tanti blogger tenteranno fallendo miseramente, e che invece l'autore ripeterà con successo anche in "l'acid test al rinfresko elettriko"), si interessa alla nascente industria dell'intrattenimento erotico/pornografico incontrando hugh hefner e la stripper carol doda, mostra il dietro le quinte del mercato della nuova arte e con il ritratto di marshall mcluhan mostra anche una possibile chiave di lettura di tutto questo.
Persino quando al giornalismo si affianca il velenoso pettegolezzo wolfe non perde stile e lucidità:la sua descrizione delle regole e degli habitat della nuova (più o meno) alta borghesia per quanto feroce non perde mai la voglia di capire e soprattutto di far capire ai lettori.
Solo una volta perde le staffe, ed è di fronte a quegli automatismi che pure nella villa del padre-padrone di playboy l'avevano incantato ma che burocratizzati nella struttura dell'albergo hilton si rivelano fonte di scene degne di "tempi moderni": ma qui è difficile non dargli torto...
October 22, 2021
With its NSFG pulp cover (that's Not Safe For Goodreads, obviously) and curiosity-piquing list of "characters" on the blurb, I was VERY excited to read this. That said, I thought it was gonna be fiction, which it isn't - well, not really.
A compilation of journalistic essays which combine the specific cultural interests of Barthes' Mythologies and the hip-and-happening narration of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 'The Kandy-Koloured Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby' is, overall, pretty good!
Exploring the insecurities of socialites, emerging blue-collar thrills, contemporary perspectives on art and galleries, and the mysterious power of celebrity, the essays work really well in themselves AND juxtaposed with each other, but the book is just a bit too long. Some essays, like those on drag car racing, custom suits, and the art gallery social scene of the 60s are given too much time and space for how interesting (or boring) they are, which drags the whole book down, as suddenly the bizarre and unprecedented phenomena it looks at feel more pointless or silly. Wolfe's writing is generally brilliant at investing 2D prose with some of the excitement of its subjects, but at some (admittedly infrequent) moments it felt like the only thing keeping me even vaguely interested. If you add to all that my slight bias against non-fiction, then you get a book which is definitely cool, but unfortunately not as vital as it hopes to be (or that I hoped it would be. Death of the reader? Who knows!)
A compilation of journalistic essays which combine the specific cultural interests of Barthes' Mythologies and the hip-and-happening narration of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 'The Kandy-Koloured Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby' is, overall, pretty good!
Exploring the insecurities of socialites, emerging blue-collar thrills, contemporary perspectives on art and galleries, and the mysterious power of celebrity, the essays work really well in themselves AND juxtaposed with each other, but the book is just a bit too long. Some essays, like those on drag car racing, custom suits, and the art gallery social scene of the 60s are given too much time and space for how interesting (or boring) they are, which drags the whole book down, as suddenly the bizarre and unprecedented phenomena it looks at feel more pointless or silly. Wolfe's writing is generally brilliant at investing 2D prose with some of the excitement of its subjects, but at some (admittedly infrequent) moments it felt like the only thing keeping me even vaguely interested. If you add to all that my slight bias against non-fiction, then you get a book which is definitely cool, but unfortunately not as vital as it hopes to be (or that I hoped it would be. Death of the reader? Who knows!)
December 15, 2019
Overheated essays, written in the new journalism style—for 1964—and presented hot off the typewriter with minimal editing. Here. Now. Happening.
My weak attempt at Wolfean prose there, or something.
I have wanted to read this book since 1984 after I read two of his other books of essays. What a disappointment. This collection of British Invasion era American observations does not hold up well and for good reason: the people are forgotten (Baby Jane Holzer? Helene?), the institutions no longer exist (Gallery of New York?, the Peppermint Lounge?, Confidential magazine?), car culture is no longer new or hip, Cuban Missle Crisis New York socialites and their society is forgotten, the big celebrities are dead (Cary Grant, Muhammed Ali), and, well, who cares about New York nannies, doormen, and the problems of finding a date when you’re a rich divorced woman in 1962, or something.
Yes, and you’ll get tired of reading “or something” tagged at the end of countless paragraphs.
I did enjoy the essay about Phil Spector as a teenage mover and shaker, but that says more about me than it does the book.
You might enjoy the book for its cast in amber effect. It really captures the era of bouffant hair, Capri slacks, and dancing the Frug, but you will need Wikipedia access to decipher all the forgotten names dropped, long-gone products touted, and closed joints discussed. Or something.
My weak attempt at Wolfean prose there, or something.
I have wanted to read this book since 1984 after I read two of his other books of essays. What a disappointment. This collection of British Invasion era American observations does not hold up well and for good reason: the people are forgotten (Baby Jane Holzer? Helene?), the institutions no longer exist (Gallery of New York?, the Peppermint Lounge?, Confidential magazine?), car culture is no longer new or hip, Cuban Missle Crisis New York socialites and their society is forgotten, the big celebrities are dead (Cary Grant, Muhammed Ali), and, well, who cares about New York nannies, doormen, and the problems of finding a date when you’re a rich divorced woman in 1962, or something.
Yes, and you’ll get tired of reading “or something” tagged at the end of countless paragraphs.
I did enjoy the essay about Phil Spector as a teenage mover and shaker, but that says more about me than it does the book.
You might enjoy the book for its cast in amber effect. It really captures the era of bouffant hair, Capri slacks, and dancing the Frug, but you will need Wikipedia access to decipher all the forgotten names dropped, long-gone products touted, and closed joints discussed. Or something.
August 11, 2010
Tom Wolfe offers a very unique look at the different cultural groups of America, from fringe sport enthusiasts and mega-rockers, to status-hungry socialites and other affluent New Yorkers who do little more than complain about everything and jockey for social position. While the first half of the book, dealing with pop culture and fringe society, is vastly more entertaining than the second half, dealing with the debutantes and captain-of-industry dandies; the entire book is permeated with Wolfe's extraordinary ability to weave words and produce captivating journalism from the seemingly mundane. He is a master at piercing through the superficial façade of these caricatures and showing the raw and vulnerable humanism that lies beneath. The only thing that I found unsettling was his obsessive use of the esoteric adjective "atherosclerotic". Besides that strange quirk, I thought the collection was extremely well written and quite engrossing. Case in point - he is writing about socialites and stock cars drivers from the early 60's, which is not the typical milieu for someone such as myself (under 30 and despises fame seekers and stock cars racing), yet I still breezed through the book and enjoyed every page. I would definitely recommend this as an historic look at some very intriguing Americana.
March 1, 2021
My biggest issue with most of the stories is that Wolfe forgets to include himself, the journalist/reporter as a participating actor in the events. Without this element, a lot of stories just seem boring.
I don't think this collection of essays adds up to more than the sum of its parts, so I will give ratings (out of 10) for each of them individually. Anything below 5.5 on my scale qualifies as 'unreadable' to various extents.
[ Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can't Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!! - 9 ]
Great fun, which unfortunately sets the standard a little too high for the rest of the book.
[ Clean Fun at Riverhead - 7.5 ]
I think I rated this high because I was still surfing high on the previous story. The story about demolition derbies is fun, but forgettable in the end.
[ The Fifth Beatle - 6 ]
Here is where the book starts to become quite boring. I think it has to with generous allocation of paragraphs for individual famous people like this DJ guy. I put the book down a few times from this point on, something I would not have expected after the first two stories.
[ The Peppermint Lounge Revisited - 6.5 ]
Marginally more interesting than the previous story, but ultimately doesn't excite much. Forgettable description of a forgettable phenomenon.
[ The First Tycoon of Teen - 5 ]
I had to skip over several sections of this one. It was just way too boring and stretched. It's obvious now that I have a bad taste for famous people in this book. Wolfe just doesn't bring enough exciting things to the table.
[ The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby - 6 ]
The namesake of the collection; I had high hopes, especially after the poor run of the last few stories. I skipped over a few sections because it was too long and boring and I couldn't get through it and I didn't want to put the book down again. Some interesting stuff about car modification and the world around it, but dragged out elements hinder the flow too much. About five pages would have been enough.
[ The Marvelous Mouth - 5.5 ]
Another celebrity showcase, this time it's Cassius Clay. This one barely managed to hold my attention. It's becoming clear Wolfe includes every note he takes in the story. For the substance this story has, I think 3-4 pages is the maximum.
[ The Last American Hero - 7.5 ]
Great, but filled with boring filler.
[ Loverboy of the Bourgeoisie - 7.5 ]
Not great, but not too long either. I think this length suits the less interesting stories very well, and plenty of them would have scored higher if they were shorter like this.
[ Purveyor of the Public Life - ? 7 I guess]
I forgot to jot down a score for this one. It's cool, this Harrison guy is famous but actually DOES something and is passionate about it. He's not trying to be famous. He's trying to be accomplished in something that's looked down upon. Plus points for going someplace with them, this is heading more into Gonzo journalism that I love when done right.
[ The Girl of the Year - 8 ]
Baby Jane the number one girl this year because she's cool like that. While this is also about a single individual, I think it's much more exciting than say, the Fifth Beatle.
[ The Saturday Route - 6.5 ]
While done well, I think the subject matter is not very interesting. All these pretentious high class people are not cool, man! Thankfully, it's not too long.
[ The Luther of Columbus Circle - 7 ]
Now here's a pretentious high class guy that also tries to do his own thing, setting up an art colony and stuff like that. He's alright.
[ The New Art Gallery Society - 8 ]
Finally another story with a fitting length, the Museum of Modern Art reopening extravaganza. Wolfe offers valuable insights in the pretentiousness of the whole thing. Could have been improved if he placed himself in the story and got some more interesting quotes.
[ The Secret Vice - 7.5 ]
A nice, cute story about male silliness. These are the kinds of topics that Wolfe shines through. While not extremely interesting, I rate it highly because of how well the author pulls off such a banal topic.
[ The Nanny Mafia - 7.5 ]
I wonder how Wolfe got to know about this phenomenon. It seems terrifyingly awful! Imagine being rich and then forced to get a nanny like one of these!
[ Putting Daddy On - 8.5 ]
A clashing of cultures! This is a wonderful story with Wolfe himself one of the primary figures. I love it. The chasm between Parker and his son is unbridgeable.
[ A Sunday Kind of Love - 7.5 ]
Necking in the depths of the subway, that's Love! I liked this for the insight it gave me on how nice a day Sunday is in the excruciating business of New York.
[ The Woman Who Has Everything - 5 ]
I skipped over this one, I don't know why exactly but I did. It was another boring story that contrasted too much with the lovely goodness surrounding it.
[ The Voices of Village Square - 7.5 ]
A fine example of a quirky, random phenomenon that is worth writing about. I wish Wolfe explored more exactly why this detention center is so repulsive. Now it sounds like a lot of fun.
[ Why Doormen Hate Volkswagens - 8.5 ]
An awesome story about a regular guy who qualifies for the embodiment of lower class NYC hustling. And finally a great gonzo moment at the very end:
"The cabbie stares at Roy and then he looks at me with that quizzical, sempiternal New York cab driver look that asks the impartial judge, "Who the hell is this nut?"
[ The Big League Complex - 8 ]
I think writers like Wolfe and Thompson are at their best on broader, sociological topics. This is a good example of that. Wolfe combines several stories into one larger message here, something that should've been done with earlier stories as well (or he should have discarded them - oh well, he was writing for a living).
----------------
As a general review, I will give it four stars because there were a lot of interesting stories that I wouldn't have like to miss (everything I gave 8+). Unfortunately, there is some very boring stuff here, the omission of which would have greatly enhanced the overall quality. If you want to read this book, read only the things I gave a 7 or higher.
Kind regards,
Beer
I don't think this collection of essays adds up to more than the sum of its parts, so I will give ratings (out of 10) for each of them individually. Anything below 5.5 on my scale qualifies as 'unreadable' to various extents.
[ Las Vegas (What?) Las Vegas (Can't Hear You! Too Noisy) Las Vegas!!!! - 9 ]
Great fun, which unfortunately sets the standard a little too high for the rest of the book.
[ Clean Fun at Riverhead - 7.5 ]
I think I rated this high because I was still surfing high on the previous story. The story about demolition derbies is fun, but forgettable in the end.
[ The Fifth Beatle - 6 ]
Here is where the book starts to become quite boring. I think it has to with generous allocation of paragraphs for individual famous people like this DJ guy. I put the book down a few times from this point on, something I would not have expected after the first two stories.
[ The Peppermint Lounge Revisited - 6.5 ]
Marginally more interesting than the previous story, but ultimately doesn't excite much. Forgettable description of a forgettable phenomenon.
[ The First Tycoon of Teen - 5 ]
I had to skip over several sections of this one. It was just way too boring and stretched. It's obvious now that I have a bad taste for famous people in this book. Wolfe just doesn't bring enough exciting things to the table.
[ The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby - 6 ]
The namesake of the collection; I had high hopes, especially after the poor run of the last few stories. I skipped over a few sections because it was too long and boring and I couldn't get through it and I didn't want to put the book down again. Some interesting stuff about car modification and the world around it, but dragged out elements hinder the flow too much. About five pages would have been enough.
[ The Marvelous Mouth - 5.5 ]
Another celebrity showcase, this time it's Cassius Clay. This one barely managed to hold my attention. It's becoming clear Wolfe includes every note he takes in the story. For the substance this story has, I think 3-4 pages is the maximum.
[ The Last American Hero - 7.5 ]
Great, but filled with boring filler.
[ Loverboy of the Bourgeoisie - 7.5 ]
Not great, but not too long either. I think this length suits the less interesting stories very well, and plenty of them would have scored higher if they were shorter like this.
[ Purveyor of the Public Life - ? 7 I guess]
I forgot to jot down a score for this one. It's cool, this Harrison guy is famous but actually DOES something and is passionate about it. He's not trying to be famous. He's trying to be accomplished in something that's looked down upon. Plus points for going someplace with them, this is heading more into Gonzo journalism that I love when done right.
[ The Girl of the Year - 8 ]
Baby Jane the number one girl this year because she's cool like that. While this is also about a single individual, I think it's much more exciting than say, the Fifth Beatle.
[ The Saturday Route - 6.5 ]
While done well, I think the subject matter is not very interesting. All these pretentious high class people are not cool, man! Thankfully, it's not too long.
[ The Luther of Columbus Circle - 7 ]
Now here's a pretentious high class guy that also tries to do his own thing, setting up an art colony and stuff like that. He's alright.
[ The New Art Gallery Society - 8 ]
Finally another story with a fitting length, the Museum of Modern Art reopening extravaganza. Wolfe offers valuable insights in the pretentiousness of the whole thing. Could have been improved if he placed himself in the story and got some more interesting quotes.
[ The Secret Vice - 7.5 ]
A nice, cute story about male silliness. These are the kinds of topics that Wolfe shines through. While not extremely interesting, I rate it highly because of how well the author pulls off such a banal topic.
[ The Nanny Mafia - 7.5 ]
I wonder how Wolfe got to know about this phenomenon. It seems terrifyingly awful! Imagine being rich and then forced to get a nanny like one of these!
[ Putting Daddy On - 8.5 ]
A clashing of cultures! This is a wonderful story with Wolfe himself one of the primary figures. I love it. The chasm between Parker and his son is unbridgeable.
[ A Sunday Kind of Love - 7.5 ]
Necking in the depths of the subway, that's Love! I liked this for the insight it gave me on how nice a day Sunday is in the excruciating business of New York.
[ The Woman Who Has Everything - 5 ]
I skipped over this one, I don't know why exactly but I did. It was another boring story that contrasted too much with the lovely goodness surrounding it.
[ The Voices of Village Square - 7.5 ]
A fine example of a quirky, random phenomenon that is worth writing about. I wish Wolfe explored more exactly why this detention center is so repulsive. Now it sounds like a lot of fun.
[ Why Doormen Hate Volkswagens - 8.5 ]
An awesome story about a regular guy who qualifies for the embodiment of lower class NYC hustling. And finally a great gonzo moment at the very end:
"The cabbie stares at Roy and then he looks at me with that quizzical, sempiternal New York cab driver look that asks the impartial judge, "Who the hell is this nut?"
[ The Big League Complex - 8 ]
I think writers like Wolfe and Thompson are at their best on broader, sociological topics. This is a good example of that. Wolfe combines several stories into one larger message here, something that should've been done with earlier stories as well (or he should have discarded them - oh well, he was writing for a living).
----------------
As a general review, I will give it four stars because there were a lot of interesting stories that I wouldn't have like to miss (everything I gave 8+). Unfortunately, there is some very boring stuff here, the omission of which would have greatly enhanced the overall quality. If you want to read this book, read only the things I gave a 7 or higher.
Kind regards,
Beer
March 19, 2022
1.5 stars
In the introduction of this volume, Wolfe explains the basic concept of the book. There are all of these fringe groups, weird subcultures that might slowly gain more popularity but are still too obscure or unusual to pick up mainstream media coverage. Wolfe uses the example of sports that had dramatic rises with the post World War 2 boom economy for the lower classes, leading to new ideas like nascar and custom car design. It's a really great pitch and Wolfe had already cemented his credibility in the new journalism scene alongside Hunter S Thompson and Norman Mailer.
While initially excited, he unfortunate truth is I realized quickly that I'm just not interested in these fringe sports or groups like custom car enthusiasts or early Vegas gamblers. That and there are several stories dedicated to the lives of wealthy socialites that are beyond dull.
I do enjoy several of Tom Wolfe's other works, but I found myself just skim reading through this one to get to the more interesting segments.
In the introduction of this volume, Wolfe explains the basic concept of the book. There are all of these fringe groups, weird subcultures that might slowly gain more popularity but are still too obscure or unusual to pick up mainstream media coverage. Wolfe uses the example of sports that had dramatic rises with the post World War 2 boom economy for the lower classes, leading to new ideas like nascar and custom car design. It's a really great pitch and Wolfe had already cemented his credibility in the new journalism scene alongside Hunter S Thompson and Norman Mailer.
While initially excited, he unfortunate truth is I realized quickly that I'm just not interested in these fringe sports or groups like custom car enthusiasts or early Vegas gamblers. That and there are several stories dedicated to the lives of wealthy socialites that are beyond dull.
I do enjoy several of Tom Wolfe's other works, but I found myself just skim reading through this one to get to the more interesting segments.
October 24, 2019
I'm not sure what I think about this book. It's a real commentary on what was going on in the 60's in popular culture. I was just a young girl at the time, which was part of the reason I wanted to read it. I was curious about what things were like outside of my suburban sheltered world. It answers a lot of questions about how society soon morphed into what we see today. I found the writing style a bit hard to follow. I think Tom Wolfe is a very good writer but it's as if I'm listening to someone who has ADD and I find him a bit incoherent. As I was going along, I looked up lots of references to people, places and things that I was not familiar with. It was a real learning experience. Someone born in the early fifties or before would probably appreciate this book even more. If you liked the "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" book by Tom Wolfe, you probably would enjoy this book as well.
November 28, 2010
I've always admired Tom Wolfe the journalist - it's not just that his observations are astute, as many many literary critics have pointed out - but that he balances humor and sadness in a unique way. What is startling about this collection of essays (written in the early 1960's) is how true it still is today, forty years later. Vegas and the senior citizen population; the nanny mafia in the Upper East Side; the It Girl of the year; 22 year-old millionaires. It is all fresh and true. His observation that cultural trends are no longer dictated by the bourgeoisie but rather by the "proles" is definitely still true to this day, as is his oft-repeated insistence that teenagers form the elusive, if important, economic base. This whole collection is very good, but one particular essay, about Cary Grant's particular brand of masculinity, is worth buying the whole book for.
January 20, 2019
As a history geek I found Wolfe's description of the rise of popular culture Americana interesting, but I had difficulties in adjusting to Wolfe's writing. I can not pinpoint down the exact reason why: Maybe it is because that while Wolfe makes many to the point observations that crystallize the atmosphere of the 1960s, I personally do not like the atmosphere (or maybe I am picking up Wolfe's own dislike). Maybe it is his prose, which near over-the-top brilliant (and the author is also self-conscious about it).
In my opinion, the best essay in the collection is not the one that lent the book its title, but The Marvelous Mouth, in which one day of the life of Cassius Clay is described, and it is truly larger than life. (And I feel that Wolfe is laughing with Clay, not at him. At least, not too much.)
In my opinion, the best essay in the collection is not the one that lent the book its title, but The Marvelous Mouth, in which one day of the life of Cassius Clay is described, and it is truly larger than life. (And I feel that Wolfe is laughing with Clay, not at him. At least, not too much.)
May 3, 2018
For those my age, 70, this is a great read. Unless you well remember the early 60’s much of the humor is lost. This book, while well thought of today, 50 years from now will be forgotten. If you don’t have the context you just don’t get it.
That said, it is a marvelous view of the early 60’s, particularly of New York City. The series of essays, previously published in magazines, are written in a rambling, almost stream of conciseness style. He makes comments on the common place, but much of the common place is long gone. Glad I read it, but again, if you are over 68 I recommend it, if younger, pass.
That said, it is a marvelous view of the early 60’s, particularly of New York City. The series of essays, previously published in magazines, are written in a rambling, almost stream of conciseness style. He makes comments on the common place, but much of the common place is long gone. Glad I read it, but again, if you are over 68 I recommend it, if younger, pass.
August 9, 2016
The reason I enyojed this book was mostly because of Tom Wolfe's insightful description of the early 60's, a time I am only rudimentarily familiar with from film and TV, but never got to see for myself. Certain topics, such as custom cars or the work of New York City doormen, I could relate to a bit, or at least picture in my mind. Others, such as celebrities of various kinds, were utterly unfamiliar to me, so I did not get such a kick out of them. Regardless, Wolfe's writing style is as enjoyable as ever.
August 21, 2017
Wolfe has some interesting things to say. His style is almost a proto-gonzo journalism. It's similar to Hunter Thompson's style but without any of Thompson's bite, or grit. Wolfe presents a clean and descriptive asthetic, but he seems almost obsessed with the bourgeois culturati of the early 60's and late 50's which just made some of the prose excruciatingly bland. Some of the prose pieces were fantastic, like; The Fifth Beatle, The last American Hero, and his piece on Phil Spector, but a good bit of this book fell flat as an early step towards gonzo-narrative journalism.
September 23, 2008
This collection of essays read all together is almost overwhelming; Wolfe captures the spirit of an age perfectly...or so I think, having not been there the first time around. Amazing to remember that some of the things we take for granted--like in the first essay, the Vegas Strip--were new and exciting just a few decades ago.
Wolfe has a few pet vocabulary words that become quickly overused, but that's my only quibble with this fantastic collection.
Wolfe has a few pet vocabulary words that become quickly overused, but that's my only quibble with this fantastic collection.
April 23, 2018
While it's not my favorite of his work, if nothing else reading "A Sunday Kind of Love" made me nostalgic for a life I have never had, and that will never again exist in this rapid attention deficient hyper sexualized spectacle we call modern life. Not all the essays were stunning it's true but one can't deny the wit, wickedly funny observations and smirking insight via brilliant turn of phrase Wolfe's pen delivers.
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