Ask Tom Wolfe

hi there
Which of your novels satisfy your hungry mind as well as you expect?

Tom-
I have enjoyed all your writing, but especially your novels. Do you ever think of writing a Wall Street meltdown type of novel? I'm thinking of all the carnage that is happening - Bear Stearns going out of business, mortgage mess, lay-offs, finger pointing, etc.. This would be an interesting time for another novel like "Bonfire of the Vanities."

I have been reading your work faithfully since you taught a seminar at architecture school in the 60's- Learning From Las Vegas.

When is your next book due, and who and what will be so arfully and mercilessly skewered, sliced and diced?

what is your favorite book?

Who, in today's society, do you feel is displaying “The Right Stuff?”

Last week, TIME readers asked questions to pot-smoking actor/comedian Seth Rogen, and his funny but obtuse responses seemed to support the notion that today's high-profile drug users are more Everyman idiots than artistic innovators. Has the drug culture been stripped of its intellect?

Your "recent" work has been fiction.
Your earlier work was non-fiction.
Will you return to non-fiction?

Have you considered writing a sequel to the Right Stuff?
I enjoyed it so much, I would have read as many pages as you could have written on the subject.

Did you ever use LSD or marijuana while traveling with the Merry Pranksters?

What is the worst thing that has ever spilt on your suit, Mr. Wolfe?

Mr. Wolf: what narrative techniques do you favor and why, and who would you count as your broad influences?

i am really surprised by the accuracy of your last novel : i am Charlotte Simmon, describing the reality of American universities.
I don't even know this world because i lived my entire life in Europe. But you can easily make an analogy with what happens in European universities with the new generation i belong to.
I guess that everyone can make its own interpretation about what you try to denounce but i would like to know your position about what you describe. Do you think your work can have an impact to change such things ?
Because when i read you, i have the feeling sometimes that you have a fatalisitic view of a world divided in three classes : warriors (Hoyt Thorpe), clergy (Adam) and entertaining slaves (Jojo).

"From Bauhaus to Our House" became a paragon in the architecture field after it was published almost 30 years ago, but a lot has happened ever since. Do you plan to re-edit it to account for the state of the architecture world nowadays?

You always speak quite glowingly of Hunter S. Thompson. Could you describe the relationship between you two and how he impacted your life/writing?

Sir--Is New Journalism still alive? If so, is it any better than, say, the pioneering '60s or has it just become Old Journalism?

What is the most significant aspect of human nature which you consider to be the worst?

Mr. Wolfe,
Some time ago you wrote a famous article "Sorry, your soul just died," in which you expressed concern (to put it mildly) about the potentially dehumanizing effects of modern brain science and genetics. Given recent advances in neuroscience but also in philosophy of mind (which stresses emergence and top-down control of self-regulating systems), do you still agree with what you wrote in that article?
JD

T,
I am currently reading, "I am Charlotte Simmons" and am just at the point of Charlotte's worst humilation when she is dumped by the fraternity member Hoyt, and I was curious why you made a character of her intelligence fall into such an obvious pitfall? Considering her conservative upbringing and values, she should have seen this coming a mile away.

How many white suits do you own, and how do you keep them clean? Please show up for the media once with a catsup stain on your lapel. It suits--pun intended--the "social realism" of your writing style.

Are you afraid of death?

What do you read when you're on vacation?

When I wear a white suit people call me Tom Wolfe, but I just like the look. Did you fully like the look before the press picked up on it, or did you grow more fond of it after the publicity? Do you get tired of being known for the white suit? What do you wear around the house?

Mr. Wolfe,

When you started writing professionally, what were your goals that you were trying to meet, either professionally or personally? Have you reached these goals through your writing, and if so how are you doing this?

Why America will be a better place if Obama is the next President?

Are you still working on the brain/mind/neural net book?