# New Tom Wolfe Novel Out Next Week **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430 "2004-11-01T22:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/1 "2004-11-01T22:48:30Z")
I know he’s a Republican but I love Tom Wolfe’s novels and I think he’s one of the best contemporary writers we have. His newest novel, entitled [_I Am Charlotte Simmons_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374281580/104-7193230-5355944?v=glance) is going to be released on Nov. 9. I’m totally psyched. I loved both _Bonfire of the Vanities_ and _A Man in Full_ like sex. I hope this one is as good. The plot summary says it’s about a fictional ivy league university and the culture therein. [Here’s an interesting article](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1340525,00.html) where Wolfe talks about his new novel as well as the current election. Is anybody else a Wolfe fan? I hope I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/2 "2004-11-01T23:00:50Z")
I like Wolfe. _Bonfire of the Vanities_ is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I also nearly crapped myself reading _Radical Chic_. He can take people apart in such an incisive way. I didn’t read _A Man in Full_ because I heard it wasn’t so good, but maybe I’ll give it a shot some day. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/3 "2004-11-01T23:08:31Z")
They ran a one-page excerpt in the _New York Times Book Review_. (Why? Because they have a new editor, and he’s _shaking things up_. :rolleyes: ) After I read it, I was strongly - _strongly_ - tempted to write them a letter asking why they have such a vendetta against Tom Wolfe that they would want to do something this horrible to him. Really. It was from the beginning of the title character’s diary, where she goes off to college. It reads like what Tom’s girlfriend would have written in 1955. Unfortunately, it’s set in the present. I have to think that the rest couldn’t possibly be that bad. But I also couldn’t get into _A Man in Full_ even after two tries. I liked _Bonfire of the Vanities_, but the book also proved that Wolfe could not even imagine a female character to save his life, let alone write one. Why he should want to try to write first person in the mind of a college girl is beyond comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/4 "2004-11-02T00:09:13Z")
> [@Zoff](#): > > I didn’t read _A Man in Full_ because I heard it wasn’t so good, but maybe I’ll give it a shot some day. IMO it’s a better book than _Bonfire_, although it has similarities to it as well. I loved it spinning off into Stoic philosophy part way through. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/5 "2004-11-02T00:27:16Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I know he’s a Republican but . . . You hold it against him or are relucant to read his books because he’s a Republican? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-tom-wolfe-novel-out-next-week/272430/6 "2004-11-02T00:43:40Z")
> [@Kansas Beekeeper](#): > > You hold it against him or are relucant to read his books because he’s a Republican? I’m not reluctant at all, obviously.