5 top quotations from iconoclastic writer Tom Wolfe

The journalist and novelist had little time for rules, and he left a legacy of wit, wisdom and warnings. Here are some of his keen observations—along with lessons for communicators.

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For many writers, the world is a bit dimmer without Tom Wolfe in it.

The journalist-turned-novelist made waves with his stream-of-consciousness style and his willingness to blur the lines between fiction and nonfiction.

His accounts of the exploits of NASA’s first astronauts in “The Right Stuff” earned him a place among the literary stars, and his astute observations of New York’s upper crust and underworld in “The Bonfire of the Vanities” further elevated him as an author.

For writers, it was also his disdain for convention that made him notable.

NPR wrote:

Wolfe began working as a newspaper reporter, first for The Washington Post, then the New York Herald Tribune. He developed a unique style, incorporating literary techniques — interior monologues, amped-up prose and eccentric punctuation. It was called the “New Journalism.”

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