The Rest in Peace Thread (RIP)

[Cuthbert]

His vehicle was found on fire and his body burned inside.

[Frownland]

Tom Wolfe, Innovative Nonfiction Writer and Novelist, Dies

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Frownland

Tom Wolfe, Innovative Nonfiction Writer and Novelist, Dies

The Painted Word, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and The Right Stuff are three unassailable books. I’m surprised I haven’t read more of his stuff considering how good all three of those are.

This one plus Branca equals two Important artists in two days.

[Black Francis]

Originally Posted by Frownland

Guitarist & Composer Glenn Branca Dies at 69



There will never be another.

I didn't know who this guy was but i just heard his music and it's amazing.

[Frownland]

Looks like you're well on your way to knowing who he is. You should get acquainted with the no wave scene. Great chaotic experimental punk.

[Black Francis]

I'm starting here

[The Batlord]

You already know the Contortions, right? No wave.

[Lisnaholic]

Originally Posted by Frownland

Tom Wolfe, Innovative Nonfiction Writer and Novelist, Dies

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

The Painted Word, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and The Right Stuff are three unassailable books. I’m surprised I haven’t read more of his stuff considering how good all three of those are.

^ I've just learned about this sad news: Tom Wolfe was a fabulous writer and journalist, with the NYT describing his style as "shotgun baroque" - a phrase worthy of Wolfe himself, who used words in a way that no-one had before. And under the glittering style, he had a bunch of well-researched stories to tell too, so if you've never read anything by TW, I recommend you change that asap.

OccultHawk mentions three of his best books:-
"The Painted Word" is a good place to start if you have any interest in modern art: it's short and does a great job of ripping away the pretensiousness that goes along with so many art movements today.
"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" will give you a long, detailed, insider's view of The Merry Pranksters and how LSD use spread out from California to change a generation.
"The Right Stuff" does something similar for the history of manned space flight.

If any of those topics sound dull to you, they are definitely not in Tom Wolfe's hands. Those three books are classic examples of "New Journalism" - a phrase that TW invented when he compiled a collection of articles by George Plimpton, Hunter S Thompson and others.

His novels are rather flawed, imo, but "The Bonfire of Vanities" is a pretty good read.

Big time RIP moment in the Lisna house.

[Lisnaholic]

And if you want a taste of his writing, here is the opening paragraph of The Painted Word:-

People don't read the morning paper, Marshall McLuhan once said, they slip into it like a warm bath. Too true, Marshall! Imagine being in New York City on the morning of Sunday, April 28, 1974, like I was, slipping into that great public bath, that vat, that spa, that regional physio-therapy tank, that White Sulphur Springs, that Marienbad, that Ganges, that River Jordan for a million souls which is the Sunday New York Times. Soon I was submerged, weightless, suspended in the tepid depths of the thing, in Arts & Leisure, Section 2, page 19, in a perfect state of sensory deprivation when all at once an extraordinary thing happened: I noticed something!

If you're wondering what it was that he noticed, then buy the book you cheap b*stards.

[Frownland]

He was an excellent writer but I don't like how he's associated with journalism tbh, he has too much commentary and embellishment. Not that that's bad, it's just not journalistic. I view his books more as fiction influenced by true stories than non-fiction books.