美国国家公共电台 NPR Tom Wolfe, Author Of 'Bonfire Of The Vanities,' Dies At 88

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Tom Wolfe created unforgettable stories about test pilots and hippies, bikers and the lost denizens¹ of Wall Street. He wrote best sellers like "The Right Stuff" and "Bonfire Of The Vanities." We have learned this morning that Tom Wolfe died yesterday in New York City. He was 88 years old. Joining us now NPR books correspondent Lynn Neary. Good morning, Lynn.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE²: Good morning.

MARTIN: So it's hard to overstate Wolfe's presence in the literary world, wasn't it?

NEARY: He was absolutely an iconic figure. And you couldn't miss him in publishing circles and in literary circles. He was always dressed in white. He looked extremely dapper. He had a three-piece white suit complete with tie and a hat, always. He never dressed in any other color.

MARTIN: Wow.

NEARY: So that's one of the reasons you couldn't miss him. And he was one of a group of writers who helped to usher³ in the '60s with a new style of journalism⁴ that combined the eye of a journalist, the reporting skills of a journalist with a narrative⁵ style that was much closer identified at that time with fiction or with novels. And they called it narrative nonfiction. Now, many have taken part in - have written this style...

MARTIN: Hunter S. Thompson, right?

NEARY: Yeah, yeah. Right, exactly. And so he wrote in all of the major magazines of the day. And I think for young people, they might understand if I say he would have had the coolest blog.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

NEARY: He would have a million followers⁷ on social media.

MARTIN: Right.

NEARY: I mean, he was just a cool guy.

MARTIN: Right. And he brought that sensibility to his books as well.

NEARY: Absolutely. I think the first book that really he got - was well-known for was "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." This was an account of he traveled with Ken⁶ Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. And these were guys that were traveling around the country on a bus and experimenting with LSD. So it was really a lot of people's introduction to the whole idea of LSD and the effect that LSD could have, the very fun effect it could have.

MARTIN: Right.

NEARY: And it kind of made the idea of road trips and LSD sort of popular and cool also. He also was very well-known for "The Right Stuff," which was a book about the first group of American astronauts, who were very glamorous⁸ figures at the time. He focused on a couple of people and made them really famous. One of them was John Glenn. A lot of the book focused very favorably on John Glenn. Some of the astronauts did not come out looking so well. But the person who he seemed to like the best and think was the coolest and think really had the right stuff was the test pilot Chuck Yeager, who never even became an astronaut.

But it was obvious that Wolfe thought that he was a very cool guy.

MARTIN: And he was also a novelist. What are some of the novels that stick with you?

NEARY: Well, the one that he's best-known for, I think, is "Bonfire Of The Vanities." This was a brilliant sendup of New York City in the 1980s. And it was when the city seemed to be crumbling⁹. And yet at the same time, the upper classes were making a lot of money on Wall Street. And he knew that society very well. So he was able to give people an idea of what it was like to be a wealthy New Yorker. And it wasn't a particularly favorable...

MARTIN: Not a flattering portrait.

NEARY: Not a - and he also saw the class divisions that were already beginning to appear in New York City and maybe around the country as well. And he gave a brilliant description of how difficult those class divisions were and what they could mean for us as a society.

MARTIN: Right. NPR books correspondent Lynn Neary helping¹⁰ us remember author/journalist Tom Wolfe. He passed away yesterday in New York City at the age of 88.

Thanks so much, Lynn.

NEARY: Good to be here.

1 denizens   

n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• polar bears, denizens of the frozen north 北极熊，在冰天雪地的北方生活的动物
• At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their turn. 到了后来，连这些沼泽国的居民们也不见了。 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

8 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

9 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。