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historyarch · 2165 days ago · link · · parent · post: Tom Wolfe death: Influential US author of 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' dies at 87
Bonfire of the Vanities has been described as the book that defined the 80s. You never know how literary reputation will develop. Some authors are very popular in their day and fade out. Some get more popular after they die. We'll see how Wolfe's work fares over time. I have been surprised to note that in obits like this, there was no mention of The Right Stuff or The Painted Word. He's already made a pretty big impact in coining a number of phrases that are in the popular vernacular. You may not even realize he created them. This obit is pretty weak. The NY Times, NPR and The Atlantic wrote much better ones. Here's one: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/books/tom-wolfe-appraisal.html