by Tom Wolfe
First published 1968
Buckle up for a neon-bright tour of the bizarre, burgeoning American aesthetic of the early 1960s. Wolfe's debut collection dives headfirst into the kustomized kars, bouffant hairdos, and plastic cities that captivated a nation in flux. From New York to LA, he zeroes in on the exotic new forms of status-seeking that arose across the country, laying bare the old guard's frantic struggle to preserve its crumbling cultural dominance. Wolfe's sharp-eyed, wildly entertaining observations reveal an America in the throes of a cultural revolution.
Genres: fiction, satire, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, contemporary
Vibes: neon-bright, sharp-eyed, wildly-entertaining
Tropes: cultural-clash, social-commentary
Setting: California, Los Angeles, New York, United States
Period: 1960s
299 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam Books