Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine
- Mar 16, 2010
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 18
★★★★☆
When my ex-wife and I split, we divvied up the books, which were, to be fair, largely hers, and she thought that I should have this particular one. That was some seven years ago, and this book, along with a number of others, has traveled with me from bookshelf to bookshelf waiting to be read. And now I have read it. This was, perhaps surprisingly—or not, I suppose—my first Tom Wolfe experience, and though many of the pieces reference fairly dated material, all were a treat to read. Tom Wolfe's style—very dramatic, very conversational—begs to be read aloud, which is exactly what I did (from a few selections anyway) with my wife, Megan, at bedtime. The book was perfectly paced, gaining wonderful momentum as one story passed to the next, and though the final piece, "The Street Fighters," was a bit of a toss-off (humorous though it may have been), what preceded it, "Honks and Wonks," was anything but, and it turned out to be my favorite selection of all.
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