Master American chronicler Tom Wolfe, author of more than a dozen books—including, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test—presents us with a panoramic story of America in his most recent novel, Back to Blood. Wolfe joins screenwriter Howard A. Rodman for a conversation that spans Wolfe's seven-decade writing career, from the days of a new journalism to how he penned the terms "good ol boy" and "the right stuff."
Tom Wolfe is the author of more than a dozen books, among them The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, and I Am Charlotte Simmons. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his B.A. at Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in American studies at Yale. He received the National Book Foundation’s 2010 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in New York City.
Howard A. Rodman is a professor of screenwriting at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Vice President of the Writers Guild of America, West, and has served as Artistic Director of the Sundance Screenwriting Labs. He wrote Savage Grace, August, and Joe Gould’s Secret. Rodman is on the executive committee of the Writers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and is a Fellow of the Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities.
Tom Wolfe’s words are performed by René Auberjonois, the esteemed Tony-winning actor whose career has spanned film, television, Broadway, and regional stages, as well as many audio recordings and broadcasts. Audiences best know him from his years on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Boston Legal, and innumerable film and television appearances.
