The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, Capote, and the New Journalism Revolution (52 page)

Thanks to the following people for tracking down recalcitrant, elusive, or otherwise indifferent interview subjects: Doug Brinkley, Fritz Clapp, Jim Bellows, and Anita Thompson. Thanks to Carol Polsgrove for the John Sack interview. Sharon Snow at the Harold Hayes archive was a model of decency and patience. Thanks to George Hirsch for all of the wonderful
New York
magazine effluvia he sent my way. Roger Direct or is a stand-up guy for passing along that amazing commemorative program from the Felker Magazine Center, a piece of gold that fell into my lap.

My crack researcher Kathrin Shorr endured a lot of grunt work with no gripes, and I want to thank her for all of the sweat equity. In New York, Andy Gensler tracked down some key documents that I couldn’t obtain otherwise, short of spending a lot of money on airfare.

My agent, David McCormick, sold this sucker just like he said he would, and for that I’m eternally grateful. My first editor, Doug Pepper, bought the book, and my second editor, Chris Jackson, nurtured it along with empathy and keen insight.

Thanks as always to my friend Tom Hackett for his counsel, his razor-sharp editorial instincts, and his unwavering friendship. Thanks to the family-in-law for the kudos and the scotch-a-roos: Lori, Timmy, Jean, Louis, Lisa, David, Marshall, Rae, Uriah, and Madison.

Ilene, thanks for the phone calls and the encouraging words. Mom and Dad, I couldn’t have done it without your support. Sam and Ally, you’re the light in my life. Love you all.

My wife, Lynn, is as rock solid a support system as any husband could ever wish to have. You’re the greatest.

Finally, thanks to Tom Wolfe, whose work inspired me to write this book in the first place.

Copyright © 2005 by Marc Weingarten

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2005.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weingarten, Marc.

    The gang that wouldn’t write straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, and the New Journalism revolution / Marc Weingarten

    1. American prose literature—20th century—History and criticism.

2. Reportage literature, America—History and criticism.   3. Journalism-United States—History—20th century.   4. Thompson, Hunter S.—Criticism and interpretation.   5. Didion, Joan—Criticism and interpretation.   6. Wolfe, Tom—Criticism and interpretation.   I. Title.

    PS366.R44W45 2005

    818′.540809—dc22         2005015378

eISBN: 978-0-307-52569-7

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