The New York Public Library Celebrates the Life and Work of Tom Wolfe with Temporary Exhibition Featuring Materials from His Archive

MAY 18, 2018 -- The New York Public Library will honor the life and work of literary legend Tom Wolfe with a temporary exhibition titled Remembering Tom Wolfe (1930 – 2018): Icon, Innovator, and Friend of The New York Public Library. The display – open to the public from May 21 through June 10 on he third floor of the Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street -- will feature material from the renowned author’s archive, which the Library acquired in 2013. Wolfe passed away at age 88 on May 14. 

"Tom Wolfe is a legend whose unique and innovative writing style changed the face of journalism, satire, and storytelling," said New York Public Library President Anthony W. Marx. "We mourn the loss of this literary master and New York City icon, and are proud that through his archive, we can keep his words and legacy alive for generations to come."

Items on display will include:

• An outline for The Bonfire of the Vanities, which shows Wolfe's intentions in writing the novel that was serialized in Rolling Stone magazine. The outline -- which Wolfe describes as a "letter to myself" -- also alludes to the racial issues in New York City that propelled him to complete the narrative.

• A steno book Wolfe carried to “Black Panther Night" at Leonard Bernstein's apartment, which helped shape his 1970 story in New York magazine, entitled "These Radical Chic Evenings" -- a term he coined.

• Notes from Wolfe's first interview with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead which would be used for The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

• A letter from Hunter S. Thompson enclosing his recently published novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Wolfe, who was named a Library Lion in 1981, had a long and profound relationship with the Library. Arriving in New York to work as a writer for the New York Herald Tribune in 1962, he visited the Library at 42nd Street “steadily” and upon the Library’s acquisition of his archive stated: “I feel like my archive is not moving anywhere. It's going home."  

Remembering Tom Wolfe will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

The Tom Wolfe Papers were acquired through the generosity of Katharine J. Rayner.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, and Jonathan Altman.

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