Wolfe on Steinbeck

When Tom Wolfe spoke about the state of the American Novel at last year's National Book Festival in DC, he was adamant that the state was not getting better. As reported in earlier entries, Wolfe believes that today's American novelists -- especially the young -- have nothing to say. He also described what he considers the Europeanization of the American novel.

"America has been Europeanized. America believes that the novel should be psychological instead of being about something. But this is an astonishing, unexplored country -- go to it!"

He explained that many great American novelists were actually reporters. "Take John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. He worked as a reporter to get his material. He needed to be a reporter for the material and exposure to the types of characters and situations he was writing about."

Tom Wolfe encourages today's novelists to get the scoop before attempting to master the craft.

Visit Tom's bookshelf at the link.
http://www.tomwolfe.com/bookshelf.html