[carbolite103]

I might start with 'The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby' which is a collection of his essays. The first chapter of 'The Right Stuff' is worth reading by itself. The rest of the book is fascinating but drags on a bit in the last third. My favorite is 'The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test'. I haven't gotten around to reading 'Bonfire of the Vanities' however so I can't really comment on that.

[olivermarks]

'The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby' absolutely blew me away as kid in the UK - tremendous verve in Wolfe's writing, wonderfully descriptive and illuminating and contributed not insignificantly to my life long love of car culture... I agree with Calrbolite103, a very accessible starting point to Wolfe's style in short chapter/article/stories. Most of what he wrote was great IMO, most especially about the late 60's to the 80's...

[bballard]

I agree, this is a great starting point. It contains a selection of articles on such diverse subjects as hot rods, Phil Spector, insomnia-inducing Las Vegas, NASCAR (and moonshining), 60s dance crazes (the mashed potato, etc), The Beatles landing at JFK, Cary Grant, Muhammad Ali, Nannies in NYC, and suits with real buttonholes. All are fantastic reads.

[JackFr]

Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Cacthers

[vibrolax]

I could never read through the passage about the arrival of the daishiki chieftain and his entourage at San Francisco City Hall without getting a side stitch, teary eyes, and a runny nose from laughing out loud.

I disliked "Bonfire of the Vanities" because it was clear to me that Wolfe had fallen into self-plagiarism. It felt to me that the same fate befell Hunter Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut. It didn't take away the pleasure of reading their earlier works, but prompted me to look for different voices.