“My idol is Emile Zola. He was a man of the left, so people expected of him a kind of 'Les Miserables,' in which the underdogs are always noble people. But he went out, and found a lot of ambitious, drunk, slothful and mean people out there. Zola simply could not - and was not interested in - telling a lie.”

American author and journalist

Tom Wolfe was an American author and journalist associated with New Journalism. He became known for writing in a style that brought literary techniques into reporting, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. His work often takes a satirical view of American life, with close attention to the counterculture of the 1960s, class, social status, and the habits of New York City’s economic and intellectual elite. That mix of reportorial detail and sharp social observation is central to his reputation.