TOM WOLFE AND THE EXCLAMATION POINT.

February 23, 2017 at 5:56 PM · Journalism, Literature

TOM WOLFE AND THE EXCLAMATION POINT. I would have thought that Tom Wolfe would win a competition for the heaviest user of exclamation points because he loves descriptions from the point of view of an excited onlooker. In looking for examples of Wolfe’s style, I found this article about Wolfe by Michael Lewis which quotes the first sentence of Wolfe’s breakthrough essay about California car culture: “There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored (Thphhhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) . . . . . . ”

The Lewis article also contains a quote which shows that Wolfe loved the exclamation point from early on. This is from a letter to his mother and father in 1943 when he was 12: “I hate to say this but David McDaniel is the most devlish looking and the most devlish acting person Iâ€[image: 2122.png]ve ever seen. He looks like the typical “comic book” Jap. He is short—not over 4â€[image: 2122.png]2”—has a very, very, very, very short monkeyâ€[image: 2122.png]s shave—high cheekbones—squinted eyes—wears glasses—a stubby nose—a toothy grin—and to top it all, he actually has pointed teeth!!!!!!!!!!!!” That’s eleven exclamation points.