The Story Gets Out: Behind the Scenes of Tom Wolfe: Blood Lines
Andres Viglucci, reporter extraordinaire, newsroom rabble rouser, Mike’s at Venetia regular, first broke the story that Tom Wolfe was in Miami, possibly, though not undeniably, working on a novel here. That’s how I first found out about it. So instead of trying to top Viglucci’s sweet style, I’ll give it to you exactly as it was printed on the front page:
- Oscar Corral, Director and Producer
Wolfe offers no new scoop on his next book at Miami ‘conversation’
MIAMI—The story so far: Tom Wolfe is in Miami.
The Tom Wolfe, the man in the white suit, the iconic journalist and novelist who brought us The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Me Decade, Radical Chic, The Right Stuff, a whole cavalcade of surfers, deluded `60s liberals, acid-dropping hippies, daredevil pilots, greedy developers, art-world hucksters and sex-crazed college students.
He is up to something.
He is here, ostensibly, for an invitation-only “conversation” with his new friend, Mayor Manny Diaz, which took place Thursday evening at the Freedom Tower. The pairing seems odd, the subject more so: “Art and Real Estate: The Secret Formula for Urban Renewal and Renown Beyond Your Mega-Wildest Dreams.”
The invitation promised an announcement about his new book. The announcement was forgotten.
It is Wolfe’s second low-key visit to Miami this year, the first having come at the invitation of his old pal from New York City, Miami Police Chief John Timoney.
Wolfe is said to be sniffing around.
He has for some time been researching a book on immigration, a subject that has gradually taken hold of his imagination. He is said to be interested in, no, taken by, Miami.
So could that mean . . . a Miami book?
Maybe.
