Rating: 
Summary: Extremely entertaining
Review: This latest Tom Wolfe collection lacks a central theme, but is nevertheless extremely entertaining. The essays deal with sexual mores, the influence of liberal catholicism and the influence of protestant dissent on the modern world, the mind set of the electronic media and many other matters. The essays are beautifully written. My only criticism of the book, which is itself immensely entertaining, is that it is, what used to be called, "bi-coastal", in its title essay and so is perhaps a bit more critical of American youth than is perhaps fair. I remember well Dr. Wolfe's comments on "co-eds" and "fox terriers" and whilst I thought it "right on" in those far off days, I do not think that "Hooking Up" covers everyone in the age group, there are now other sub-cultures, but in fairness, Dr. Wolfe does not claim that it does. A superb work!
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: This reviewer has read much of Wolfe's work beginning with Kandy Kolored and continuing to the present volume. He has frequently been awed and highly entertained with much of TW's output. The book under discussion, however,is not one of his better efforts. Maybe things started to go wrong with the physical appearance of the book. The cover is OK but the nearly invisble page numbers (pale gray) and lack of identification on the copyright page of the original publication date and publication name is inexcusable. What this reader appreciates in any collection are specific dates so that he can fit the information being presented into a better context. "Late twentieth century" isn't good enough. The animus of Wolfe toward New Yorker, John Irving, John Updike, and Norman Mailer was amusing when it originally happened but now reads like last year's news magazines. What you gentlemen share is an unstated fear that you and your work will be ignored or forgotten after your death or retirement. Instead of throwing verbal spitwads at each other why don't you just concentrate on doing the best work you can and let your audience decide on its staying power- if it has any. Also, Mr. Wolfe stop complaining how long and hard you worked on "A Man in Full." The typical reader (me) only has time to deal with the end product. If any reader has read to this point and feels that this reviewer just went on a tangent, I apologize. Given the limitations on length of expression I'll conclude by saying that this is a typical anthology in that most readers should find one or more entries worthy of their attention. Maybe it will be the novella "Ambush at Fort Bragg." Or perhaps the essays on Edward O. Wilson and Frederick Hart. Reading them all might lead to a slight case of disappointment. Thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good book.
Review: Though not as good as Bonfire of the Vanities. It makes for an interesting read and is well worth the effort. It is short and sweet.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book.
Review: Though not as good as Bonfire of the Vanities. It makes for an interesting read and is well worth the effort. It is short and sweet.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book
Review: Tom Wolfe provides much needed social commentary on the beginning of the new American Century and the fact that American "intellectuals" are too busy complaining to notice and appreciate the freedoms and contributions this county had provided to its people and the world. His writing style is excellent in all the short stories in this book. I truely admire Tom Wolfe especially after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: More of the right stuff
Review: Tom Wolfe writes about people who have The Right Stuff and people who have The Wrong Stuff. He's wickedly funny and accurate about people who have The Wrong Stuff and respectful but very interesting and observant about people who have The Right Stuff. This bewilders readers who cannot tell the difference between The Right Stuff and The Wrong Stuff. And it deeply offends those who have The Wrong Stuff. Hooking Up has these essays about people with The Wrong Stuff: Hooking Up; In the Land of the Rococo Marxist; The Great Relearning; Ambush at Fort Bragg; My Three Stooges; Foreword: Murderous Gutter Journalism; Tiny Mummies! The True Story of the Ruler of 43rd Street's Land of the Walking Dead; Lost in The Wichy Thickets: The New Yorker and Afterword: High in the Saddle. And it has these essays about people who have The Right Stuff: Two Men Who Went West; Digibabble, Fairy Dust, and the Human Anthill; Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died and The Invisible Artist. Buy this book. This is your chance for an evening of belly laughs if you know the difference between The Right Stuff and The Wrong Stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Defeating The Slave-Hunting Brotherhoods
Review: With his customary brilliance and brio Wolfe sums up why none of the fashionable people are celebrating the dawn of the "second American Century." He says Nietzsche was right in predicting the exhaustion of 19th century moral capital in the 20th. Brotherhoods of slave-hunting barbarians would rise up to take advantage of the moral vacuum, and their wars would make all previous wars seem to be like Sunday-school picnics (these brotherhoods turned out to be of course the Communists and the National Socialists, irritatingly and misleadingly nicknamed "Nazis".) The slave-hunting brotherhoods were, at enormous cost, eventually defeated, but the moral vacuum remains (if anything it's gotten worse.) Too many on the left failed to properly understand what was at stake (see "In the Land of the Rococco Marxists") and are now embarassed by the collapse of socialism. It remains to the common, bourgeois middle class to take their prosperity and celebrate the freedom America has provided. Wolfe speculates on what will fill the continuing vacuum. In the witty essay "Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died" he considers the new orthodoxy of neo-Darwinsim and sociobiology and speculates that God can't be abolished, after all. In "The Invisible Artist" and "The Great Relearning" he specualtes on the possibility of a new, more objective art to replace the worn-out modernism of the last century. The Wolfe many of us love is the relentless, unawswerable satirist, and that side shows up in "My Three Stooges" (where he demolishes Updike, Mailer, and John Irving). The book concludes with his now-legendary lampoons of "The New Yorker" and a new recounting of the extremes to which it drove his targets (the reaction reached all the way to LBJ's White House.) A highly satisfying read from a national treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: On the skin, not under it.
Review: Wolfe was unquestionably the most entertaining pop culture chronicler of the 60's and 70's. He and Hunter Thompson burrowed under the skin of all manner of Californians and other New Americans and put us under there too. Wolfe led the way on a wild, joyous, outrageous trip. Most of Hooking UP, except for the title essay and the Noyce piece, is very superficial. As an admirer of Wolfe, I was uncomfortable for him as I read his savaging of Susan Sontag. Her main sin seems to have been getting more 90's ink than Wolfe. His three line dismissal of Noam Chomsky was also embarassing. Reread Kandy and Pump House instead.
Rating:
Summary: a mixed bag
Review: Wolfe's collection 'Hooking Up' is described as a book that talks about sex, courtship, and the 'hooking up' of males and females in today's society. It's not exactly that. What it is, is a collection of essays and fiction collected by Wolfe and thrown together. Nothing wrong with that, but I want to make sure no one is fooled like I was. That being said, it is a pretty good collection of work. It's divided into five parts. Part 1 (Hooking Up) contains the title essay, one which deals with sex and courtship, then and now. Wolfe doesn't deliver anything new or shocking here. Part 2 (The Human Beast) contains 3 essays. The first deals with the rise of Pentium and the silicon revolution. Wolfe's skill as a journalist is evident here, but the reading is a bit slow. Both of the other essays deal with the digital revolution. It's a topic Wolfe can write about, but not one that is enjoyable to read. Part 3 (Vita Robusta, Ars Anorexica) contains four essays. My favorite piece that I've read by Wolfe is "My Three Stooges." Wolfe uses his wit to poke fun at Updike, Mailer, and John Irving, who attacked Wolfe's _A Man in Full_ when it was published. It's a great essay, and you see Wolfe's talents in full. I loved it. There is also his essay "The Invisible Artist" which contains Wolfe's thought on 'modern art' and the sculptor who designed the sculpture at the Viet Nam Memorial and other works we all recognize, but don't know the artist (and even, as Wolfe points out, may not consider the works art). The next section contains Wolfe's novells "Ambush at Fort Bragg", which is the only fiction in the collection, but it's a good story. The final section is 'The New Yorker Affair' in which Wolfe spoofed the New Yorker by doing a profile of their editor. It's a great section. The New Yorker Affair, Ambush at Fort Bragg, and my favorite essay "My Three Stooges" show Wolfe at his best, and they alone are worth the price of the collection. And I'm sure you'll get some enjoyment out of the other pieces as well.
Rating:
Summary: Protestantism...more than a semi influence on US history.
Review: Wolfe's expose on Protestantism and its controling influence on the semi conductor industry in "Two Young Men Who Went West" is the tight, revealing, and fascinating prose that makes him a master of the printed word. Wolfe's observations appear tongue-in-cheek, but they reveal his deep respect for American culture and the Puritan work ethic--a thoughtful gift for those in the know. It has always amazed this reviewer that most of America's best modern scientists seem evolutionary in their thinking--after pursuing careers in science where painstakingly close observation reveals absolute law every moment. Wolfe has certainly turned a long-neglected stone. He's not the only recent author who has noticed this influence on western thought. Simon Winchester in "The Professor and the Madman" notes that the Oxford English Dictionary, a work whose first draft took 75 years to complete and still a work in progress, was originally compiled to introduce the world to Christianity. Because the authors (many volunteers which include William Minor, the book's protagonist) attributed England's greatness to God's blessing on industry--the original purpose of all previous English dictionaries. The OED's set out to offer world a blueprint for Protestant culture by introducting the world to the English language. Central to Protestant thought is the cultural mandate: "Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth." This is the basis of Puritan action and missionary work. How can the modern scientist grope for answers in a world of chance? To whom does he attribute his discoveries? Wolfe responds: "Fortuitous...[in italics] well! How Josiah Grinnell, up on the plains of Heaven, must have laughed over that!" (p 26) Savor the line; enjoy the book.
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