Ladies and Gentlemen, Gay Talese

[Hemingway Jones]

Well, I don't know anything about the gentleman's writing; new journalism has never been my thing, but this is one stylish fellow with discriminating taste.

This is certainly an individual any well informed sartorial enthusiast should be acquiented with. Cut from the same cloth as Tom Wolfe, if you will allow the pun.

April 18, 2006
Gay Talese's New Memoir Emerges After 14 Tortured Years

By CHARLES McGRATH
GAY TALESE, whose memoir, "A Writer's Life," comes out next week from Alfred A. Knopf, is a little like one of those long-tailed comets that pass across the heavens every 10 or 12 years. Typically, that's how long it takes Mr. Talese to finish a book, and typically, in the wake of one, after what are usually good reviews and even better sales, he gets newly wondered at, even fussed over...

The hermit stage, on the other hand, begins every morning when, after visiting his wall-length closet and selecting a pair of handmade shoes and one of his many handmade suits — black calfskin bluchers, say, to go with a black and white nailhead worsted — and then accessorizing with the appropriate tie, pocket square and cuff links, Mr. Talese goes out his front door and down 14 steps to a room under the stoop.

This underground room, where he spends most of the day, is not a bunker, exactly. It's carpeted and nicely furnished. But there are no windows and no phone; the walls, lined with cartons of clippings and files, are more soundproof than Proust's. And what takes place down here frequently amounts to self-torture.

And if you are not a subscriber to The New York Times on-line edition, I suggest you do so. I find a lot of value in it.

 

[Sefton]

Hmm...like Tom Wolfe except with suits in colors other than white
Interesting article. Thanks.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Hmm...like Tom Wolfe except with suits in colors other than white
Interesting article. Thanks.

Well allow me to quote from the article:

...Whether or not they know anything about his books, they recognize good posture and good haberdashery when they see it. Mr. Talese, the son of a tailor, carries himself like a papal guard and, now that his nudist phase is over, is the best-dressed writer in New York. He makes Tom Wolfe look like someone who collects Mark Twain outfits from a thrift shop.

Obviously, the writer is not a fan of Mr. Wolfe's style.
I was, until I saw his car!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

His car?

 

[Hemingway Jones]

His car?

Yes, Tom Wolfe has a Cadillac, a few years old, the entire car is...
White, of course!
The hubcaps, everything.
I believe he made the carpets something other than white; I think, off-white, but all else is white.
This is all I could find online, but CBS News did a story on him for "Sunday Morning" and they showed it in detail.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And he has a bad haircut. Sort of a limp, heavy mop that falls across and down. That, and his car, annoy me far more than the white suits.

 

[Lincsong]

Maybe that's why GM is faltering.....

Yes, Tom Wolfe has a Cadillac, a few years old, the entire car is...
White, of course!
The hubcaps, everything.
I believe he made the carpets something other than white; I think, off-white, but all else is white.

She quit making white on white cars. Nothing was more classier than a white Coupe De Ville with white leather interior, a white landau top and wide-white walls. Even better when they made convertibles.

This is reason enough to fire all the accountants!:rage:

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I had one.

She quit making white on white cars. Nothing was more classier than a white Coupe De Ville with white leather interior, a white landau top and wide-white walls. Even better when they made convertibles.

This is reason enough to fire all the accountants!:rage:

It was a '77 Coupe, white with white leather seats and red carpeting. I had to design a custom, removable hood ornament, to prevent thefts. Mine was stolen twice! :rage: lol
It was a really nice ride for a few years, but eventually it turned into a wretched, rusted, rat trap! :eusa_doh: lol

Okay,......fftopic: ...........

 

[epic610]

Do yourselves a favor...

and read gay talese. he does with the english language exactly what he does with haberdashery. his writing is clean, elegant and always precise in an understated way. come to think of it, wolfe's prose is like his taste in clothes as well . . . loud, obvious highy noticeable.

 

[Lincsong]

It was a '77 Coupe, white with white leather seats and red carpeting. I had to design a custom, removable hood ornament, to prevent thefts. Mine was stolen twice! :rage: lol
It was a really nice ride for a few years, but eventually it turned into a wretched, rusted, rat trap! :eusa_doh: lol

Okay,......fftopic: ...........

Ah, the pitfalls of living where they salt the roads. Most cars in California don't have rust. But, that little corner at the bottom corner of the vinyl tops on cars always accumulate water and rust right there.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

come to think of it, wolfe's prose is like his taste in clothes as well . . . loud, obvious highy noticeable.

Well said. Perhaps add ... overrated.

Twain (another of the clean, elegant writers) would be ashamed to be associated with him.

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Twain wore white linen suits, too ... but he did it first.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

that's the only association i can see between twain and wolfe.

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Twain was also an early proponent (and promoter) of the typewriter. I believe he was the first famous American writer to type an entire manuscript.

I know: fftopic:

 

[jake_fink]

Too bad about his name...

... it's just that Talese sounds so funny. Like tease with a droop in the middle.

 

[jake_fink]

And he has a bad haircut. Sort of a limp, heavy mop that falls across and down. That, and his car, annoy me far more than the white suits.

You can't fault a guy for having a limp.

 

[jake_fink]

One more and I'm outta here.

Gay Talese is a very very fine writer. I never knew what a great dresser he was.

Tom Wolfe, not so much.

Mark Twain, very much.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... it's just that Talese sounds so funny.

And his first name doesn't?

 

[magneto]

... it's just that Talese sounds so funny. Like tease with a droop in the middle.

It sounds better if it's pronounced as an Italian name (which it is): Tah-lay-zhe.

 

[jml90]

It sounds better if it's pronounced as an Italian name (which it is): Tah-lay-zhe.

That sounds like a homosexual trying to say Tallahasse