by Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolfe was born in 1931 in Richmond, Virginia. He decided to become a writer at the age of six in emulation of his father, an editor, whom he often saw writing at his desk. After graduating with a Ph.D. in American studies from Yale, Wolfe went to work as a journalist. In 1963, based on his research of a California customized car and hot rod show, Wolfe published "There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" in Esquire magazine. The article was the first of many accounts by Wolfe covering the lifestyles of unconventional groups and public figures in contemporary culture. The Right Stuff is his seventh such book.

Events in History at the Time of the Narrative

NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a civilian agency of the U.S. federal government whose mission is to...