Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Harold N. Cropp

Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

In these two devastatingly funny essays, Tom Wolfe examines political stances and social styles in our status-minded world.

In "Radical Chic", Wolfe focuses primarily on one symbolic event: a gathering of the politically correct at Leonard Bernstein’s duplex apartment on Park Avenue to meet spokesmen of the Black Panther Party. He re-creates the incongruous scene - and its astonishing repercussions - with high fidelity.

In the companion essay, Wolfe travels west to San Francisco to survey another meeting-ground between militant minorities and the liberal white establishment. "Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers" deals with the newly emerging art of confrontation, as practiced by San Francisco’s militant minorities in response to a highly bureaucratized poverty program.

©1970 Tom Wolfe (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Prophetic

If you could sum up Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers in three words, what would they be?

Identity politics pay

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the Flak Catcher.

Have you listened to any of Harold N. Cropp’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. Cropp's delivery is consistently excellent for non-fiction.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

That Lyndon B. Johnson created the victim grievance economy with its requisite Mau-Mauing and Flak Catching that we know and love today!

Any additional comments?

Although a satirical account of 1970s politics, the essays proved to be highly prescient and should enjoy a resurgence in light of recent fashionable identity politics movements.

I frightening insight into the future from 1970 I

This book could have foretold the future of black American radicalism of 2020. It gives an insight into the birth of the black radicalism movement and how community organizers like Barack Obama have forged the place in the cancerous growth of Black American culturism.

thoughtful, humourous, informative.

The narrator is perfect: He sounds a lot like Mr. Wolfe himself, with a great cadence to boot. Most listeners will probably have a good idea of what's in this book and what it's all about. However, as a longtime reader and admirer of Wolfe, I still found the performance to be entertaining and educational (I'm an early/older Millennial). This vignette of 60s counter-culture is hilariously analogous to the age of BLM. Those concerned with the book being politically biased will be surprised at how apolitical it actually is. it's more sociological and anthropological (and journalistic of course) than anything else. Have fun!

Classic articles, first-rate readings

After Tom Wolfe's death, I wanted to try some of his most-recommended nonfiction, and found my way to this audiobook. I think it may be my absolute favorite of all the audiobooks I've ever listened to--a perfect combination of snappy prose and enthusiastic, pitch-perfect reading.

You get two totally indelible portraits of political life in the late 1960s, not in some didactic lesson but in the form of entertaining tableaux. I don't think I'll ever forget the party at Lenny's, or the "shit-eating grin" of the threatened bureaucrat. Four hours extremely well-spent, I've been recommending this one all over.

Recommended

Brilliantly insightful, hilariously detailed, and (unfortunately) still very much applicable. Written in 1970, and yet identifies social and racial dynamics still in place 50 years on.

Dated but worthwhile

A time capsule of elite white anxiety about threatened masculinity and privilege in 1970, but also a good picture of the politics of its moment, without the overwrought, mannered style of his later work. He was a good journalist, and upfront enough about his own positionality that you can take it for what it is.

a must read

Breitbart sent me, he called this a must read
I agree. the insight into these minds and tactics is mind boggling.

Historic New Journalism by Tom Wolfe Still As Relevant As Ever

The narration by Harold N. Cropp infuses the [already vivid] writing with attitude and power. I’d give him 10 stars if I could. This is a MUST listen for anyone interested in civil rights and racial issues in the USA.

as applicable in '22 as it was when it was written

elite coastal left wing American affluenza is a religious movement that destroys makers and takers alike.

Written by a Master!!

Excellent presentation! Top shelf writing and reading. Tom Wolfe is always worth the investment of time.