TOM WOLFE AND STATUS (COMMENT).

TOM WOLFE AND STATUS (COMMENT). Nick pointed out here that while I profess to be devoted to social equality, I have a prejudice against the privileged. Perhaps because I was raised in the egalitarian Midwest. In any event, I tend to be oblivious to social distinctions. I say this because I recently read and linked to this interview with Tom Wolfe, who says, “To me, that is the most important thing to spot in any situation you’re writing about. What is the status line-up? What are the rankings within the group?” Wolfe points to his book THE RIGHT STUFF and says that it’s not a book about space. It’s about this hierarchy among the pilots. I’m sure I would not have noticed that there was a hierarchy among the astronauts if I had been in Wolfe’s shoes.