Best-selling author visits T.O.

Author Tom Wolfe covered a variety of topics during his recent talk at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, including the meaning of life.

"What is it all about? What does life really mean?" Wolfe questioned the audience.

Religion doesn't provide hope, Wolfe said. It's simply more convincing than hope.

"People in the West no longer believe in God," Wolfe said. "They will find that soon they will doubt the truth."

He singled out six individuals who changed the course of history simply with words: Jesus, John Calvin, Mohammed, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin.

"There was no organization, no money behind them, no political support," Wolfe said.

A journalist and novelist, Wolfe has written about pop culture in America for more than 30 years. His witty social commentary combining traditional reporting with personal experience and opinion is called "new journalism." Wolfe is the author of two novels that were made into films: "The Right Stuff" and "The Bonfire of the Vanities." He's credited with creating such phrases as "trophy wife," "good ol' boys" and "radical chic."

Wolfe's most recent novel, "I Am Charlotte Simmons," depicts college life today, focusing on one sheltered female freshman's experiences as she realizes that sex overshadows education on campus. In researching material for the book, Wolfe visited many college campuses, where he interviewed students and heard all about their dating encounters and birth control rituals.

"I am astounded by what people will reveal about their sexual lives to the media," Wolfe said.

Dressed in his trademark white suit-he says he owns more than 80-Wolfe told of how he began wearing white suits during his days working as a journalist for a New York newspaper years ago. After a warm day spent in an uncomfortable wool suit, Wolfe decided to wear a lighter, white suit. He liked the reaction he got when he wore the suit to work.

"I got a lot of attention in that suit and liked it," Wolfe said, giving the audience the name and address of his tailor in New York.

The idea for "The Right Stuff," about the first seven U.S. astro

nauts, came after Wolfe found out that all seven were Irish Catholic and came from big families and small towns, like him. He wondered if he qualified to join the astronaut brotherhood. Upon learning more about the astronauts, he quickly found that a similar background had nothing to do with their resilience.

"It was a shared daring and thrill of going into the unknown," Wolfe said. "They never knew what would happen that day."

In his talk, Wolfe told stories about his meetings with fellow journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who passed away last year. Thompson was known for "gonzo journalism," a style in which the journalist becomes a part of the story he's reporting, emphasizing style and personal experience. During a memorable lunch Wolfe shared with him in a New York restaurant, Thompson let off an extremely loud boat siren, much to the shock of fellow diners.

"I have an image in my mind to this day of the bartender and diners around us just frozen as this thing went off," Wolfe said.

At 75, Wolfe has no plans to slow down. He's working on a book about immigration.

Wolfe was the last in this season's Distinguished Speaker Series at the Civic Arts Plaza.