University of Virginia Library

Mass Freak-Out

White Guilt up against the wall of Black Power
offered itself as a neat, self-contained description of
the whole matter of Radical Chic, given the curiosity
of a simpleton. Later, the New York Times
summoned its maximum of editorial chagrin: Good
God! Panthers wined and dined, perhaps toasted!,
right out in the open, on old Park Avenue! Delirium
Tremendum!

The Bernsteins turned out most shocked of all,
convinced of a plot against them when Felicia's
hand-delivered letter of reply to the Times failed to
appear soon enough.

Wolfe's account is most notable for its arbitrary
humor - the cutting, merciless, defoliating humor of
dainty hors d'oeuvre (served by stand-in white

servants) and puffed mints bouncing off walls of
pathos. Few question the skill of the Humorist.
Some critics, however, demand something else.
Wolfe, they argue, must take on the responsibility of
Involved Social Critic.

Key here is Involved. While
moral consciousness and the new
Journalism have yet to reach any
solid relationship, and may never
do so, one thing is certain: Tom
Wolfe is apolitical(Consciousness)
and nothing so far suggests he will
change on that score.