Pioneering journalist, author Tom Wolfe dead at 88

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Influential journalist and author Tom Wolfe died Monday at the age of 88, The New York Times has confirmed. Wolfe was best known for his novel Bonfire of the Vanities, which was adapted into a movie starring Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith, as well as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Right Stuff.

Wolfe left his mark on the nonfiction genre with his contribution to New Journalism, which emphasized literary techniques and individual subjectivity over classical, objective fact-based reporting. "He is probably the most skillful writer in America — I mean by that he can do more things with words than anyone else," National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr once wrote of Wolfe.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.