[inaudible]. [background sounds]. [inaudible]. Host is my great pleasure to have tom wolfe here for breakfast. [applause]. I decided to do one thing that had not been touched. In college i, or i began to hear about something the norm. It was a total attraction. I couldnt to get a picture of it. We are not corruption and Big Time Police force. I was curious how this affected the athletes themselves. Were they like. We have heard a Political Correctness. We know a lot about Political Correctness because we journalists are more apt to be talking to professors of one sort over or another. It is the right way the students today are here to talk to some older person honestly about their duty. In this case, is normal with no danger of being identified by name on the books. As a matter of fact, and they wouldnt tell me enough, there was a group of boys who ended up in the same place, a bar with a small dance floor. In music my cds. The guy went into a group of girls and he goes over any, he said something really smooth. It is you really get tired of being mistaken for Brittany Spears. I use that as an example in the book incidentally. And reviewers said that i was so fascinated by Brittany Spears and thinking that she was still hot. I had to be way behind the times. [laughter]. Is because my occupation. [laughter]. So only he touches the outside of the knee. And she still up something, and he said would you like to dance. And only a few minutes had gone by. So they go out onto the dance floor. The current dance, while ten years ago was called the ramada. Remember the movie dirty dancing. That was really actually fancy name for ashley what takes place. Today it is known as grinding. And the girl the boy locked and they begin writing. And they grind in the grind. Mostly after about three minutes. So now, five and a half minutes have gone by. And then the line that followed the guy in this case, would use this line. What a ride back to the campus. And that is the code word for who is dead. What is bad do we go to yours and mine. To me, its extremely important subject for an ecologist having placed the sources of ethical values and morality. To me it is a big subject. And im apartheid through very innocent girl. Theres that preamble. [laughter]. [inaudible]. The book is called. [inaudible]. Tom the book is entitled im Charlotte Simmons. And the character to represent. I used her first of all, it begins with carrie, he gave her the most make name he could come up with. Going to chicago. As a great metropolis. It opens up and you see through her eyes. As he knows nothing. I was my original idea and using a girl from North Carolina. Which exists. 900 folks. Open the blue ridge county. A girl has been raised by very strict mother. An evangelical christian. You probably heard of evangelical Christian Brady as she is very strict and domineering. Enter father is unemployed factory worker. He used to work in the shoe factory. Although there is a fast place there. In North Carolina and being fast, and they would also be chewing tobacco read also a lot of West Virginia people to tobacco. But shes not part of any of that. She went to the life of the mind of this great university. And i call it dupont. She represents innocence. I wanted to make her a plausible example. And she knew nothing about what she would run into. But with a coed dorm really meant. And what it really feels like to have a roommate who really wanted bringing guy up into the room. And what that is really liked to beat coed. And up to a person what that means to a person with modesty. You didnt want to be in a coed bathroom. They do that but i am strong she said. By the end of the book, she does not know who she is. I think that happens to a lot of colleges student spurred by the end of four years, they have no idea who they thought they are. That was the purpose of this book. [applause]. [inaudible]. Did you have any inkling of this. Thank you very much. Youre welcome. [background sounds]. It narrows it down to 272 colleges. [background sounds]. I am good and it looks like you are in your hands of white suit. After the startling blue blazer in this book. Did you have fun with this book. Stu and i enjoyed most of doing the research. I must say after about four or five hours, i was ready to go. Thanks for joining us. Hummel started out as a journalist and is made recording of vital part of his realistic fiction. He traded his Landmark White suit or a blue blazer. And he said out for the nations institutes of higher learning. His satire, and partying, and ivy league campus. His new book is titled, im Charlotte Simmons. As a first female protagonist. She does posted girl from north and ruth carolina mountain town. And tom wolfe joins me in the studio to talk about her and her adventures on campus. And perhaps give us a sense of his own adventures as he wrote this book. When you made the decision to go into various College Campuses, where you specifically focusing in your own mind, on sexuality or was it simply, i want to find out what life is like on College Campus today. Tom it was a bit of both. There are certain things that i had heard about in colleges that intrigued me. And intrigued me even more. One was reports theres a lot more on campuses. And thanks to coed dorms. And i said to myself, why hasnt anybody written about this. It was just on. Also a lot of reports not been jet during drinking. And a certain amount of drugs although they didnt really prove to be really strong thing on the campus. It existed. And then stories about Political Correctness. That intrigued me. But also the fact that colleges now, places where new ethics are created. But yes the was the leading indicator as we say. This is a chapter in which Charlotte Simmons, this country girl goes off to this magnificent university in the northeast, is writing to her parents who dropped her off in a pickup truck and headed back to the mountains. And if so she is writing this beautiful letter home and my best friend so far as a girl from cincinnati who lives on my floor. We are each having a hard time sleeping and decided to get into the common room on first floor and read for a while predict team is very cheery and edgier energetic person not tried all. She was me somebody, she just pops right up and says hello. She takes great care not to say that she was meeting with tina because she had been run out of her room by roommate with a boy up into her bed. But generally a sleep very well. Only problem is that my roommate goes to bed really late pretty she star stripe three and four and even 5 00 a. M. And instead she writes, 2 00 a. M. Sometimes. And wakes me up when she comes in. She stared at the window a few light years into the darkness predict and figured this was a gift. Right here is the point where she were either cried out, she didnt cry out. Mama, only you can help me. Also have, who else will listen to me. Let me tell you the truth. My roommate doesnt only return to the dead of the 19 goes to to bed really late, she brings boys in the bed. And they rock rock do it in barely 4 feet from my bed. She leads a big life and the whole place is pretty girls highly children rich girls 1500 safeties are not, i need some and i am going to go out and gets lady. I am talking about the girls. Dupont girls. Right in front of you. What am i to do. But she stiffened and swallowed an adult. Just one little mention of, and mama the wrath of god when hedys in the pickup and holler back. In the whole county would home like a hide. Oh Charlotte Simmons has dropped out of dupont. Poor thing thesis in moral there. Tom wolfe you sure have captured something that im feeling not and memo women but also young women but older women and young men. Will most definitely recognize. Tom wolfe reading from his brandnew book, and its titled i am Charlotte Simmons. I think will start with an email from tom wolfe. This is from patty in florida. She said i just completed reading i am Charlotte Simmons. I stayed up until we hours i loved it. I was particularly intrigued with your contrast to what charlotte was morning and her near off science biology course and the basis for animalistic behavior versus those behaviors demonstrated by the higher order mammals. In an institution of higher learning. My question. How did you educate yourself in those areas and is this contrast academic says, top culture your typical approach to writing. Tom neuroscience is the ultimate darwinism. Neuroscience says we are now finding the mechanical reasons or hookups in your brain, and to give you a sense of smell, the give you sense of taste. That give you feelings of danger. And its all, and the end result is creating the impression that we are machines. The belief that you have of self, that is wrong. There is an eye inside of you. And soul. The soul is disappearing as a result of neuroscience. I thought it was a perfect way to analyze scientifically a scientific as i could become a what was happening to my girl Charlotte Simmons as she comes into contact with people and customs she has never had to deal with before. In the last part of the question, no i have never done that to this extent of bringing the two together. Ive mentioned it before but i tried to really immerse charlotte herself in the reader. In the latest series of neuroscience because they ultimately a very depressing. Host so how appropriate the book should be titled Charlotte Simmons. Tom thank you diane. Thank you so much for having me on this wonderful wonderful show host thank you for listening. [inaudible]. And you are watching the tv, night novelist tom wolfe, 30 appearances on book tv and cspan. Up next, 2006, Richmond Virginia need to share his. In his travels throughout the south. Is going to be back in special honor and to introduce tom woe