Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine

A collection of impeccably observed stories, sketches, and essays in full, exuberant, classic Wolfe mode.

The third installment in Wolfe’s trilogy of essay-length works after The Pump House Gang and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine is wide-ranging, irreverent, colorful, and gimlet-eyed. Originally published in 1976, these stories capture the full spectrum of the ’70s (“the Me Decade,” in Wolfe’s memorable words), from the hilarious to the hard-hitting. Reissued for today’s reader with a cover by the renowned artist Seymour Chwast, Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine is classic Wolfe.