Tom Wolfe, author known for 'The Right Stuff' and 'Bonfire of the Vanities,' dies at 88

Author Tom Wolfe, who chronicled everything from hippies to the space race before turning his sharp eye to fiction, has died. He was 88.

Wolfe's agent Lynn Nesbit told The Associated Press that Wolfe died in a New York City hospital. Additional details were not immediately available.

The "new journalism" reporter and novelist insisted that the only way to tell a great story was to go out and report it. His writing style was rife with exclamation points, italics and improbable words.

Among his acclaimed books were "The Right Stuff" and "The Bonfire of the Vanities," a satire of Manhattan-style power and justice that became one of the best-selling books of the '80s.

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In this Feb. 10, 2012 file photo, actor Max von Sydow poses at the International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin.

AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File