He is extraordinarily gracious and patient. Even so, Tom Wolfe has had it with Sigmund Freud and his steam heat.

The celebrated author of "The Right Stuff," "Bonfire of the Vanities," "A Man in Full" and "I Am Charlotte Simmons" has his finger on the ruling passion of the day, the Zeitgeist, the moral tone.

"You can't escape that moral tone," he warns.

The ruling passion of today, he believes, is passion. Or more specifically, sex.

Sex and its place in the world will be Wolfe's topic when he takes the podium Thursday as part of the Salem State College Series. He also plans to deal with rap, status and ethnic hostility.

"I'm only going to try to explain the world," he jokes.

It's a world still strongly influenced by Freud's view of human nature, he says, a world where sex explains everything, where sex cannot be denied without terrible things happening.

"Sex creates steam," he says in a voice full of gentle sarcasm. "If you don't let it out, you're just going to blow up psychologically."

And that's a view that might seem to license any kind of behavior or excess. Wolfe dismisses it as having no scientific basis at all. Instead of Freud, he praises the values of the people he grew up with in Virginia, the people of NASCAR and that old-time religion, who seemingly couldn't be more different than his neighbors and literary colleagues in New York City.

Wolfe has often seemed a man paddling against the current - but if so, he's been remarkably successful at it and for a very long time. Famous for his somewhat anachronistic white suit and high collar, he's had an uncanny knack for describing modern America to Americans, even sneaking new terms into our language. He's famously credited with "me-decade," "trophy wife" and "radical chic," among others.

"The Right Stuff" was written in the 1970s, on the heels of the defeat in Vietnam, in the midst of Jimmy Carter's malaise. Yet, a story of the American space program with its shrewd technocrats and crazy-with-courage military men satisfied a hunger. It was a massive success.

The novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" in the mid-1980s imagined New York City's ethnic mash as if political correctness had never been thought of.

"I think if a writer is objective and accurate he can write about anything and not get blamed for it," Wolfe says.

He doesn't describe himself as religious, but he laments the vogue among intellectuals to attack religion.

"If people think that religion is a bad influence and it's good news that more and more people are becoming atheists," he says, "that's nuts. They are out of touch."

Likewise, he resists the label "political conservative." But in some ways, he says he is conservative. "I'd rather be called a conservative than a liberal. If you call yourself a liberal, you're probably out to lunch."

After assessing the field of candidates for president, Wolfe flatly declares that Virginia Sen. James Webb "will be our next president." The Marine combat veteran, fellow novelist, Republican-turned-Democrat, is a leader, and his party will turn to him out of desperation, Wolfe says, just as France once turned to DeGaulle to end a bitter war in Algeria.

Wolfe began his career as a reporter in 1956, not far from here, at the Springfield Union. He remembers covering U.S. Sen. Ed Brooke and Gov. Foster Furcolo. The local obsession with roots was a revelation to him, as he met French-Canadian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and Polish-Americans.

"I learned more in Springfield about the way the world worked than anywhere else. God. I can see those wards now."

Inevitably, Wolfe is asked about that white suit.

"That has done more for me, I can't tell you." Moving from reporter to writer, he found himself in the awkward position of giving interviews. "I was terrible."

Then, he read the resulting articles, which always noted, "What an interesting man. He wears a white suit."

If you go

* What: Author Tom Wolfe ("The Right Stuff," "Bonfire of the Vanities") speaks at Salem State College Series

* When: Thursday, 8 p.m.

* Where: Salem State's O'Keefe Sports Center, 255 Canal St.

* Price: $18 to $85

* To get tickets: Call 978-542-7555

* For more information: Go to www.salemstate.edu/series