Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen nameNorman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist, and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six or seven decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least one in each of the seven decades afterWorld War II.[1]
Mailer is considered an innovator of "creative nonfiction" or "New Journalism", along withGay Talese,Truman Capote,Hunter S. Thompson,Joan Didion andTom Wolfe, a genre that uses the style and devices of literary fiction in factual journalism. He was a prominent cultural commentator and critic, expressing his often controversial views through his novels, journalism, frequent press appearances, and essays, the most famous and reprinted of which is "The White Negro". In 1955, he and three others foundedThe Village Voice, an arts and politics-oriented weekly newspaper distributed inGreenwich Village.
In 1960, Mailer was convicted of assault and served a three-year probation after hestabbed his wifeAdele Morales with apenknife, nearly killing her. In1969, he ran an unsuccessful campaign to become themayor of New York, finishing fourth in the Democratic primaries.[2] Mailer was married six times and had nine children.
Nachem "Norman" Malech ("King")[b] Mailer was born to aJewish family inLong Branch, New Jersey, on January 31, 1923.[3][4] His father, Isaac Barnett Mailer, popularly known as "Barney", was an accountant[4] born in South Africa, and his mother, Fanny (née Schneider), ran a housekeeping and nursing agency. Mailer's sister, Barbara, was born in 1927.[5]
Mailer was raised inBrooklyn, first inFlatbush on Cortelyou Road[6] and later inCrown Heights at the corner of Albany and Crown Streets.[7] He graduated fromBoys High School and enteredHarvard College in 1939, when he was 16 years old. As an undergraduate, he was a member of theSignet Society. At Harvard, he majored inengineering but took writing courses as electives.[8] He published his first story, "The Greatest Thing in the World", at age 18, winningStory magazine's college contest in 1941.[9]
Mailer graduated from Harvard in 1943 with aBachelor of Science with honors. He married his first wife Beatrice "Bea" Silverman in January 1944, just before he was drafted into the U.S. Army.[10] Hoping to gain a deferment from service, Mailer argued that he was writing an "important literary work" that pertained to the war.[11] The deferral was denied, and Mailer was forced to enter the Army.[12] After training atFort Bragg, he was stationed in thePhilippines with the112th Cavalry.[13]
During his time in the Philippines, Mailer was first assigned to regimental headquarters as a typist, then assigned as a wire lineman. In early 1945, after volunteering for a reconnaissance platoon, he completed more than two dozen patrols in contested territory and engaged in several firefights and skirmishes. After the Japanese surrender, he was sent to Japan as part of the army of occupation, was promoted to sergeant, and became a first cook.[14]
When asked about his war experiences, he said that the army was "the worst experience of my life, and also the most important".[15] While in Japan and the Philippines, Mailer wrote to his wife Bea almost daily, and these approximately 400 letters became the foundation ofThe Naked and the Dead.[16] He drew on his experience as a reconnaissance rifleman for the central action of the novel: a long patrol behind enemy lines.[17][18]
Mailer wrote 12 novels in 59 years. After completing courses in French language and culture at theUniversity of Paris in 1947–48, he returned to the U.S. shortly afterThe Naked and the Dead was published in May 1948.[19] ANew York Times best seller for 62 weeks, it was the only one of Mailer's novels to reach the number one position.[20] It was hailed by many as one of the best American wartime novels[21] and included ina list of the hundred best English-language novels of the twentieth century by theModern Library. The book that made his reputation sold more than a million copies in its first year,[22] (three million by 1981)[23] and has never gone out of print.[24] It is still considered to be one of the finest depictions of Americans in combat during World War II.[25][26]
Barbary Shore (1951) was not well received by the critics.[27] It was a surreal parable ofCold War leftist politics set in a Brooklyn rooming-house, and Mailer's most autobiographical novel.[28] His 1955 novel,The Deer Park drew on his experiences working as a screenwriter in Hollywood from 1949 to 1950. It was initially rejected by seven publishers due to its purportedly sexual content before being published byPutnam's. It was not a critical success, but it made the best-seller list, sold more than 50,000 copies its first year,[29] and is considered by some critics to be the best Hollywood novel sinceNathanael West'sThe Day of the Locust.[30][31][32]
Mailer wrote his fourth novel,An American Dream, as a serial inEsquire magazine over eight months (January to August 1964), publishing the first chapter two months after he wrote it. In March 1965,Dial Press published a revised version. The novel generally received mixed reviews, but was a best seller.[33]Joan Didion praised it in a review inNational Review (April 20, 1965) and John W. Aldridge did the same inLife (March 19, 1965), while Elizabeth Hardwick panned it inPartisan Review (spring 1965).[34] Mailer's fifth novel,Why Are We in Vietnam? was even more experimental in its prose thanAn American Dream. Published in 1967, its critical reception was mostly positive, with many critics, likeJohn Aldridge inHarper's Magazine, calling the novel a masterpiece and comparing it toJoyce. Mailer's obscene language was criticized byGranville Hicks writing in theSaturday Review and the anonymous reviewer inTime.Eliot Fremont-Smith called the novel "the most original, courageous and provocative novel so far this year" that's likely to be "mistakenly reviled". Other critics, such asDenis Donoghue from theNew York Review of Books praised Mailer for his verisimilitude "for the sensory event". Donoghue recallsJosephine Miles' study of the American Sublime, suggesting that the impact ofWhy Are We in Vietnam? was in its voice and style.
In 1972,Joyce Carol Oates calledVietnam "Mailer's most important work"; it is "an outrageous little masterpiece" that "contains some of Mailer's finest writing" and thematically echoesJohn Milton'sParadise Lost.
In 1980,The Executioner's Song, Mailer's "real-life novel" of the life and death of murdererGary Gilmore, won thePulitzer Prize for fiction.[35] Joan Didion reflected the views of many readers when she called the novel "an absolutely astonishing book" at the end of her front-page review in theNew York Times Book Review.[36]
Mailer spent a longer time writingAncient Evenings, his novel of Egypt in theTwentieth Dynasty (about 1100 BC), than any of his other books. He worked on it for periods from 1972 until 1983. It was also a bestseller, although reviews were generally negative. Harold Bloom, in his review said the book "gives every sign of truncation", and "could be half again as long, but no reader will wish so",[37] whileRichard Poirier called it Mailer's "most audacious book".[38]
Harlot's Ghost, Mailer's longest novel (1310 pages), appeared in 1991 and received his best reviews sinceThe Executioner's Song.[39] It is an exploration of the untold dramas of theCIA from the end of World War II to 1965. He undertook a huge amount of research for the novel, which is still on CIA reading lists.[citation needed] He ended the novel with the words "To be continued" and planned to write a sequel, titledHarlot's Grave, but other projects intervened and he never wrote it.Harlot's Ghost sold well.
His final novel,The Castle in the Forest, which focused on Hitler's childhood, reached number five on theTimes best-seller list after publication in January 2007.[20] It received reviews that were more positive than any of his books sinceThe Executioner's Song.Castle was intended to be the first volume of a trilogy, but Mailer died several months after it was completed.The Castle in the Forest received a laudatory 6,200-word front-page review byLee Siegel in theNew York Times Book Review,[40] as well as aBad Sex in Fiction Award by theLiterary Review magazine.[41]
From the mid-1950s, Mailer became known for hiscountercultural essays. In 1955, he co-foundedThe Village Voice and was initially an investor and silent partner,[42] but later he wrote a column called "Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers" from January to April 1956.[43][c] His articles published in this column, 17 in total, were important in his development of a philosophy of hip, or "American existentialism," and allowed him to discover his penchant for journalism.[42]Mailer's famous essay "The White Negro" (1957) fleshes out thehipster figure who stands in opposition to forces that seek debilitating conformity in American society.[44][45]It is believed to be among the most anthologized, and controversial, essays of the postwar period.[46] Mailer republished it in 1959 in his miscellanyAdvertisements for Myself, which he described as "The first work I wrote with a style I could call my own."[47] The reviews were positive, and most commentators referred to it as his breakthrough work.[48]
In 1960, Mailer wrote "Superman Comes to the Supermarket" forEsquire magazine, an account of the emergence ofJohn F. Kennedy during the Democratic Party convention. The essay was an important breakthrough for theNew Journalism of the 1960s, but when the magazine's editors changed the title to "Superman Comes to the Supermart", Mailer was enraged, and would not write forEsquire for years. (The magazine later apologized. Subsequent references are to the original title.)
Mailer took part in theOctober 1967 march on the Pentagon, but initially had no intention of writing a book about it.[49] After conversations with his friend,Willie Morris, editor ofHarper's magazine, he agreed to produce a long essay describing the march.[50] In a concentrated effort, he produced a 90,000-word piece in two months, and it appeared inHarper's March issue. It was the longest nonfiction piece to be published by an American magazine.[51] As one commentator states, "Mailer disarmed the literary world withArmies. The combination of detached, ironic self-presentation [he described himself in the third person], deft portraiture of literary figures (especiallyRobert Lowell,Dwight Macdonald, andPaul Goodman), a reported flawless account of the March itself, and a passionate argument addressed to a divided nation, resulted in a sui generis narrative praised by even some of his most inveterate revilers."[52] Alfred Kazin, writing in theNew York Times Book Review, said, "Mailer's intuition is that the times demand a new form. He has found it."[53] He later expanded the article to a book,The Armies of the Night (1968), awarded aNational Book Award[54] and aPulitzer Prize.
In addition to his experimental fiction andnonfiction novels, Mailer produced a play version ofThe Deer Park (staged at theTheatre De Lys inGreenwich Village in 1967),[57] which had a four-month run and generally good reviews.[58] In 2007, months before he died, he re-wrote the script, and asked his sonMichael, a film producer, to film a staged production in Provincetown, but had to cancel because of his declining health.[59] Mailer obsessed overThe Deer Park more than he did over any other work.[d]
Mailer in Berlin in 2002
In the late 1960s, Mailer directed three improvisational avant-garde films:Wild 90 (1968),Beyond the Law (1968), andMaidstone (1970). The latter includes a spontaneous and brutal brawl between Norman T. Kingsley, played by Mailer, and Kingsley's half-brother Raoul, played byRip Torn. Mailer received a head injury when Torn struck him with a hammer, and Torn's ear became infected when Mailer bit it.[60] In 2012, theCriterion Collection released Mailer's experimental films in a box set, "Maidstone and Other Films by Norman Mailer".[61]In 1987, he adapted and directed afilm version of his novelTough Guys Don't Dance starringRyan O'Neal andIsabella Rossellini, which has become a minorcamp classic.
In 1976, Mailer went to Italy for several weeks to collaborate with ItalianSpaghetti Western filmmakerSergio Leone on an adaptation of theHarry Grey novelThe Hoods.[63][64]Although Leone would pursue other writers shortly thereafter, elements of Mailer's first two drafts of the commissioned screenplay would appear in the Italian filmmaker's final film,Once Upon a Time in America (1984), starringRobert De Niro.[65]
In 1982, Mailer and Lawrence Schiller would collaborate on a television adaptation ofThe Executioner's Song, starringTommy Lee Jones,Roseanna Arquette, andEli Wallach. Airing on November 28 and 29,The Executioner's Song received strong critical reviews and four Emmy nominations, including one for Mailer's screenplay. It won two: for sound production and for Jones as best actor.[67]
In 1987, Mailer was to appear inJean-Luc Godard's experimental film version ofShakespeare'sKing Lear, to be shot in Switzerland. Originally, Mailer was to play the lead character, Don Learo, in Godard's unscripted film alongside his daughter,Kate Mailer. The film also featuredWoody Allen andPeter Sellars. However, tensions surfaced between Mailer and Godard early in the production when Godard insisted that Mailer play a character who had a carnal relationship with his own daughter. Mailer left Switzerland after just one day of shooting.[68]
In 1997, Mailer was set to direct the boxing drama "Ringside," based on an original script by his son Michael and two others. The male lead role, an Irish-American streetfighter who finds redemption in the ring, was to be Brendan Fraser, and it was also to star Halle Berry, Anthony Quinn, and Paul Sorvino.[69]
Mailer's approach to biography came from his interest in the ego of the artist as an "exemplary type".[72] His own biographer,J. Michael Lennon, explains that Mailer would use "himself as a species of divining rod to explore the psychic depths" of disparate personalities, likePablo Picasso,Muhammad Ali,Gary Gilmore,Lee Harvey Oswald, andMarilyn Monroe. "Ego," states Lennon, "can be seen as the beginning of a major phase in his writing career: Mailer as biographer."[73]
Beginning as an assignment fromLawrence Schiller to write a short preface to a collection of photographs,[74] Mailer's 1973 biography of Monroe (usually designatedMarilyn: A Biography)[e] was not approached as a traditional biography. Mailer read the available biographies, watched Monroe's films, and looked at photographs of Monroe;[75] for the rest of it, Mailer stated, "I speculated."[76] Since Mailer did not have the time to thoroughly research the facts surrounding her death, his speculation led to the biography's controversy. The book's final chapter theorizes that Monroe was murdered by rogue agents of theFBI andCIA who resented her supposed affair withRobert F. Kennedy.[77] Mailer later admitted that he embellished the book with speculations about Monroe's sex life and death that he did not himself believe to ensure its commercial success.[78] In his own autobiography, Monroe's former husbandArthur Miller wrote that Mailer saw himself as Monroe "in drag, acting out his own Hollywood fantasies of fame and sex unlimited and power."[79]
The book was enormously successful; it sold more copies than did any of Mailer's works exceptThe Naked and the Dead, and it is Mailer's most widely reviewed book.[80] It was the inspiration for theEmmy-nominated TV movieMarilyn: The Untold Story, which aired in 1980.[81] Two later works co-written by Mailer presented imagined words and thoughts in Monroe's voice: the 1980 bookOf Women and Their Elegance and the 1986 playStrawhead, which was producedoff Broadway starring his daughterKate Mailer.[82]
In the wake of theMarilyn controversy, Mailer attempted to explain his unique approach to biography. He suggests that his biography must be seen as a "species of novel ready to play by the rules of biography."[75] Exemplary egos, he explains, are best explained by other exemplary egos, and personalities like Monroe's are best left in the hands of a novelist.[83]
A number of Mailer's nonfiction works, such asThe Armies of the Night andThe Presidential Papers, are political. He covered theRepublican andDemocratic National Conventions in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1992, and 1996, although his account of the 1996 Democratic convention has never been published. In the early 1960s he was fixated on the figure of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, whom he regarded as an "existential hero". In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s and 1970s, his work mingled autobiography, social commentary, history, fiction, and poetry in a formally original way that influenced the development ofNew Journalism.
Mailer held the position that theCold War was not a positive ideal for America. It allowed the state to become strong and invested in the daily lives of the people. He critiqued conservative politics as they, specifically those of Barry Goldwater, supported the Cold War and an increase in government spending and oversight. This, Mailer argued, stood in opposition with conservative principles such as lower taxes and smaller government. He believed that conservatives were pro-Cold War because that was politically relevant to them and would therefore help them win.[84]
Indeed, Mailer was outspoken about his mistrust of politics in general as a way of meaningful change in America. InMiami and the Siege of Chicago (1968), he explained his view of "politics-as-property", likening a politician to a property holder who is "never ambivalent about his land, he does not mock it or see other adjacent estates as more deserving than his own." Thus politics is just people trading their influence as capital in an attempt to serve their own interests. This cynical view of politicians serving only themselves perhaps explains his views onWatergate. Mailer saw politics as a sporting event: "If you played for a team, you did your best to play very well, but there was something obscene ... in starting to think there was more moral worth to Michigan than Ohio State." Mailer thought that Nixon lost and was demonized only because he played for the wrong team. President Johnson, Mailer thought, was just as bad as Nixon had been, but he had good charisma so all was forgiven.[84]
In September 1961, Mailer was one of 29 original prominent American sponsors of theFair Play for Cuba Committee organization with whichJohn F. Kennedy assassinLee Harvey Oswald was associated in 1963. In December 1963, Mailer and several of the other sponsors left the organization.[f][85]
In 1980, Mailer spearheaded convicted killerJack Abbott's successful bid for parole. In 1977, Abbott had read about Mailer's work onThe Executioner's Song and wrote to Mailer, offering to enlighten the author about Abbott's time behind bars and the conditions he was experiencing. Mailer, impressed, helped to publishIn the Belly of the Beast, a book on life in the prison system consisting of Abbott's letters to Mailer. Once paroled, Abbott committed a murder in New York City six weeks after his release, stabbing 22-year-old Richard Adan to death. Consequently, Mailer was subject to criticism for his role. In a 1992 interview with theBuffalo News, he conceded that his involvement was "another episode in my life in which I can find nothing to cheer about or nothing to take pride in."[87]
The 1986 meeting ofP.E.N. in New York City featured key speeches by Secretary of StateGeorge P. Shultz and Mailer. The appearance of a government official was derided by many, and as Shultz ended his speech, the crowd seethed, with some calling to "read the protest" that had been circulated to criticize Shultz's appearance. Mailer, who was next to speak, responded by shouting to the crowd: "Up yours!"[88]
In 1989, Mailer joined with a number of other prominent authors in publicly expressing support for colleagueSalman Rushdie, whoseThe Satanic Verses led to afatwa issued by Iran's Islamic government calling for Rushdie's assassination.[89]
In 2003, in a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, just before theIraq War, Mailer said: "Fascism is more of a natural state than democracy. To assume blithely that we can export democracy into any country we choose can serve paradoxically to encourage more fascism at home and abroad. Democracy is a state of grace that is attained only by those countries who have a host of individuals not only ready to enjoy freedom but to undergo the heavy labor of maintaining it."[90]
From 1980 until his death in 2007, Mailer contributed toDemocratic Party candidates for political office.[91]
In 1969, at the suggestion of feministGloria Steinem,[92] his friend the political essayistNoel Parmentel, and others, Mailer ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic Party primary formayor of New York City, allied with columnistJimmy Breslin (who ran for city council president), proposing the creation of a51st state throughNew York City secession.[93] Although Mailer took stands on a wide range of issues, from opposing "compulsoryfluoridation of the water supply" to advocating the release ofBlack Panther Party leaderHuey Newton,decentralization was the overriding issue of the campaign.[93] Mailer "foresaw the city, its independence secured, splintering into townships and neighborhoods, with their own school systems, police departments, housing programs, and governing philosophies."[94] Their slogan was "throw the rascals in." Mailer was endorsed bylibertarian economistMurray Rothbard, who "believed that 'smashing the urban government apparatus and fragmenting it into a myriad of constituent fragments' offered the only answer to the ills plaguing American cities," and called Mailer's campaign "the most refreshing libertarian political campaign in decades."[93][94] Mailer finished fourth in a field of five.[95] Looking back on the campaign, journalist and historianTheodore H. White called it "one of the most serious campaigns run in the United States in the last five years. . . . [H]is campaign was considered and thoughtful, the beginning of an attempt to apply ideas to a political situation."[94] Characterizing his campaign, Mailer said: "The difference between me and the other candidates is that I'm no good and I can prove it."[96]
Mailer enjoyed drawing and drew prolifically, particularly toward the end of his life. While his work is not widely known, his drawings, which were inspired by Picasso's style, were exhibited at the Berta Walker Gallery inProvincetown in 2007,[97] and are now displayed on the online arts communityPOBA - Where the Arts Live.[98][99]
Norman Mailer's career is characterized by several recurring themes and concerns that illustrate his philosophical, social, and psychological preoccupations. These thematic concerns reflect a lifetime of grappling with the contradictions of modern life, the nature of freedom, and the complexities of identity. His work is a sustained inquiry into what it means to be truly alive in a world he viewed as increasingly dehumanized by conformity, power structures, and moral ambiguity.
Mailer believed that violence, while brutal, was a path to existential authenticity and a rejection of societal repression. InThe White Negro (1957), Mailer introduced his "Hipster" archetype as an individual who uses violence as a form of rebellion and self-discovery, confronting societal hypocrisy and embracing primal impulses. This perspective underlies much of his work, particularlyAn American Dream (1965), in which protagonist Stephen Rojack commits violent acts that symbolize a radical break from societal constraints, reflecting Mailer's existential philosophy.[100]
Masculinity is depicted in Mailer's work as both a source of strength and a potential path to self-ruin. His exploration of masculine identity is especially evident inWhy Are We in Vietnam? (1967), where a young man's hunting trip serves as an extended metaphor for American militarism and the nation's obsessive masculinity. As criticJ. Michael Lennon points out, Mailer used this novel to critique America’s association of manhood with domination and aggression.[101] Mailer's writing frequently frames masculinity as an essential, though sometimes destructive, force in the search for self-identity.[102]
Many of Mailer's protagonists are outsiders who seek to assert their individual wills in a conformist society, embodying his critique of modern institutions. InThe Naked and the Dead (1948), Mailer contrasts the individual struggles of soldiers with the dehumanizing machinery of war, highlighting the tension between personal autonomy and authoritarian control.[103] Mailer’s existential belief that "to be alive was to stand alone"[104] reflects his view that true identity comes through opposition to societal norms. This theme is echoed inAdvertisements for Myself (1959), where Mailer asserts that genuine artists must break away from societal norms to achieve true creative expression.[105]
Mailer was an outspoken critic of what he saw as a "cancer" of conformity in American society. InAdvertisements for Myself (1959), he argues that artists must defy conventional values to achieve authenticity, a statement that underpins his own often controversial approach to literature and life.[105] His distrust of middle-class values and suburban complacency is a recurring motif in his works, where he often depicts the "outsider" as a figure of integrity against societal pressures to conform.[106] Mailer sees society as a force that suppresses individuality, pushing people towards mediocrity.[104]
Mailer engaged directly with the politics of his time, often depicting political events and figures in morally ambiguous terms. His bookMiami and the Siege of Chicago (1968) documents the 1968 Democratic National Convention, where he critiques the establishment's moral failings and the inherent compromises of political power.[107] Mailer's political views were complex—while he supported some radical ideas, he also expressed skepticism toward revolutionary ideologies, revealing his belief that politics is rarely morally straightforward.[108]
Mailer explored the idea of leadership and heroism, particularly in relation to the "existential hero" who could lead America away from conformity. In "Superman Comes to the Supermarket" (1960), he critiques the rise of consumer culture and its impact on political leadership, arguing that America needs a leader with the "existential courage" to confront societal decay.[109] Mailer admired figures like John F. Kennedy, whom he saw as embodying this existential vitality, though he was wary of the superficiality of political power.[110]
However, Mailer was critical of Kennedy's limitations as a political leader. InThe Presidential Papers (1963), he reflected on Kennedy's presidency, voicing concerns over the tendency of political power to prioritize public image over substantial existential action. Mailer noted that Kennedy's "political realities" sometimes fell short of his symbolic potential, a critique that grew stronger after Kennedy's assassination, when Mailer revisited his initial idealization with a degree of skepticism.[111]
Mailer was a Zionist who strongly supportedIsrael and was a member of the pro-Israel Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East.[112] However, in 2002, he expressed concern over Israel's treatment of Palestinians, comparing the situation of Palestinians to those inJewish ghettos during theHolocaust.[113]
"I start with a set of simple, unsophisticated notions about Israel. It was such a small country when it began. If the Arab leaders had had any kind of human goodness in them, they could have said, these people have been through hell. Let’s treat them with Islamic courtesy, the way we are supposed to treat strangers. Instead they declared them the enemy. The Israelis had no choice but to become strong and to get allied with us. In the course of doing so, some of the best aspects of the Jewish nature—irony, the love of truth, the love of wisdom and justice, suffered internal depredations. Once it was a matter of saving their country, everything changed. Quantity changes quality, which may be the best three words Engels ever wrote. Quantity changes quality. As the Israelis became tougher, so they lost any hard-earned and elevated objectivity, any high and disinterested search for social value. The logo became Israel, my Israel. That was inevitable. It is also tragic, I think. Israel is now one more powerhouse in the world. But what they've lost is special. Now, they treat the Palestinians as if the Palestinians were ghetto Jews. It is one of the great ironies. You know, the older you get, the more you begin to depend upon irony as the last human element you can rely on. Whatever exists will, sooner or later, be turned inside out."[113]
As Mailer aged, his exploration of existential themes grew increasingly spiritual, reflecting a search for meaning and redemption. This is especially apparent inThe Gospel According to the Son (1997), where he reimagines the story of Jesus from a first-person perspective, contemplating the nature of sin, grace, and redemption.[114] Mailer's evolving interest in spirituality demonstrates his shift from existential angst to a more contemplative stance on the mysteries of human existence.[115]
Mailer saw life as a spiritual and psychological journey, with death as the ultimate test of authenticity. He viewed writing as a means to confront mortality and explore divine questions, likening the writer's role to that of a prophet.[116] His fascination with life and death extended to his personal philosophy, which embraced the idea of confronting one's fears to gain insight into the divine and the self.[117]
Mailer's works often present sexuality as a potent force, a battleground for power and transgression. His views on sexuality are vividly explored inThe Prisoner of Sex (1971), where he famously counters feminist critiques, like that ofKate Millett, arguing that sexuality is inherently intertwined with both conflict and attraction. Millett critiques Mailer as a proponent of a "virility cult", emphasizing his portrayal of sex as an expression of power and violence, and he positions male sexuality as combative and inherently dominating.[118] Although his views sparked criticism, Mailer believed that sexual dynamics reveal deep-seated truths about power and human nature.[119]
Mailer's female characters are often depicted through archetypal lenses, reflecting his complex and often controversial views on women. For instance, inMarilyn (1973), Mailer portrays Marilyn Monroe as both a victim and an idealized figure of femininity, embodying vulnerability, allure, and the destructive side of fame and describes her as "one of the last of the cinema's aristorcrats."[120][121] This approach to female characters reveals Mailer's ambivalence toward gender roles, often portraying women as both sources of inspiration and existential challenge.[122]
Critics like Joyce Carol Oates argued that Mailer’s perspective, while ostensibly reverent toward femininity, ultimately "dehumanized" women by reducing them to carriers of biological destiny rather than as complex individuals with aspirations beyond motherhood and sexuality.[123]
Power over bodies, societies, political entities, etc., reverberates throughout Mailer's work. In addition – and notable for such a prominent mainstream American writer of his generation – Mailer, throughout his work and personal communications, repeatedly expresses interest in, includes episodes of, or makes references to bisexuality or homosexuality.[124] He directly addresses the subject publicly in his essayThe Homosexual Villain, forOne magazine.[125]
Mailer focused on jazz as the ultimate expression of African-American bravado, and he represented musical figures such asMiles Davis in works includingAn American Dream. African-American men reflected a challenge to Mailer's own notions of masculinity.[126]
While in Paris in 1956, Mailer met African-American authorJames Baldwin.[127] Mailer became even more fascinated with African-Americans after meeting Baldwin, and this friendship inspired Mailer to write "The White Negro". To Mailer, Baldwin was a natural point of intrigue; Baldwin was gay, and his stature as an author was similar to Mailer's own.[128]
Mailer was married six times and had nine children. He fathered eight children by his various wives and informally adopted his sixth wife's son from another marriage.
Mailer's first marriage was to Beatrice Silverman. They eloped in January 1944 because neither family would likely have approved.[129] They had one child,Susan, and divorced in 1952 because of Mailer's infidelities withAdele Morales.[130]
Morales moved in with Mailer during 1951 into an apartment on First Avenue near Second Street in theEast Village,[131] and they married in 1954. They had two daughters, Danielle and Elizabeth. After hosting a party on Saturday, November 19, 1960, Mailerstabbed Adele twice with a two-and-a-half inch blade that he used to clean his nails, nearly killing her by puncturing herpericardium.[132] He stabbed her once in the chest and once in the back, and initially ordered others not to help her.[133] Adele required emergency surgery but made a quick recovery.[134][135] Mailer claimed he had stabbed Adele "to relieve her of cancer".[136][137] He was involuntarily committed to Bellevue Hospital for 17 days.[138] While Adele did not press charges, saying she wanted to protect their daughters,[139] Mailer later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault saying, "I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing",[140] and received a suspended sentence of three years' probation.[141][142] In 1962, the two divorced. In 1997, Adele published a memoir of their marriage entitledThe Last Party, which recounted her husband stabbing her at a party and the aftermath. This incident has been a focal point for feminist critics of Mailer, who point to themes of sexual violence in his work.[143]
His fourth marriage, in 1963, was toBeverly Bentley, a former model turned actress. She was the mother of two of his sons, producerMichael Mailer and actorStephen Mailer. They divorced in 1980.
His fifth wife was Carol Stevens, a jazz singer whom he married on November 7, 1980, and divorced in Haiti on November 8, 1980, thereby legitimating their daughter Maggie, born in 1971.[145]
His sixth and last wife, whom he married in 1980, wasNorris Church Mailer (born Barbara Jean Davis, 1949–2010), an art teacher. They had one son together,John Buffalo Mailer, a writer and actor. Mailer raised and informally adopted Matthew Norris, Church's son by her first husband, Larry Norris. Living in Brooklyn, New York andProvincetown, Massachusetts with Mailer, Church worked as a model, wrote and painted.
In 2005, Mailer co-wrote a book with his youngest child, John Buffalo Mailer, titledThe Big Empty. Mailer appeared in a 2004 episode ofGilmore Girls titled "Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant!" with his son Stephen Mailer.[146][147]
Over the course of his life, Mailer was connected with several women other than his wives,[148] includingCarole Mallory, who wrote a "tell all" biography,Loving Mailer, after his death.[149]
In a chance meeting in anUpper East Side New York restaurant in 1982,Gloria Leonard first met Mailer. He struck up a conversation with Leonard after recognizing her.[150] The meeting was rumored to have led to a brief affair between the two.[151] Later, Leonard was approached by a group of movie distributors from the Midwest to finance what was described as "the world's first million-dollar pornographic movie".[151] She invited Mailer to lunch and made her pitch for his services as a writer. In an interview Leonard said that the author "sat straight up in his chair and said, 'I always knew I'd one day make a porny.'" Leonard then asked what his fee would be and Mailer responded with "Two-hundred fifty thousand". Leonard then asked if he'd be interested in adapting his novel-biography of Marilyn Monroe, but Mailer replied that he wanted to do something original. The project later ended due to scheduling conflicts between the two.[150]
At the December 15, 1971 taping ofThe Dick Cavett Show withJanet Flanner andGore Vidal, Mailer, annoyed with a less-than-stellar review by Vidal ofPrisoner of Sex, allegedly insulted and head-butted Vidal backstage.[152] As the show began taping a visibly belligerent Mailer, who admitted he had been drinking, goaded Vidal and Cavett into trading insults with him on-air and referred to his own "greater intellect". He openly taunted and mocked Vidal, who responded in kind, and earned the ire of Flanner who announced during the discussion that she was "...becoming very, very bored..." Flanner told Mailer and Vidal "...you act as if you're the only people here." As Cavett made jokes comparing Mailer's intellect to his ego, Mailer stated "Why don't you look at your question sheet and ask your question?", to which Cavett responded "Why don't you fold it five ways and put it where the moon don't shine?"[152] A long laugh ensued after which Mailer asked Cavett if he had come up with that line. Cavett replied "I have to tell you a quote fromTolstoy?" The head-butting and later on-air altercation was described by Mailer himself in his essay "Of a Small and Modest Malignancy, Wicked and Bristling with Dots".
According to his obituary inThe Independent, his "relentless machismo seemed out of place in a man who was actually quite small – though perhaps that was where the aggression originated."[153]
Alan Dershowitz, in his book,Taking the Stand, recounts whenClaus von Bülow had a dinner party after he was found not guilty at his trial. Dershowitz countered that he would not attend if it was a "victory party", and von Bülow assured him that it was only a dinner for "several interesting friends". Norman Mailer attended the dinner where, among other things, Dershowitz explained why the evidence pointed to von Bülow's innocence. As Dershowitz recounted, Mailer grabbedhis wife's arm, and said: "Let's get out of here. I think this guy is innocent. I thought we were going to be having dinner with a man who actually tried to kill his wife. This is boring."[154]
In 2003, theNorman Mailer Society was founded to help ensure the legacy of Mailer's work.[162] In 2008, The Norman Mailer Center and The Norman Mailer Writers Colony, a non-profit organization for educational purposes, was established to honor Mailer.[163] Among its programs is theNorman Mailer Prize established in 2009.[164] In 2008,Carole Mallory, a former mistress,[165] sold seven boxes of documents and photographs to Harvard University, Mailer's alma mater.[166] They contain extracts of her letters, books and journals.[167]
Throughout his lifetime, Mailer wrote more than 45,000 letters.[168] In 2014, Mailer's biographerJ. Michael Lennon chose 712 of those letters and published them inSelected Letters of Norman Mailer, which covers the period between the 1940s and the early 2000s.[169]
In March 2018, theLibrary of America published a two-volume collection of Mailer's works from the sixties:Four Books of the 1960s andCollected Essays of the 1960s.[170] Critic David Denby suggests that based on Mailer's observations about the fractured political atmosphere in America that led to the1967 march on the Pentagon, Mailer's work seems to be as relevant today as it was fifty years ago and that "Mailer may be due for reappraisal and revival."[170]
In May 2018, the Norman Mailer Society and the city ofLong Branch, New Jersey co-sponsored the installation of a bronze plaque where the Mailer family's Queen-Anne style hotel, the Scarboro, used to stand on the city's beachfront.[171]
In October 2019,Wilkes University's Farley Library opened a replica of Mailer's last study in Provincetown, Massachusetts, replete with "some of his private library, manuscripts and revisions dating from 1984 as well as his studio furniture". The archive also houses Mailer's entire 4,000-volume library from his home in Brooklyn and an original portrait of Mailer by painterNancy Ellen Craig donated by Mailer's daughter Danielle. The room opened with an event on October 10, 2019, to coincide with the annual conference of the Norman Mailer Society and was attended by several members of Mailer's family.[172]
In 2019, Susan Mailer, Norman's eldest daughter, published a memoir about her relationship with her father.In Another Place: With and Without My Father Norman Mailer explores her "intense and complex" relationship with her father and the extended Mailer family.[173] Reviewer Nicole DePolo writes that Susan Mailer, a psychoanalyst, provides sharp insights about her father in "crisp, vibrant prose that captures the essence of moments that are both remarkable and universally resonant".[174]
In 2023,How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer, a documentary byJeff Zimbalist, was released.
^This marriage lasted one day, and occurred to legitimize Mailer and Stevens' daughter, Maggie, who was born in 1971.
^Though Kingsley was used on the birth certificate.
^Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers (originally 'Thinkers').Village Voice (January 11 – May 2)
^ According toLennon (2013, pp. 755, 757), Mailer was trying to rewrite the play (already revised several times) in the last months of his life, suggests this obsession. He spent tens of thousands of dollars in 1967 keeping the play running in NYC even when people stopped coming to see it.Lennon & Lennon (2018, 57.20) note that he began adapting it in 1956, but did not complete it for over a decade. In the eighties, he also had Joan Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne write a screenplay of it, but didn't like it. StephanMorrow (2008, pp. 149–52) put on a revised version of it in the early 2000s, and recounts that Mailer wanted to collaborate on another version with Morrow when the former passed in 2007.
^The book is commonly referenced asMarilyn: A Biography, e.g. in Michael Lennon'sCritical Essays. But that is a dubitable title. The display type on the title page begins with "Marilyn" on the top line, "a biography by" on another, followed by "Norman" and "Mailer" on two more.
^Lennon, J. Michael; et al. (2014)."56.1–56.17".Norman Mailer: Works & Days. Project Mailer.Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. RetrievedAugust 26, 2017.
Contains important books and articles about Mailer and his works, many of which are cited in this article. SeeWorks above for a list of Mailer's first editions and Mailer's individual works for reviews.
—; Lennon, Donna Pedro (2018). Lucas, Gerald R. (ed.).Norman Mailer: Works and Days (Revised, Expanded ed.). Atlanta, GA: The Norman Mailer Society.ISBN978-1-7326519-0-6. Comprehensive, annotated primary and secondary bibliography with life chronology.
Mailer, Susan (2019).In Another Place: With and Without My Father Norman Mailer. Northampton House Press.ISBN978-1937997977.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Manso, Peter (2008).Mailer: His Life and Times. New York: Washington Square Press.ISBN9781416562863.OCLC209700769. Highly readable, but controversial "oral" biography of Mailer created by cross-cutting interviews with friends, enemies, acquaintances, relatives, wives of Mailer, and Mailer himself.
Bufithis, Philip H. (1978).Norman Mailer. Modern Literature Monographs. New York: Frederick Unger.ISBN9780804420976.OCLC902507100. Perhaps the most readable and reliable study of Mailer's early work.
Foster, Richard Jackson (1968).Norman Mailer. University of Minnesota Pamphlets on American Writers. Vol. 73. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P.ISBN9781452910970.OCLC7682195.
Glenday, Michael (1995).Norman Mailer. London: Macmillan.OCLC902229084.
Gutman, Stanley T. (1975).Mankind in Barbary: The Individual and Society in the Novels of Norman Mailer. Hanover, New Hampshire: The University Press of New England.
Kaufmann, Donald L. (2013).Norman Mailer: Legacy and Literary Americana. Self Publication.
Kazin, Alfred (May 5, 1968)."The Trouble He's Seen".The New York Times. Books. RetrievedAugust 27, 2017.
— (1972).Norman Mailer. Modern Masters. New York: Viking Press.OCLC473033417. One of the best studies of Mailer's writing, tracking his career through the early seventies.
Radford, Jean (1975).Norman Mailer: A Critical Study. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Schoenvogel, Robert (2016)."Mailer, Norman: The Naked and the Dead".20th-Century American Bestsellers. U of Virginia, Dept. of English. RetrievedAugust 26, 2017.
Siegel, Lee (January 21, 2007)."Maestro of the Human Ego".New York Times Book Review. RetrievedAugust 26, 2017.
Solotaroff, Robert (1974).Down Mailer's Way. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
Oates, Joyce Carol (July 23, 2011)."Joyce Carol Oates on Norman Mailer".Celestial Timepiece: The Joyce Carol Oates Home Page. University of San Francisco. Archived fromthe original on July 23, 2011. RetrievedNovember 25, 2019.
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