Mailer: A BiographyUndeniably one of the most controversial figures of past half century, Norman Mailer has also been one of the most influential. Twice a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, once a candidate for mayor of New York City, and the author of thirty-one books, he has both made the news and commented on it with an originality that has permanently altered America's literary landscape. From the peace rallies of the sixties that lead to The Armies of the Night, to the coverage of the "sex wars" in The Prisoner of Sex, to the study of violence and punishment in The Executioner's Song, Mailer has observed our culture with unmatched insight -- and shaped it as well. Mary Dearborn had unprecedented access to Mailer's friends, relations, and antagonists. With photographs and correspondence never before published, her biography fills in the familiar outlines of his colorful personal life -- the wives and mistresses, the brawls and arrests -- and charts Mailer's brilliant successes and notorious failures. Acclaimed for her biographies of Henry Miller and Louise Bryant, Dearborn comes to her subject uniquely sensitive to Mailer's best and worst sides. Her account is the most clearheaded and balanced evaluation to date. As splendidly told by Mary Dearborn, Mailer's story is, for good or ill, the story of our times. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 88
Page 126
... wrote his piece , feeling punch - drunk to be writing again . What he wrote was decidedly strange . It reflected his old belief in black male supersexuality . The argument ran thus : " Everybody . . . knows " the white man fears the ...
... wrote his piece , feeling punch - drunk to be writing again . What he wrote was decidedly strange . It reflected his old belief in black male supersexuality . The argument ran thus : " Everybody . . . knows " the white man fears the ...
Page 199
... wrote poems that didn't pretend to be " serious " poetry ; he wrote on topics like mystical Judaism without ever getting to the announced topic . This lack of predictability , this refusal to be categorized , was part of what riveted ...
... wrote poems that didn't pretend to be " serious " poetry ; he wrote on topics like mystical Judaism without ever getting to the announced topic . This lack of predictability , this refusal to be categorized , was part of what riveted ...
Page 335
... wrote and believed had heretofore been extremely important to him ; this time , he acts like a man who doesn't care what reporters say . He needed a lot of money to support his extended family , so he had to exert himself es- pecially ...
... wrote and believed had heretofore been extremely important to him ; this time , he acts like a man who doesn't care what reporters say . He needed a lot of money to support his extended family , so he had to exert himself es- pecially ...
Contents
COCK OF THE WALK | 1 |
THE ARMY | 36 |
POLITICS AND HOLLYWOOD | 65 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abbott Advertisements American appeared asked Barbara Barbary Shore Barney Barney Rosset began believed Beverly Brooklyn Buzz called campaign career Carol critics culture Deer Park dollars editor Esquire essay existential fact Farbar felt Fifth Estate fight film friends Gloria Steinem going Gore Vidal Gwaltney Collection Harlot's Ghost Harvard Hemingway hipster Ibid idea intellectual Jason Epstein Jeanne Jewish Kennedy knew later literary living Macdonald magazine Malaquais Marilyn Mickey Knox Miller Monroe movie Naked never night Norman and Adele Norman Mailer Norman Podhoretz Norris novel novelist Partisan Review party perhaps Peter Manso piece play Plimpton political Prisoner of Sex Provincetown published readers Rojack Rollyson scene Schiller seemed sexual stabbing story Stratton Street Styron summer talk things thought tion told took turned Vidal Vietnam wanted wife Wild 90 women writing wrote York York Post