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Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least one in each of the seven decades after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
—more than any other post-war American writer. His novel '' The Naked and the Dead'' was published in 1948 and brought him early renown. His 1968 nonfiction novel '' Armies of the Night'' won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction as well as the
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
. Among his best-known works is ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'', the 1979 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Mailer is considered an innovator of "creative non-fiction" or "
New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...
", along with
Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
,
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...
, Hunter S. Thompson, and
Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
, a genre which uses the style and devices of literary fiction in factual journalism. He was a cultural commentator and critic, expressing his 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 founded ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'', an arts and politics-oriented weekly newspaper distributed in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. In 1960, Mailer was convicted of assault and served a three-year probation after he stabbed his wife Adele Morales with a penknife, nearly killing her. In 1969, he ran an unsuccessful campaign to become the
mayor of New York The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
. Mailer was married six times and had nine children.


Early life

Nachem "Norman" Malech ("King") Mailer was born to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in Long Branch, New Jersey, on January 31, 1923. His father, Isaac Barnett Mailer, popularly known as "Barney", was an accountant born in South Africa, and his mother, Fanny (''née'' Schneider), ran a housekeeping and nursing agency. Mailer's sister, Barbara, was born in 1927. Mailer was raised in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, first in Flatbush on Cortelyou Road and later in Crown Heights at the corner of Albany and Crown Streets. He graduated from
Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...
and entered
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1939, when he was 16 years old. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the
Signet Society The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate ...
. At Harvard, he majored in engineering sciences, but took writing courses as electives. He published his first story, "The Greatest Thing in the World", at the age of 18, winning ''Story'' magazine's college contest in 1941. After graduating in 1943, Mailer married his first wife Beatrice "Bea" Silverman in January 1944, just before being drafted into the U.S. Army. Hoping to gain a deferment from service, Mailer argued that he was writing an "important literary work" which pertained to the war. This deferral was denied, and Mailer was forced to enter the Army. After training at Fort Bragg, he was stationed in the
Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
s with the 112th Cavalry. 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. When asked about his war experiences, he said that the army was "the worst experience of my life, and also the most important". While in Japan and the Philippines, Mailer wrote to his wife Bea almost daily, and these approximately 400 letters became the foundation of ''The Naked and the Dead''. He drew on his experience as a reconnaissance rifleman for the central action of the novel: a long patrol behind enemy lines.


Novelist

Mailer wrote 12 novels in 59 years. After completing courses in French language and culture at the
University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
in 1947–48, he returned to the U.S. shortly after ''The Naked and the Dead'' was published in May 1948. A ''New York Times'' best seller for 62 weeks, it was the only one of Mailer's novels to reach the number one position. It was hailed by many as one of the best American wartime novels and included in a list of the hundred best English-language novels of the twentieth century by the Modern Library. The book that made his reputation sold over a million copies in its first year, (three million by 1981) and has never gone out of print. It is still considered to be one of the finest depictions of Americans in combat during World War II. '' Barbary Shore'' (1951) was not well received by the critics. It was a surreal parable of Cold War leftist politics set in a Brooklyn rooming-house, and Mailer's most autobiographical novel. His 1955 novel, ''
The Deer Park ''The Deer Park'' is a Hollywood novel written by Norman Mailer and published in 1955 by G.P. Putnam's Sons after it was rejected by Mailer's publisher, Rinehart & Company, for obscenity. Despite having already typeset the book, Rinehart claime ...
'' 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 by
Putnam's ''Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art'' was a monthly periodical published by G. P. Putnam's Sons featuring American literature and articles on science, art, and politics. Series The magazine had three incarnation ...
. It was not a critical success, but it made the best-seller list, sold over 50,000 copies its first year, and is considered by some critics to be the best Hollywood novel since
Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and ''The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set r ...
's '' The Day of the Locust''. Mailer wrote his fourth novel, '' An American Dream'', as a serial in '' Esquire'' 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.
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...
praised it in a review in ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' (April 20, 1965) and John W. Aldridge did the same in ''Life '' (March 19, 1965), while Elizabeth Hardwick panned it in ''
Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated Joh ...
'' (spring 1965). Mailer's fifth novel, ''
Why Are We in Vietnam? ''Why Are We In Vietnam?'' (''WWVN'') is a 1967 novel by the American author Norman Mailer. It focuses on a hunting trip to the Brooks Range in Alaska where a young man is brought by his father, a wealthy businessman who works for a company that ...
'' was even more experimental in its prose than ''An American Dream''. Published in 1967, the critical reception of WWVN was mostly positive with many critics, like
John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is ...
in Harper's, calling the novel a masterpiece and comparing it to Joyce. Mailer's obscene language was criticized by critics such as
Granville Hicks Granville Hicks (September 9, 1901 – June 18, 1982) was an American Marxist and, later, anti-Marxist novelist, literary critic, educator, and editor. Early life Granville Hicks was born September 9, 1901, in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Frank Ste ...
writing in the Saturday Review and the anonymous reviewer in Time. Eliot Fremont-Smith calls WWVN "the most original, courageous and provocative novel so far this year" that's likely to be "mistakenly reviled". Other critics, such as Denis Donoghue from the New York Review of Books praised Mailer for his verisimilitude "for the sensory event". Donoghue recalls
Josephine Miles Josephine Louise Miles (June 11, 1911 – May 12, 1985) was an American poet and literary critic; the first woman tenured in the English department at the University of California, Berkeley. She wrote over a dozen books of poetry and several wor ...
' study of the American Sublime, reasoning WWVN's voice and style as the drive behind Mailer's impact. In 1972, Joyce Carol Oates called ''Vietnam'' "Mailer's most important work"; it's "an outrageous little masterpiece" that "contains some of Mailer's finest writing" and thematically echoes John Milton's '' Paradise Lost''. In 1980, ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'', Mailer's "real-life novel" of the life and death of murderer
Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...
, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. 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 the ''New York Times Book Review''. Mailer spent a longer time writing '' Ancient Evenings'', his novel of Egypt in the
Twentieth Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore togeth ...
(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", while
Richard Poirier Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...
called it Mailer's "most audacious book". '' Harlot's Ghost'', Mailer's longest novel (1310 pages), appeared in 1991 and received his best reviews since ''The Executioner's Song''. It is an exploration of the untold dramas of the CIA 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. He ended the novel with the words "To be continued" and planned to write a sequel, titled ''Harlot's Grave'', but other projects intervened and he never wrote it. ''Harlot's Ghost'' sold well. His final novel, ''
The Castle in the Forest ''The Castle in the Forest'' is the last novel by writer Norman Mailer, published in the year of his death, 2007. It is the story of Adolf Hitler's childhood as seen through the eyes of Dieter, a demon sent to put him on his destructive path. T ...
'', which focused on Hitler's childhood, reached number five on the ''Times'' best-seller list after publication in January 2007. It received reviews that were more positive than any of his books since ''The 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 by Lee Siegel in the ''New York Times Book Review'', as well as a Bad Sex in Fiction Award by the ''
Literary Review ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years by v ...
'' magazine.


Journalist

From the mid-1950s, Mailer became known for his
countercultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
essays. In 1955, he co-founded ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' and was initially an investor and silent partner, but later he wrote a column called "Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers" from January to April 1956. 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. Mailer's famous essay " The White Negro" (1957) fleshes out the hipster figure who stands in opposition to forces that seek debilitating conformity in American society. It is believed to be among the most anthologized, and controversial, essays of the postwar period. Mailer republished it in 1959 in his miscellany '' Advertisements for Myself'', which he described as "The first work I wrote with a style I could call my own." The reviews were positive, and most commentators referred to it as his breakthrough work. In 1960, Mailer wrote "
Superman Comes to the Supermarket "Superman Comes to the Supermarket" is an essay by the American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer about the 1960 Democratic convention. Originally published in ''Esquire'' as "Superman Comes to the Supermart," this essay was Mailer's initial ...
" for '' Esquire'' magazine, an account of the emergence of
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
during the Democratic Party convention. The essay was an important breakthrough for the
New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...
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 for ''Esquire'' for years. (The magazine later apologized. Subsequent references are to the original title.) Mailer took part in the October 1967 march on the Pentagon, but initially had no intention of writing a book about it. After conversations with his friend,
Willie Morris William Weaks Morris (November 29, 1935 – August 2, 1999) was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' tradem ...
, editor of '' Harper's'' magazine, he agreed to produce a long essay describing the march. In a concentrated effort, he produced a 90,000-word piece in two months, and it appeared in ''Harpers March issue. It was the longest nonfiction piece to be published by an American magazine. As one commentator states, "Mailer disarmed the literary world with ''Armies''. The combination of detached, ironic self-presentation e described himself in the third person deft portraiture of literary figures (especially Robert Lowell, Dwight Macdonald, and
Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...
), 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." Alfred Kazin, writing in the ''New York Times Book Review'', said, "Mailer's intuition is that the times demand a new form. He has found it." He later expanded the article to a book, ''
The Armies of the Night ''The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/The Novel as History'' is a nonfiction novel recounting the October 1967 March on the Pentagon written by Norman Mailer and published by New American Library in 1968. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Ge ...
'' (1968), awarded a
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
The U.S. National Book Award in category Arts and Letters was awarded annually from 1964 to 1976. and a Pulitzer Prize. Mailer's major new journalism, or creative nonfiction, books also include '' Miami and the Siege of Chicago'' (1968), an account of the 1968 political conventions; ''
Of a Fire on the Moon ''Of a Fire on the Moon'' (, ) is a work of non-fiction by Norman Mailer which was serialised in ''Life'' magazine in 1969 and 1970, and published in 1970 as a book. It is a documentary and reflection on the Apollo 11 Moon landing from Mailer's ...
'' (1971), a long report on the
Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...
mission to the moon; '' The Prisoner of Sex'' (1971), his response to
Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors ...
's critique of the patriarchal myths in the works of Mailer, Jean Genet,
Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...
and
D.H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
; and '' The Fight'' (1975), an account of Muhammad Ali's 1974 defeat in Zaire of George Foreman for the heavyweight boxing championship. ''Miami'', ''Fire'' and ''Prisoner'' were all finalists for the
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
. The hallmark of his five New Journalism works is his use of
illeism Illeism (from Latin ''ille'' meaning "he, that") is the act of referring to oneself in the third person instead of first person. It is sometimes used in literature as a stylistic device. In real-life usage, illeism can reflect a number of diff ...
, or referring to oneself in the third person, rather than the first. Mailer said he got the idea from reading ''
The Education of Henry Adams ''The Education of Henry Adams'' is an autobiography that records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth. It is also a sh ...
'' (1918) when he was a Harvard freshman. Mailer also employs many of the most common techniques of fiction in his creative nonfiction.


Filmmaker

In addition to his experimental fiction and nonfiction novels, Mailer produced a play version of ''The Deer Park'' (staged at the
Theatre De Lys The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...
in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
in 1967), which had a four-month run and generally good reviews. In 2007, months before he died, he re-wrote the script, and asked his son Michael, a film producer, to film a staged production in Provincetown, but had to cancel because of his declining health. Mailer obsessed over ''The Deer Park'' more than he did over any other work. In the late 1960s, Mailer directed three improvisational avant-garde films: '' Wild 90'' (1968), ''Beyond the Law'' (1968), and ''
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
'' (1970). The latter includes a spontaneous and brutal brawl between Norman T. Kingsley, played by Mailer, and Kingsley's half-brother Raoul, played by Rip Torn. Mailer received a head injury when Torn struck him with a hammer, and Torn's ear became infected when Mailer bit it. In 2012, the Criterion Collection released Mailer's experimental films in a box set, "Maidstone and Other Films by Norman Mailer". In 1987, he adapted and directed a film version of his novel '' Tough Guys Don't Dance'' starring
Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
and
Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...
, which has become a minor camp classic. Mailer took on an acting role in the 1981 Miloš Forman film version of
E.L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...
's novel ''Ragtime'', playing
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...
. In 1999, he played Harry Houdini in Matthew Barney's '' Cremaster 2'', which was inspired by the events surrounding the life of
Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...
. In 1976, Mailer went to Italy for several weeks to collaborate with Italian Spaghetti Western filmmaker Sergio Leone on an adaptation of the
Harry Grey Herschel Goldberg (November 2, 1901 – October 1, 1980), better known as Harry Grey, was a Russian Jewish-American writer. His first book, ''The Hoods'' (1952), was the model for the 1984 film ''Once Upon a Time in America'' by Sergio Leone, ...
novel ''The Hoods''. 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 magnum opus, ''
Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture prod ...
'' (1984), starring
Robert DeNiro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
. Mailer starred alongside writer/feminist
Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...
in D.A. Pennebaker's '' Town Bloody Hall'', which was shot in 1971 but not released until 1979. In 1982, Mailer and Lawrence Schiller would collaborate on a television adaptation of ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'', starring
Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
, Roseanna Arquette, and
Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...
. Airing on November 28 and 29, ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'' 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. In 1987, Mailer was to appear in Jean-Luc Godard's experimental film version of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
'', 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 featured
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
and
Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...
. 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. 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. In 2001, he adapted the screenplay for the movie: '' Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story''. In 2005, Mailer served as a technical consultant on the
Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
boxing movie '' Cinderella Man'', about legendary boxer Jim Braddock.


Biographer

Mailer's approach to biography came from his interest in the ego of the artist as an "exemplary type". 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, like
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, Muhammad Ali,
Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...
,
Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
, and
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
. "Ego," states Lennon, "can be seen as the beginning of a major phase in his writing career: Mailer as biographer." Beginning as an assignment from Lawrence Schiller to write a short preface to a collection of photographs, Mailer's 1973 biography of Monroe (usually designated '' Marilyn: A Biography'') was not approached as a traditional biography. Mailer read the available biographies, watched Monroe's films, and looked at photographs of Monroe; for the rest of it, Mailer stated, "I speculated." 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 the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
and CIA who resented her supposed affair with
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
. 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. In his own autobiography, Monroe's former husband
Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
wrote that Mailer saw himself as Monroe "in drag, acting out his own Hollywood fantasies of fame and sex unlimited and power." The book was enormously successful; it sold more copies than did any of Mailer's works except ''The Naked and the Dead'', and it is Mailer's most widely reviewed book. It was the inspiration for the Emmy-nominated TV movie '' Marilyn: The Untold Story'', which aired in 1980. Two later works co-written by Mailer presented imagined words and thoughts in Monroe's voice: the 1980 book ''
Of Women and Their Elegance ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' is an imaginary memoir about Marilyn Monroe by Norman Mailer. The book uses photographs taken by Milton H. Greene in combination with real interviews of Monroe and fictional events that Mailer invents. The book, ...
'' and the 1986 play '' Strawhead'', which was produced off Broadway starring his daughter Kate Mailer. In the wake of the ''Marilyn'' 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." 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.


Activist

A number of Mailer's nonfiction works, such as ''
The Armies of the Night ''The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/The Novel as History'' is a nonfiction novel recounting the October 1967 March on the Pentagon written by Norman Mailer and published by New American Library in 1968. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Ge ...
'' and ''The Presidential Papers'', are political. He covered the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and Democratic 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 President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, 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 of
New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non- ...
. Mailer held the position that the Cold 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. Indeed, Mailer was outspoken about his mistrust of politics in general as a way of meaningful change in America. In ''Miami 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 on Watergate. 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. In September 1961, Mailer was one of 29 original prominent American sponsors of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee organization with which
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
was associated in 1963. In December 1963, Mailer and several of the other sponsors left the organization. In October 1967, Mailer was arrested for his involvement in an anti–Vietnam War demonstration at the Pentagon sponsored by the
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in o ...
. In 1968, he signed the
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of ...
pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the war. In 1980, Mailer spearheaded convicted killer Jack Abbott's successful bid for parole. In 1977, Abbott had read about Mailer's work on ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'' 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 publish '' In 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 the ''
Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'', 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." The 1986 meeting of P.E.N. in New York City featured key speeches by Secretary of State
George P. Shultz George Pratt Shultz (; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held fou ...
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!" In 1989, Mailer joined with a number of other prominent authors in publicly expressing support for colleague
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
, whose ''
The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' led to a '' fatwa'' issued by Iran's Islamic government calling for Rushdie's assassination. In 2003, in a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, just before the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...
, 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." From 1980 until his death in 2007, Mailer contributed to Democratic Party candidates for political office.


Politician

In 1969, at the suggestion of feminist
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...
, his friend the political essayist Noel Parmentel and others, Mailer ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic Party primary for mayor of New York City, allied with columnist
Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...
(who ran for city council president), proposing the creation of a 51st state through New York City secession.Mailer for Mayor
, ''
The Libertarian Forum ''The Libertarian Forum'' was an anarcho-capitalist magazine published about twice a month from 1969 to 1984. Its editor and chief author was Murray Rothbard; initially, Karl Hess also served as Washington editor. Currently all the issues are ava ...
'' (May 15, 1969)
Although Mailer took stands on a wide range of issues, from opposing "compulsory
fluoridation Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by addin ...
of the water supply" to advocating the release of Black Panther Party leader
Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...
,
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
was the overriding issue of the campaign. Mailer "foresaw the city, its independence secured, splintering into townships and neighborhoods, with their own school systems, police departments, housing programs, and governing philosophies." Mailer, John Buffalo (May 24, 2009
Summer of '69
, ''
The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...
''
Their slogan was "throw the rascals in." Mailer was endorsed by libertarian economist
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
, 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." Mailer finished fourth in a field of five. Looking back on the campaign, journalist and historian Theodore H. White called it "one of the most serious campaigns run in the United States in the last five years. . . . s campaign was considered and thoughtful, the beginning of an attempt to apply ideas to a political situation." Characterizing his campaign, Mailer said: "The difference between me and the other candidates is that I'm no good and I can prove it."


Artist

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 in
Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
in 2007, and are now displayed on the online arts community POBA - Where the Arts Live.


Recurring themes


Style and views on the body and sex

Bodily urges are fundamental to Mailer's approach to novels and short works. These urges are in tension with the themes of "apocalypse" and morality. Stemming from his Freudian philosophical basis, bodily urges are integral to Mailer's work. The "psychopath" presented in ''The White Negro'' continues to occupy the central narrative of much of Mailer's work throughout his career. The drama of this psychopath for Mailer is that he or she seeks love—but love as the search for an orgasm more "apocalyptic" than the ones that preceded it. These views on sex were not light vices for Mailer. In ''Armies of the Night'' he postulates at length on "earned manhood," "onanism and sexuality," and "psychic profit derived from the existential assertion of yourself". The Mailer–reader relationship is also integral to Mailer's literary body trope. Mailer uses frequent allusion and direct use of body-oriented language to describe power structures in ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago'' in the form of the "military spine of the liberal party" and in the "knifelike entrance into culture" of jazz in ''The White Negro''. Power over bodies, societies, political entities, etc. is a constant presence in 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. He even directly addresses the subject publicly in his essay ''The Homosexual Villain'', for ''One'' magazine. Moments of physical and sexual power or powerlessness are the climax of ''The Naked and the Dead'', "The Time of Her Time", and ''The Armies of the Night.'' His prose presentation of an existential struggle is frequently conveyed to the reader via references to the body. The body is an entity to be poked, prodded, broken, even snuffed into non-existence. By filling his work with graphic depictions of sex, violence, and even rock and roll, Mailer elevates the experience of the reader. Mailer invokes a particularly poignant, violent portrayal of the body, authority, and sexuality in ''The Time of Her Time''. Consistent use of bodily reference or allusion is clearly integral to his depiction of human existence. Mailer elevates the reader experience, and wrestles the reader for domination while allowing room for interpretation. Critiques of Mailer based on sexuality, race, and gender, have been levied by authors such as Kate Millett and bell hooks, among others. Kate Millett, in her ''
Sexual Politics ''Sexual Politics'' is the debut book by American writer and activist Kate Millett, based on her PhD dissertation. It was published in 1970 by Doubleday (publisher), Doubleday. It is regarded as a classic of feminism and one of radical feminis ...
,'' critiques Mailer: "His considerable insights into the practice of sexuality as a power game never seem to affect his vivid personal enthusiasm for the fight nor his sturdy conviction that it's kill or be killed."


Race

Throughout his writing, Mailer never presents a very clear perspective on race. His works range from a profound understanding of the African American condition in America to extremely stereotypical depictions of race. For the majority of Mailer's career he does not delve directly into race, but chooses to pursue the matter only as a side note to the larger currents of the 1960s and 1970s. Mailer does, however, spend some time working through the issue in "The White Negro", ''Of a Fire on the Moon'', and in his work ''The Fight'' about the heavyweight title bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. In ''
Of a Fire on the Moon ''Of a Fire on the Moon'' (, ) is a work of non-fiction by Norman Mailer which was serialised in ''Life'' magazine in 1969 and 1970, and published in 1970 as a book. It is a documentary and reflection on the Apollo 11 Moon landing from Mailer's ...
'' Mailer represents the space flight as an exclusive action on the part of white Americans, as they have left African Americans behind on Earth. African Americans can only look on as whites move even farther past them in not just society, but their earthly constraints. Mailer uses African Americans to criticize the moon landing, as he reflects on the fact that many problems still exist on Earth, and within America.


Mailer's personal encounters with race

Mailer often directly engaged with racial issues in his works, but some have seen his writings on the subject of race to be problematic. Mailer focused on Jazz as the ultimate expression of African-American bravado, and figures like
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
would become represented in works like ''An American Dream''. For Mailer, African-American men reflected a challenge to his own notions of masculinity. While in Paris in 1956, Mailer met the famous African-American author James Baldwin. 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 as Baldwin was both gay and an African-American author, similar to Mailer's stature. Their relationship was never a close friendship nor contemptuous, but one of mutual intrigue and a sense of competition existed between the two writers. Mailer often commented on Baldwin's work, and Baldwin did the same to Mailer. These comments became increasingly critical as their careers progressed despite their respect for one another. Baldwin wrote a letter disapproving of Mailer's comments on race and sexuality in "The White Negro". He stated the reason for the decline in his relationship with Mailer was "that myth of the sexuality of Negroes which Norman, like so many others, refused to give up". Baldwin said a white American writer "affords too many opportunities to avoid reality". He believed that Mailer did not fully recognize the benefits from his status as a heterosexual male.


Concept of masculinity

The subject of masculinity shows up frequently throughout Mailer's works. Critics have argued that while Mailer says he supports feminism, he unconsciously intertwines his own masculine biases. In '' The Prisoner of Sex'', Mailer questions the
Women's Liberation Movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...
and the role of women in the society around him. He viewed women as questioning societal roles that posed a risk to interfering with masculine roles that had already been established. In Mailer's eyes, he does not fully comprehend what women were fighting for.


Personal life


Marriages and children

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. They had one child, Susan, and divorced in 1952 because of Mailer's infidelities with Adele Morales. Morales moved in with Mailer during 1951 into an apartment on First Avenue near Second Street in the East Village, and they married in 1954. They had two daughters, Danielle and Elizabeth. After hosting a party on Saturday, November 19, 1960, Mailer stabbed Adele twice with a two-and-a-half inch blade that he used to clean his nails, nearly killing her by puncturing her
pericardium The pericardium, also called pericardial sac, is a double-walled sac containing the heart and the roots of the great vessels. It has two layers, an outer layer made of strong connective tissue (fibrous pericardium), and an inner layer made o ...
. He stabbed her once in the chest and once in the back. Adele required emergency surgery but made a quick recovery. Mailer claimed he had stabbed Adele "to relieve her of cancer". He was involuntarily committed to Bellevue Hospital for 17 days. While Adele did not press charges, saying she wanted to protect their daughters, Mailer later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault saying, "I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing", and received a suspended sentence of three years' probation. In 1962, the two divorced. In 1997, Adele published a memoir of their marriage entitled '' The 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. His third wife, whom he married in 1962, and divorced in 1963, was the British heiress and journalist Lady Jeanne Campbell (1929–2007). She was the only daughter of
Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll (18 June 1903 – 7 April 1973), was a Scottish peer and the Chief of Clan Campbell ( gd, MacCailein Mòr). He is chiefly remembered for his unhappy marriage to, and scandalous 1963 divorce fro ...
, a Scottish aristocrat and
clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...
with a notorious private life, and his first wife Janet Gladys Aitken, who was a daughter of the press baron Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook. The couple had a daughter, actress Kate Mailer. His fourth marriage, in 1963, was to Beverly Bentley, a former model turned actress. She was the mother of two of his sons, producer
Michael Mailer Michael Mailer (born 1964) is an American film producer and director and the oldest son of Beverly Bentley and writer Norman Mailer. He graduated from Harvard in 1987. He has produced over 20 films. He has five sisters and three brothers. He is ...
and actor Stephen 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. His sixth and last wife, whom he married in 1980, was
Norris Church Mailer Norris Church Mailer (born Barbara Jean Davis; January 31, 1949 – November 21, 2010) was an American novelist, actress, artist, and model. Norris published two novels, ''Windchill Summer'' and ''Cheap Diamonds'', and a memoir, ''A Ticket to ...
(born Barbara Jean Davis, 1949–2010), an art teacher. They had one son together,
John Buffalo Mailer John Buffalo Mailer (born April 16, 1978) is an American author, playwright, actor, producer, and journalist. Life and career Mailer was born in Brooklyn, the youngest child of novelist Norman Mailer and author Norris Church Mailer. 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 and
Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
with Mailer, Church worked as a model, wrote and painted.


Works with his children

In 2005, Mailer co-wrote a book with his youngest child, John Buffalo Mailer, titled ''The Big Empty''. Mailer appeared in a 2004 episode of ''
Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...
'' titled "Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant!" with his son Stephen Mailer.


Other relationships

Over the course of his life, Mailer was connected with several women other than his wives, including Carole Mallory, who wrote a "tell all" biography, ''Loving Mailer,'' after his death. In a chance meeting in an
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
New York restaurant in 1982, Gloria Leonard first met Mailer. He struck up a conversation with Leonard after recognizing her. The meeting was rumored to have led to a brief affair between the two. 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". 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.


Personality

At the December 15, 1971, taping of ''
The Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...
'', with
Janet Flanner Janet Flanner (March 13, 1892 – November 7, 1978) was an American writer and pioneering narrative journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975.Yagoda, Ben ''About T ...
and
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
, Mailer, annoyed with a less-than-stellar review by Vidal of ''Prisoner of Sex'', apparently insulted then head-butted Vidal backstage. 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), finally earning the ire of Flanner, who announced during the discussion that she was "becoming very, very bored", telling 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?" A long laugh ensued, after which Mailer asked Cavett if he had come up with that line, and Cavett replied "I have to tell you a quote from
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
?". 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 in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', his "relentless machismo seemed out of place in a man who was actually quite small – though perhaps that was where the aggression originated."
Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
, in his book, ''Taking the Stand'', recounts when
Claus von Bülow Claus von Bülow (born Claus Cecil Borberg; 11 August 1926 – 25 May 2019) was a Danish-born British lawyer, consultant and socialite. In 1982, he was convicted of both the attempted murder of his wife Sunny von Bülow (born Martha Sharp ...
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 grabbed his 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."


Death and legacy

Mailer died of
acute renal failure Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both. Causes of AKI are c ...
on November 10, 2007, a month after undergoing lung surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York. He is buried in Provincetown Cemetery,
Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
, Massachusetts. More than a thousand boxes of papers from the two-time Pulitzer Prize author may be found at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
at the
University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. In 2008, Carole Mallory, a former mistress, sold seven boxes of documents and photographs to Harvard University, Norman Mailer's alma mater. They contain extracts of her letters, books and journals. In 2003, the Norman Mailer Society was founded to help ensure the legacy of Mailer's work. In 2008, The Norman Mailer Center and The Norman Mailer Writers Colony, a non-profit organization for educational purposes, was established to honor Norman Mailer. Among its programs is the Norman Mailer Prize established in 2009. Throughout his lifetime, Mailer wrote over 45,000 letters. In 2014, Mailer's biographer J. Michael Lennon chose 712 of those letters and published them in ''Selected Letters of Norman Mailer'', which covers the period between the 1940s and the early 2000s. In March 2018, the
Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rang ...
published a two-volume collection of Mailer's works from the sixties: ''Four Books of the 1960s'' and ''Collected Essays of the 1960s''. Critic David Denby suggests that based on Mailer's observations about the fractured political atmosphere in America that led to the 1967 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." In May 2018, the Norman Mailer Society and the city of Long 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. In October 2019,
Wilkes University Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...
's Farley Library opened a replica of Mailer's last study in Provincetown, MA, 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, N.Y." and an original portrait of Mailer by painter Nancy 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. 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. 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".


Works

Novels * '' The Naked and the Dead''. New York: Rinehart, 1948. * '' Barbary Shore''. New York: Rinehart, 1951. * ''
The Deer Park ''The Deer Park'' is a Hollywood novel written by Norman Mailer and published in 1955 by G.P. Putnam's Sons after it was rejected by Mailer's publisher, Rinehart & Company, for obscenity. Despite having already typeset the book, Rinehart claime ...
''. New York: Putnam's, 1955. * '' An American Dream''. New York: Dial, 1965. * ''
Why Are We in Vietnam? ''Why Are We In Vietnam?'' (''WWVN'') is a 1967 novel by the American author Norman Mailer. It focuses on a hunting trip to the Brooks Range in Alaska where a young man is brought by his father, a wealthy businessman who works for a company that ...
'' New York: Putnam, 1967. * ''A Transit to Narcissus''. New York: Howard Fertig, 1978. * ''
The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...
'' Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1979. * ''
Of Women and Their Elegance ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' is an imaginary memoir about Marilyn Monroe by Norman Mailer. The book uses photographs taken by Milton H. Greene in combination with real interviews of Monroe and fictional events that Mailer invents. The book, ...
''. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1980. * '' Ancient Evenings''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983. * '' Tough Guys Don't Dance''. New York: Random House, 1984. * '' Harlot's Ghost''. New York: Random House, 1991. * '' The Gospel According to the Son''. New York: Random House, 1997. * ''
The Castle in the Forest ''The Castle in the Forest'' is the last novel by writer Norman Mailer, published in the year of his death, 2007. It is the story of Adolf Hitler's childhood as seen through the eyes of Dieter, a demon sent to put him on his destructive path. T ...
''. New York: Random House, 2007. Plays and screenplays * ''The Deer Park: A Play''. New York: Dial, 1967. * ''Maidstone: A Mystery''. New York: New American Library, 1971. Short Stories * '' The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer''. New York: Dell, 1967. Poetry * ''Deaths for the Ladies (And Other Disasters)''. New York: Putman, 1962. * ''Modest Gifts: Poems and Drawings''. New York: Random House, 2003. Essays * " The White Negro." San Francisco: City Lights, 1957. * ''The Bullfight: A Photographic Narrative with Text by Norman Mailer''. New York: Macmillan, 1967. * '' The Prisoner of Sex''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1971. * ''The Faith of Graffiti''. New York: Praeger, 1974. * ''Genius and Lust: A Journey through the Major Writings of Henry Miller''. New York: Grove, 1976. * ''Why Are We At War?'' New York: Random House, 2003. Letters * ''Norman Mailer's Letters on ''An American Dream'', 1963-1969''. Shavertown, PA: Sligo Press, 2004. * ''The Selected Letters of Norman Mailer''. New York: Random House, 2014. Non-fiction narratives * ''
The Armies of the Night ''The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/The Novel as History'' is a nonfiction novel recounting the October 1967 March on the Pentagon written by Norman Mailer and published by New American Library in 1968. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Ge ...
''. New York: New American Library, 1968. * ''The Idol and the Octopus: Political Writings on the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations''. New York: Dell, 1968. * '' Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968''. New York: New American Library, 1968. * ''
Of a Fire on the Moon ''Of a Fire on the Moon'' (, ) is a work of non-fiction by Norman Mailer which was serialised in ''Life'' magazine in 1969 and 1970, and published in 1970 as a book. It is a documentary and reflection on the Apollo 11 Moon landing from Mailer's ...
''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1971. * ''King of the Hill: Norman Mailer on the Fight of the Century''. New York: New American Library, 1971. * ''St. George and The Godfather''. New York: Signet Classics, 1972. * '' The Fight''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1975. * ''Of a Small and Modest Malignancy, Wicked and Bristling with Dots''. Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1980. * '' Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery''. New York: Random House, 1995. Miscellanies, anthologies, and collections * '' Advertisements for Myself''. New York: Putnam, 1959. * '' The Presidential Papers''. New York: Putnam, 1963. * ''Cannibals and Christians''. New York: Dial, 1966. * ''The Long Patrol: 25 Years of Writing from the Work of Norman Mailer''. New York: World, 1971. * ''Existential Errands''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1972. * ''Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960-1972''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976. * ''Pieces and Pontifications''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1982. * ''Conversations with Norman Mailer''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1988. * '' The Time of Our Time''. New York: Random House, 1998. * ''The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing''. New York: Random House, 2003. * ''The Big Empty''. New York: Nation Books, 2006. * ''On God: An Uncommon Conversation''. With J. Michael Lennon. New York: Random House, 2007. Biographies * '' Marilyn: A Biography''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1973. * ''Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man: An Interpretive Biography''. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995. * '' Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery''. New York: Random House, 1996.


Decorations and awards

* 1969: Pulitzer Prize,
George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
, and
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
for ''The Armies of the Night''; Honorary Doctor of Letters from
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
* 1970: Harvard University's
Signet Society The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate ...
Medal for Achievement in the Arts * 1973:
Edward MacDowell Medal The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United Sta ...
* 1975: ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
s Best Nonfiction Award for ''The Fight'' * 1976: Gold Medal for Literature by the National Arts Club; ''Playboys Best Major Work in Fiction Award * 1979: Best Major Work in Fiction Award from ''Playboy'' for ''The Executioner's Song'' * 1980: Pulitzer Prize for ''Executioner's Song'' * 1984: Honorary Doctor of Letters from Mercy College in White Plains, NY; Inducted into the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
* 1985: Lord and Taylor's Rose Award * 1987: Independent Spirit Award for best film and
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director The Razzie Award for Worst Director is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst director of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they wer ...
(both for ''Tough Guys Don't Dance'') * 1989: PEN Oakland / Josephine Miles Award; Emerson-Thoreau Medal * 1991: New York State Edith Wharton Citation of Merit * 1994: Harvard University's Signet Society Medal for Achievement in the Arts * 1995: Honorary Doctor of Letters from
Wilkes University Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...
, in Wilkes-Barre, PA * 2000: F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature * 2002: Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Jones Literary Society, June 22; Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class * 2004: Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
* 2005: National Book Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...


References


Notes


Citations


Selected bibliography

Contains important books and articles about Mailer and his works, many of which are cited in this article. See
Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...
above for a list of Mailer's first editions and Mailer's individual works for reviews.


Bibliographies

* * * Comprehensive, annotated primary and secondary bibliography with life chronology.


Biographical studies

* * * * Highly readable, but controversial "oral" biography of Mailer created by cross-cutting interviews with friends, enemies, acquaintances, relatives, wives of Mailer, and Mailer himself. * *


Critical studies

* Strong discussion of early narrators. * Contains Aldridge's important essay on ''An American Dream''. * Fine discussion of Mailer's "heroic consciousness". * * * Perhaps the most readable and reliable study of Mailer's early work. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * One of the best studies of Mailer's writing, tracking his career through the early seventies. * * * * * Subtle examination of Mailer's dual aptitude of representing and resisting American mythologies.


Interviews

* * * * * * *


News

* * * *


Other sources

* *


= Primary texts

= * * * * * * * * * *


External links


The Norman Mailer Society

The Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony

Project Mailer
— the Digital Humanities initiative of the NMS.
Norman Mailer Papers
at the
Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
* * *
FBI Records: The Vault - Norman Mailer
at vault.fbi.gov


Norman Mailer: The American (Documentary)

Norman Mailer's writing on The Huffington Post
* * *
Mailer's appearance on BBC Desert Island Discs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mailer, Norman 1923 births 2007 deaths Deaths from kidney failure People from Provincetown, Massachusetts People from Long Branch, New Jersey American people of South African-Jewish descent American male journalists 20th-century American journalists American male screenwriters American technology writers American science writers Novelists from New Jersey Postmodern writers Boxing writers American male novelists Jewish American novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists National Book Award winners Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Harvard University alumni Harvard Advocate alumni University of Paris alumni Actors Studio alumni American tax resisters American anti–Iraq War activists American anti–Vietnam War activists Politicians from New York City United States Army non-commissioned officers United States Army personnel of World War II American people convicted of assault People from Flatbush, Brooklyn 20th-century American biographers 21st-century American biographers The Village Voice people American male essayists Male critics of feminism Violence against women in the United States 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Massachusetts People from Brooklyn Heights People from the East Village, Manhattan 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American male biographers