Mr. Jolly’s Room

Currently on Babywatch.

Norman Mailer Is Dead

Posted by misterjolly on November 10, 2007

Norman Mailer, one of the most visible and confrontational writers of the twentieth century, is dead at 84.

Mailer’s personal life sometimes overshadowed his writing: he once headbutted another writer, Gore Vidal, backstage at “The Dick Cavett Show.”  He also stabbed one of his six wives.

My experience with Mailer is somewhat limited–just a couple of essays and his Pulitzer Prize-winning, 1000-page The Executioner’s Song, a “true-life” novel about Gary Gilmore, a career criminal who was famously executed in Utah in the late 1970’s.  The story is true (and told with journalistic detachment), but the novel is a work of fiction, complete with fabricated elements.

If you want to learn more, try The New York Times, which has both an obituary and an appreciation.

2 Responses to “Norman Mailer Is Dead”

  1.   Christina C Says:

    http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article3070739.ece

    They aren’t allowed to name their baby Friday!

    Didn’t know where to post this.. thought you might want to see it.

  2.   misterjolly Says:

    Very odd. Many European countries, though, have laws similar to this one. They usually have a list of pre-approved names their citizens can choose from, all rooted in their own culture in order to preserve it. I’d sooner name my kids whatever I wanted to name them.

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