Norman Mailer
American novelist and journalist whose career embodied the grandiose ambitions and failures of the American literary imagination. The Armies of the Night won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. His ego was legendary; his best work—The Executioner's Song, The Naked and the Dead—is genuinely great.
Works
- The Naked and the DeadMassive war novel depicting American soldiers' experiences in the Pacific during World War II
- The Armies of the NightDocumentary novel narrating the March on the Pentagon as history and literary performance
- An American DreamDarkly comic novel exploring a man's psychological breakdown and violent impulses in America
- Advertisements for MyselfEssay collection of Mailer's provocative criticism on literature, culture, and politics
- The Executioner's SongNovel-length narrative about execution killer Gary Gilmore blending journalism and fictional form
- Harlot's GhostEpic novel set during CIA's Cold War operations exploring espionage, love, and American power
- Miami and the Siege of ChicagoExperimental narrative capturing the 1968 political conventions and cultural upheaval