Norman Mailer 1923-2007

Over the next few days you will no doubt be hearing a whole lot about Norman Mailer. His death will trigger a slew of eulogies, barring a major world catastrophe. They will all tell you what an important writer he was, his feud with Gore Vidal, and maybe they will even elaborate on his books.

The fact is that over the past few years, most critics have treated Mailer with slightly less than contempt. Sure, they acknowledged his "prime years" but then they would treat his newest offering as if it was written by a doddering old man. The fact that Mailer continued writing up until the very end says more about him as a creative being than anything that any critic could offer. They simply refused to acknowledge that Mailer could still have questions about religion, such as in The Gospel According to the Son. The subjects that authors choose to tackle often say a great deal more than what they choose to say about those subjects. Mailer was clearly as curious and alive as he was in the 60s.

I have not read every single book Mailer has written. Nor do I feel the need to shout what I do know from the mountaintops. I can tell you that my appreciation for his work was offset at times by his issues with women, which I wrote about here. I can tell you that I think he represents the best that mid-century culture had to offer - the intellectual prowess demanded from those times coupled with the need to entertain. He also represented the downside of the mid-century - the overriding male perspective which postured before shouting down others. There may be plenty of yelling in pop culture today, but at least Mailer has something to say.

The best part about being a dead writer is that your books and thoughts live on. Rolling Stone had an article about Mailer a few years ago, talking about how he had to keep working to support his kids and many divorces. And so maybe that's the best part about being a dead man. Rest well, Norman Mailer, you can finally let your ideas and books do the work for you.

Comments

[Comment]

LA - Have you read Mailer's Advertisments For Myself?

[Laura]

Good book. Over the past few years, I've spent a great deal of time with Miami and the Siege of Chicago along with other articles he wrote during the mid to late '60s.

I think the first Mailer piece I read was "The White Negro" back in college. Like most of what he wrote, I had two reactions: attraction and repulsion. I don’t think I understood “The White Negro” back then. As I look over it now, one passage stands out the most: “A totalitarian society makes enormous demands on the courage of men, and a partially totalitarian society makes even greater demands for the general anxiety is greater. Indeed if one is to be a man, almost any kind of unconventional action often takes disproportionate courage. So it is no accident that the source of Hip is the Negro for he has been living on the margin between totalitarianism and democracy for two centuries….”

That passage makes me question the relationship between culture and politics. I’m curious as to when our culture will collectively react to the events of the past eight years. But I’m getting off the subject now.

[Comment]

You could make a case that GeeDubs is the postmodern Mailerian hipster w/ his roguish behavior re Int Law, his transactional moral - and his cultivation of a culture of violence.

[Comment]

Just a sidenote - Your blog is difficult to type on for some reason -- You have to press the keyboard over and over - I do not have this prob w/ other blogs, so I know that it's not my keyboard.

[William]

I don't seem to be having any problems typing. Maybe something was going on with the server for time.

[Laura]

I'm guessing it's a widget issue. I deleted the offending widget. Let me know if there's any other problems, please.