Norman Mailer; a man with an ego to match his talent, they don't make 'em like him any more.

Obviously, I've heard the name, and know the reputation.

But I've never read anything by him. (What an admission, eh!)

Suggestions as to where to start would be gratefully accepted.

I'm all for political activism, but I could never quite get past Norman Mailer's successful attempt at helping free a convicted murderer from prison only to have the man commit a murder shortly after leaving prison. -- Kathy

What a curmudgeon! I read that Mailer was a wife-beater and was distinctly anti-feminist......

Not to mention the fact he nearly stabbed to death his second wife....

I've never read anything by him. Are his books as anti-feminist as he was in real life?

Mailer was the uber-macho, and he idolized Ernest Hemingway. Yes, he stabbed his second wife during a drunken party; she declined to press charges. Yes, he was instrumental in the probation of John Abbot, who six weeks after his release, killed another man. NM was excoriated for that event, not that it brought the victim back to life.

I wouldn't call him anti-feminist, but he was opposed to abortion and contraception. He liked the element of danger in unprotected sex, and also believed that a man should be a father to every child he sired (NM had nine). Personally, I don't care whether or not he was a feminist. IMO most male writers aren't, and anyway, I avoid writing that is politically correct. But he was super-liberal politically.

His essays on American culture are much better than his fiction. His "Miami and the Siege of Chicago" are amazing works, for those who recall the 1968 conventions. He was both repelled by and fascinated by the Kennedys and wrote some terrific essays about them. So he'll probably be remembered for a couple of novels and also for his observations of American life, which are so true to their times, although they may seem out-of-date now.

The only writer still around who is equally interesting both personally and professionally is Tom Wolfe, IMO, and he and NM are polar opposites.

Just adding a bit, as Mailer was such a huge figure in American writing. For fiction, The Naked and the Dead - my friends and I passed it around in high school, hiding it from our teachers and parents. Then, The Executioner's Song, about Gary Gilmore, the first person to be executed in the US in a decade. Those two books were especially well-received.

Christopher Hitchens has a farewell essay at:
books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story - and click on "books". Hitch is another maverick who doesn't care what people think of him and writes with painful honesty about himself. IMO he captures NM perfectly.

Martin: as you have never read any Norman Mailer but you are a fan of the bad review, perhaps you should read this link before you rush off to the bookshop or library.

Here is a link that might be useful: Norman Mailer

I think his first book was his best, The Naked and the Dead. It was required reading for a university course on Existentialism. A great read from start to finish.

Here is a long English obit. from the Daily Telegraph

Here is a link that might be useful: Norman Mailer obituary

I think Mailer was a prolific, but largely untalented writer, although Armies in the Night was good. Given that, he never wrote a masterpiece, unlike some of contemporaries like Salinger, Capote, Flannery O'Connor, and so on, which would give his a semblance of literary greatness. He could never quite rise to the level of Truman Capote's literary genius, though he aspired to. He tried to copy In Cold Blood, with The Executioner's Song, without acknowledging his debt to Capote. He also attempted to emulate Capote's famous essay on Marilyn Monroe. There was a famous feud between Capote and Gore Vidal and to a lesser extent, Mailer. But I'm uncertain of what the cause of their antipathy was...

In brief he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executionor's Song.

Although I've not read him yet, I've read about him. Many of the best authors (whatever that means) seem troubled to me. Perhaps its their ability to poke fun at the human condition.

Not sure why I felt the need to jump in here, but I did.

Norman Mailer bites Rip Torn on the ear: Mailer v. Torn. I wonder if he acted this way because others kept making allowances for him. Also, perhaps the "macho writer" trope came about in reaction to an earlier conception of authors as effete and sophisticated, eg Oscar Wilde. I read long ago that Hemingway's mother kept him in skirts until he was thirteen, but I haven't come across any confirmation of that.