MAILER: A Biography

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Norman Mailer is "our chronicler, our critic, our designated male chauvinist, our court jester, our devil's advocate, the thorn in our collective side," writes Mary V. Dearborn. Undeniably one of the most controversial figures of the past half-century, Mailer has also been one of the most influential. Twice a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, once a candidate for mayor of New York City, a best-selling author at age twenty-three with THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, a founder of the 'Village Voice', he has both made the news and commented on it with an originality that has permanently altered America's literary landscape. In part, Mailer's genius has rested on the intersection of his private and public lives. By inserting himself into the seismic events he has described, Mailer has given them immediacy--and demanded that readers apprehend them with equivalent imagination and intensity. Dearborn had unprecedented access to Mailer's friends, relations, and antagonists, who provided key insights to fill in the familiar outlines of the Mailer myth--the brawls and arrests, the wives and mistresses, the brilliant successes and notorious failures. Crossing Mailer's path--sometimes to their peril--is a cast of stellar and diverse characters including Muhammad Ali, John F. Kennedy, Germaine Greer, Jimmy Breslin, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Shelley Winters, Andy Warhol, and many others. As the acclaimed biographer of both Henry Miller (one of Mailer's heroes) and the radical journalist Louise Bryant, Dearborn is uniquely sensitive to Mailer's best and worst sides. Her account is the most clear-headed and balanced evaluation to date. As splendidly told by Mary Dearborn, Mailer's story is, for good or ill, the story of our times. Fine, in fine, mylar-protected dust jacket. A71