Norman Mailer 1923-2007
The largest (and loudest) literary lion of the second half of the 20th century has finally roared his last. With the passing of Norman Mailer, the self-conscious pursuit of the spotlight is now left to mere mortals, to second-rate celebrities famous only for being famous. Mailer was famous (and infamous) for something of substance, for the finely-wrought manifestation of his genius as a writer, and for the all-too-public failings of a very flawed human being. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice (for “The Armies of the Night” and “The Executioner’s Song”), dabbled in politics and film, co-founded The Village Voice, and was working on a sequel to his last novel, “The Castle in the Forest,” at the time of his death.