Slog - Comments on Norman Mailer Dead at 84

Comment by Bauhaus

Bauhaus — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:32:38 -0800

Certainly the end of an era. Anyone who remembers the Cavett show will remember Mailer's unpleasantness.

Maybe I'll attempt "Ancient Evenings" again.

Comment by It's Mark Mitchell

It's Mark Mitchell — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:12:16 -0800

I've always found him so personally off-putting I avoided his work.

Maybe now that he's dead, and not a LIVING asshole, I can read something.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:31:38 -0800

Normally I like personally off-putting authors, but Mailer was never a favorite of mine. However, I did very much like his early journalism, in Esquire, when Esquire was a real magazine, with printed words and everything.

Comment by Matt from Denver

Matt from Denver — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:06:20 -0800

The Naked and the Dead is a book everyone should read, but the rest of his stuff never grabbed me.

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:44:36 -0800

Holy crap you really scared me for a second with that picture. I thought we had lost Judd Hirsch.

Comment by LT L

LT L — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 13:42:44 -0800

He tried to pick up my mom at a bar when she was nineteen (1971). She said he was the case-study of a creepy old man. Reading anything he has written seems to confirm this observation.

Comment by Amelia

Amelia — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:49:35 -0800

2: Yes, exactly.

The smartest things I ever heard he'd said were criticisms of George W. Bush's presidency.