Norman Mailer

By Mark Kaufman
Norman Mailer passed away on Saturday at the age of 84. A true American original, I first heard of him when I was 8 or 9 years old when he was running for Mayor of New York with Jimmy Breslin back in 1969. I didn’t know he was a writer. I knew Breslin was a writer though because I hadn’t learned to turn over the Daily News yet and I only read the sports pages. Love him or hate him, Mailer is a true literary giant who presaged our current fascination with fame and celebrity. I suppose if he published the Naked and the Dead today instead of in 1948, he probably wouldn’t have become the towering figure that he was. Fame and respect today seems only reserved for film stars, corporate titans and the Paris Hiltons of the world. He did like to fight and drink and stab and spout off in addition to write so maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Mailer WAS made for these time after all.