The first book of literary criticism to examine this Pulitzer Prize winner’s entire body of work
As a renowned novelist, journalist, biographer, playwright, speaker, aspiring politician, filmmaker, and public intellectual, Norman Mailer was one of the most prominent American literary and cultural figures of the second half of the twentieth century. Over the course of his expansive sixty-year career, Mailer published nearly forty original works of fiction and nonfiction, served as a counterculture activist, and was cofounder of the Village Voice. Twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize, Mailer also received the National Book Award and the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to Arts and Letters, a lifetime achievement award granted by the National Book Foundation.
Understanding Norman Mailer is the first book of literary criticism to address Mailer’s impressive body of work in its entirety, from his first publication to his last. Situating these volumes in their historical and cultural context, Maggie Mc Kinley traces the major themes and philosophies that pervade Mailer’s canon, analyzing his representations of gender, sexuality, violence, technology, politics, faith, celebrity, existentialism, and national identity. Mc Kinley moves chronologically through Mailer’s career, illuminating the many genres, styles, and perspectives with which Mailer experimented over time, demonstrating his remarkable artistic reach. Mc Kinley also addresses Mailer’s reputation as a combative public figure who, amid controversy surrounding his personal life and public persona, remained committed to lively intellectual debate.
Through Understanding Norman Mailer, an accessible introduction to Mailer’s life and work, Mc Kinley offers a unique retrospective, articulating the development and changes within Mailer’s ideas over time while highlighting concerns that remained at the center of his work for decades.
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Maggie Mc Kinley is an associate professor of English at Harper College, where she teaches courses in composition and American literature. She is the author of Masculinity and the Paradox of Violence in American Fiction, 1950–75, and her work has been published in Studies in American Jewish Literature, Philip Roth Studies, and the Mailer Review, among other places. She currently serves as vice president of the Norman Mailer Society.
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