Decision ‘08

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Death Of A Giant

Say what you will about Norman Mailer (his recent work has been spotty at best, as he let his long-time tendency to obsess about, not just sex, but very odd and implausible sexual fetishes overcome his never-strong restraint - see The Castle in the Forest and Harlot’s Ghost), he will forever be remembered, justly, as a literary great. Some will point to The Naked and the Dead, but for me, the quintessential Mailer will always be The Executioner’s Song, a work of, well, literary non-fiction every bit as great, and only a little less influential, than Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

The best way to celebrate a recently deceased author is to read his work, of course, and if you haven’t read The Executioner’s Song, now might be an excellent time to do so…