In this wild battering ram of a novel, which was originally published to vast controversy in 1965, Norman Mailer creates a character who might be a fictional precursor of the philosopher-killer he would later profile in The Executionerâs Song. As Stephen Rojack, a decorated war hero and former congressman who murders his wife in a fashionable New York City high-rise, runs amok through the city in which he was once a privileged citizen, Mailer peels away the layers of our social norms to reveal a world of pure appetite and relentless cruelty. One part Nietzsche, one part de Sade, and one part Charlie Parker, An American Dream grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go.
Praise for An American Dream âPerhaps the only serious New York novel since The Great Gatsby.ââJoan Didion, National Review
âA devilâs encyclopedia of our secret visions and desires . . . the expression of a devastatingly alive and original creative mind.ââLife âA work of fierce concentration . . . perfectly, and often brilliantly, realistic [with] a pattern of remarkable imaginative coherence and intensity.ââHarperâs âAt once violent, educated, and cool . . . This is our history as Hawthorne might have written it.ââCommentary Praise for Norman Mailer â[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.ââThe New York Times
âA writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.ââThe New Yorker
âMailer is indispensable, an American treasure.ââThe Washington Post
âA devastatingly alive and original creative mind.ââLife
âMailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.ââThe New York Review of Books
âThe largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.ââChicago Tribune
âMailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.ââThe Cincinnati Post
In this wild battering ram of a novel, which was originally published to vast controversy in 1965, Norman Mailer creates a character who might be a fictional precursor of the philosopher-killer he would later profile in The Executionerâs Song. As Stephen Rojack, a decorated war hero and former congressman who murders his wife in a fashionable New York City high-rise, runs amok through the city in which he was once a privileged citizen, Mailer peels away the layers of our social norms to reveal a world of pure appetite and relentless cruelty. One part Nietzsche, one part de Sade, and one part Charlie Parker, An American Dream grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go.
Praise for An American Dream âPerhaps the only serious New York novel since The Great Gatsby.ââJoan Didion, National Review
âA devilâs encyclopedia of our secret visions and desires . . . the expression of a devastatingly alive and original creative mind.ââLife âA work of fierce concentration . . . perfectly, and often brilliantly, realistic [with] a pattern of remarkable imaginative coherence and intensity.ââHarperâs âAt once violent, educated, and cool . . . This is our history as Hawthorne might have written it.ââCommentary Praise for Norman Mailer â[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.ââThe New York Times
âA writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.ââThe New Yorker
âMailer is indispensable, an American treasure.ââThe Washington Post
âA devastatingly alive and original creative mind.ââLife
âMailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.ââThe New York Review of Books
âThe largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.ââChicago Tribune
âMailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.ââThe Cincinnati Post