View source for Norman Mailer’s Letters on An American Dream, 1963–1969

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Norman Mailer’s Letters on'' An American Dream'', 1963–1969''}}
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{{byline|type=Edited|last=Lennon|first=J. Michael|note=Copyright ©2004 by Sligo Press. 67 South Pioneer Avenue, Shavertown, PA 18708. See [[04.7]].<ref>In addition to what’s featured, the original volume contained a list of illustrations, an index, and four appendices: Appendix I: Norman Mailer: Key Publications, 1948-2003 (see “[[Norman Mailer's First Editions]]”); Appendix II: ''An American Dream'': Selected Bibliography (see tabs above); Appendix III: Timeline of Events, 1962-1966 (see tabs above); and Appendix IV: ''An American Dream'': Word Count Comparison, ''Esquire'' and Dial Versions (see tabs above). The appendices are not labeled as such in this digital edition, but all information in contained herein.</ref>  }}

===From the [[Norman Mailer’s Letters on An American Dream, 1963–1969/Introduction|Introduction]]===
Until he wrote ''[[An American Dream]]'', his most evocative and lyrical novel, [[Norman Mailer]] did not invest his major fictional characters with his deepest concerns and beliefs: a desire to grow at all costs, a distrust of pure reason, a willingness to take risks, trust in the authority of the senses, faith in courage as the cardinal virtue, fear and loathing for the incipient totalitarianism of American life and, most importantly, a belief in an heroic but limited God locked in struggle with a powerful, wily Devil, conceivably with the fate of the universe in the balance. Stephen Richards Rojack, the novel’s protagonist, has these concerns and shares Mailer’s theological beliefs. Rojack is a war hero, former congressman, college professor, talk show host, celebrity intellectual and nascent alcoholic. Preternaturally alert to omens and portents and susceptible to every premonition, he hears voices, studies the phases of the moon, and waits for either cancer or madness to strike him. His wife Deborah taunts him with her infidelities and attacks his manhood in a variety of insidious ways, driving him to a physical attack that ends with her murder. Rojack then throws her body out of the apartment window ten stories down to the pavement on the east side of Manhattan. He claims that her fall was suicide, and the brunt of the story is devoted to his attempts to convince his and her friends, the police and Deborah's father, Barney Oswald Kelly, the “solicitor for the devil,” of his innocence. Narrated in an edgy, rococo style by Rojack, the novel shows Mailer at the height of his word power as he delineates the dread-filled inner life of his embattled hero. The air of the novel is haunted, swarming with demonic and divine presences, especially in the final chapter, when Rojack confronts Kelly in his penthouse apartment in the Waldorf Towers. 

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== The Letters ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="min-width: 200px;" | Date
! style="min-width: 220px;" | To
! style="min-width: 200px;" | Notes
|-
| September 18, 1963 || [[Ambassador Gutierres-Olivos, September 18, 1963|Ambassador Gutierres-Olivos]] || Sergio Gutierrez-Olivos was the Chilean ambassador to the United States, 1963–1965.
|-
| October 15, 1963 || [[Andre Deutsch, October 15, 1963|Andre Deutsch]] || [[w:André Deutsch|Andre Deutsch]] was the principal director of Andre Deutsch Limited, Mailer’s British publisher from 1959–1966.
|-
| October 15, 1963 || [[Alan Earney, October 15, 1963|Alan Earney]] || Alan Earney was an editor at Transworld Publishers Limited.
|-
| October 15, 1963 || [[Reed Whittemore, October 15, 1963|Reed Whittemore]] || [[w:Reed Whittemore|Reed Whittemore]], an American poet, biographer, critic, literary journalist, was the editor of ''Carleton Miscellany''. 
|-
| October 16, 1963 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, October 16, 1963|Eiichi Yaminishi]] || Eiichi Yaminishi was {{NM}}’s longtime Japanese translator.
|-
| October 21, 1963 || [[Willie Morris, October 21, 1963|Willie Morris]] || Mailer met Morris in New York after Morris became editor of ''Harper’s'' in 1963.
|-
| November 4, 1963 || [[Andre Deutsch, November 4, 1963|Andre Deutsch]] ||
|-
| November 4, 1963 || [[Alan Earney, November 4, 1963|Alan Earney]] ||
|-
| November 5, 1963 || [[Adeline Lubell Naiman, November 5, 1963|Adeline Lubell Naiman]] || A college friend of Mailer’s sister Barbara, Lubell met Mailer in 1946.
|-
| November 9, 1963 || [[Francis Irby Gwaltney, November 9, 1963|Francis Irby Gwaltney]] || Mailer served in the Army with “Fig,” a teacher, novelist and native of Arkansas.
|-
| November 26, 1963 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, November 26, 1963|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|-
| November 26, 1963 || [[Edmund Skellings, November 26, 1963|Edmund Skellings]] || Skellings, then a professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and an admirer of Mailer’s work, met Mailer at an ''Esquire'' symposium at the University of Iowa in December 1958.
|-
| November 26, 1963 || [[David Susskind, November 26, 1963|David Susskind]] || [[w:David Susskind|David Howard Susskind]] was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host.
|-
| December 11, 1963 || [[Mary Jane Shoultz, December 11, 1963|Mary Jane Shoultz]] || Mary Jane and Ray Shoultz were acquaintances of Mailer’s.
|-
| December 15, 1963 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, December 15, 1963|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|-
| December 17, 1963 || [[Mickey Knox, December 17, 1963|Mickey Knox]] || [[w:Mickey Knox|Knox]], one of Mailer’s closest friends, met Mailer in Hollywood in the summer of 1949.
|-
| December 20, 1963 || [[Francis Irby Gwaltney, December 20, 1963|Francis Irby Gwaltney]] || 
|-
| December 20, 1963 || [[Rita Halle Kleeman, December 20, 1963|Rita Halle Kleeman]] || Kleeman was a staff member at P.E.N., the international writers organization.
|-
| January 15, 1964 || [[Don Carpenter, January 15, 1964|Don Carpenter]] || [[w:Don Carpenter|Carpenter]] was a west coast novelist who corresponded regularly with Mailer in the 1960s. 
|- 
| January 16, 1964 || [[Vance Bourjaily, January 16, 1964|Vance Bourjaily]] || [[w:Vance Bourjaily|Bourjaily]], an American novelist, met Mailer in 1951.
|-
| January 17, 1964 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, January 17, 1964|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|- 
| February 11, 1964 || [[Harvey Breit, February 11, 1964| Harvey Breit]] || Mailer became friendly with [[w:Harvey Breit|Harvey Breit]], a reporter and novelist who spent summers on Cape Cod.
|-
| February 17, 1964 || [[Mickey Knox, February 17, 1964|Mickey Knox]] || 
|-
| February 17, 1964 || [[Charles Schultz, February 17, 1964,|Charles Schultz]] || Schultz was an official with the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences who invited Mailer to take part in a forum discussion.
|-
| February 19, 1964 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, February 19, 1964|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|- 
| March 16, 1964 || [[Vahan Gregory, March 16, 1964|Vahan Gregory]] || Gregory was a literary acquaintance of Mailer’s.
|-
| March 17, 1964 || [[George Lea, March 17, 1964|George Lea]] || George Lea was writer friend.
|-
| March 17, 1964 || [[Martin Peretz, March 17, 1964|Martin Peretz]] || Mailer met Peretz, Harvard professor and editor-in-chief of ''The New Republic'', in the early 1960s.
|-
| April 16, 1964 || [[Andre Deutsch, April 16, 1964|Andre Deutsch]] ||
|-
| April 17, 1964 || [[Louis and Moos Mailer, April 17, 1964|Louis and Moos Mailer]] || Louis Mailer (his wife was Moos) was the brother of Mailer's father, Isaac Barnett “Barney” Mailer and lived in South Africa.
|-
| April 19, 1964 || [[Mickey Knox, April 19, 1964|Mickey Knox]] ||
|-
| May 15, 1964 || [[Francis Irby Gwaltney, May 15, 1964|Francis Irby Gwaltney]] ||
|-
| June 1, 1964 || [[Don Carpenter, June 1, 1964|Don Carpenter]] ||
|-
| June 2, 1964 || [[Mrs. Jose Casanova, June 2, 1964|Mrs. Jose Casanova]] || Mrs. Casanova was a Mailer fan.
|-
| June 2, 1964 || [[Mickey Knox, June 2, 1964|Mickey Knox]] ||
|-
| July 5, 1964 || [[Diana Athill, July 5, 1964|Diana Athill]] ||
|-
| July 6, 1964 || [[Pete Hamill, July 6, 1964|Pete Hamill]] || Journalist and novelist, [[w:Pete Hamill|Pete Hamill]] had been a friend of Mailer since they met in Chicago in 1962.
|-
| July 7, 1964 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, July 7, 1964|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|-
| August 21, 1964 || [[Diana Athill, August 21, 1964|Diana Athill]] ||
|-
| September 29, 1964 || [[Robert F. Lucid, September 29, 1964|Robert F. Lucid]] || Longtime professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, [[Robert F. Lucid|Lucid]] was one of Mailer’s closest friends and authorized biographer until Lucid died in 2006.
|-
| October 5, 1964 || [[Don Carpenter, October 5, 1964|Don Carpenter]] ||
|-
| November 4, 1964 || [[Andre Deutch, November 4, 1964|Andre Deutsch]] ||
|-
| December 15, 1964 || [[Ester Whitby, December 15, 1964|Ester Whitby]] || Esther Whitby was a Mailer fan.
|-
| December 18, 1964 || [[Arnold Kemp, December 18, 1964|Arnold Kemp]] || Kemp met Mailer in Bellevue Hospital where Mailer was under psychiatric observation after he stabbed Adele with a penknife on 20 September 1960.
|-
| December 18, 1964 || [[Mickey Knox, December 18, 1964|Mickey Knox]] ||
|-
| December 18, 1964 || [[Bill McLaughlin, December 18, 1964|Bill McLaughlin]] || McLaughlin was a Mailer fan.
|-
| December 21, 1964 || [[Virginia Mangrum, December 21, 1964|Virginia Mangrum]] || Mangrum was still another Mailer fan.
|-
| January 27, 1965 || [[Eiichi Yaminishi, January 27, 1965|Eiichi Yaminishi]] ||
|-
| February 25, 1965 || [[Diana Athill, February 25, 1965|Diana Athill]] ||
|-
| March 22, 1965 || [[Richard Kluger, March 22, 1965|Richard Kluger]] || [[w:Richard Kluger|Kluger]] was an editor at the literary supplement, ''Book Week''.
|-
| March 23, 1965 || [[Diana Athill, March 23, 1965|Diana Athill]] ||
|-
| March 23, 1965 || [[Alan Earney, March 23, 1965|Alan Earney]] ||
|-
| March 25, 1965 || [[Jason Epstein, March 25, 1965|Jason Epstein]] || [[w:Jason Epstein|Epstein]] was the longtime editorial director at Random House, where he was Mailer’s editor.
|-
| March 25, 1965 || [[Don Carpenter, March 25, 1965|Don Carpenter]] ||
|-
| March 25, 1965 || [[Diana Trilling, March 25, 1965|Diana Trilling]] || [[w:Diana Trilling|Trilling]] was a literary critic and wife of the Columbia professor and man of letters, [[w:Lionel Trilling|Lionel Trilling]].
|-
| April 6, 1965 || [[Diana Trilling, April 6, 1965|Diana Trilling]] ||
|-
| April 20, 1965 || [[Donald Kaufmann, April 20, 1965| Donald Kaufmann]] || [[Donald L. Kaufmann|Kaufmann]] was a professor at the University of Alaska who became friendly with Mailer when he spoke at the University in 1965.
|-
| April 23, 1965 || [[John W. Aldridge, April 23, 1965| John W. Aldridge]] || [[w:John W. Aldridge|John W. Aldridge]] became friends with Mailer in 1951 shortly after Aldridge’s ''After the Lost Generation: A Study of Writers of Two Wars'' appeared earlier that year.
|-
| April 23, 1965 || [[Moos Mailer, April 23, 1965|Moos Mailer]] ||
|-
| June 8, 1965 || [[John W. Aldridge, June 8, 1965|John W. Aldridge]] ||
|-
| June 8, 1965 || [[John William Corrington, June 8, 1965|John William Corrington]] || [[w:John William Corrington|Corrington]] wrote a favorable review of ''AAD'' in the ''Chicago Review'' in 1965. 
|-
| June 8, 1965 || [[Roger Shattuck, June 8, 1965|Roger Shattuck]] || Mailer met [[w:Roger Shattuck|Roger Shattuck]], the art critic, in Brooklyn in the 1950s.
|-
| June 8, 1965 || [[Diana Trilling, June 8, 1965|Diana Trilling]] ||
|-
| June 12, 1965 || [[John A. Meixner, June 12, 1965|John A. Meixner]] || Meixner was a writer friend. 
|-
| July 14, 1965 || [[Diana Trilling, July 14, 1965|Diana Trilling]] ||  
|-
| August 17, 1965 || [[John W. Aldridge, August 17, 1965|John W. Aldridge]] ||
|-
| August 26, 1965 || [[Irving J. Weiss, August 26, 1965|Irving J. Weiss]] || A literary host at a radio station in New York, Weiss sought Mailer’s involvement in a couple of literary projects.
|-
| February 28, 1966 || [[Lionel Abel, February 28, 1966|Lionel Abel]] || [[w:Lionel Abel|Abel]] was a drama professor and critic who wrote for ''Partisan Review'' and moved in the same leftist intellectual circles as Mailer.
|-
| March 24, 1966 || [[Mann Rubin, March 24, 1966|Mann Rubin]] || [[w:Mann Rubin|Rubin]] wrote the first screenplay for ''An American Dream''.
|-
| April 16, 1966 || [[Lonnie L. Wells, April 16, 1966|Lonnie L. Wells]] || Wells was a Mailer fan. 
|-
| September 24, 1966 || [[Susan Abrams, September 24, 1966|Susan Abrams]] || Abrams was a Mailer fan.
|-
| September 24, 1966 || [[Yale M. Udoff, September 24, 1966|Yale M. Udoff]] ||
|-
| September 24, 1966 || [[Nancy Weber, September 24, 1966|Nancy Weber]] || [[w:Nancy Weber|Weber]], an American writer, interviewed Mailer  in the March 1965 ''New York Post'', one of only a few interviews he gave on the novel before it was published.
|-
| September 25, 1966 || [[Louis and Moos Mailer, September 25, 1966|Louis and Moos Mailer]] ||
|-
| September 26, 1966 || [[Sanford Sternlicht, September 26, 1966|Sanford Sternlicht]] || Sanford Sternlicht was an English professor at New York State University College at Oswego.
|-
| 1969 || [[Whit Burnett, 1969|Whit Burnett]] || Burnett published Mailer’s story Mailer’s story “[[The Greatest Thing in the World]]” in November 1941, marking the beginning of Mailer’s literary career.
|}
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===Note===
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