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decade of Hemingway contributions? Why would a magazine, striving to push its heterosexual agenda on middle-class American men, place such precedence on a sexually insecure author? Quite possibly, Spectorsky assumed his readership would miss the subtle classification. Maybe Spectorsky only published Hemingway non-fiction to avoid the obvious contradictions. Or, and more likely, the myth of the man and the Hemingway code looms larger than fiction.
decade of Hemingway contributions? Why would a magazine, striving to push its heterosexual agenda on middle-class American men, place such precedence on a sexually insecure author? Quite possibly, Spectorsky assumed his readership would miss the subtle classification. Maybe Spectorsky only published Hemingway non-fiction to avoid the obvious contradictions. Or, and more likely, the myth of the man and the Hemingway code looms larger than fiction.


Similar to its heralding of Hemingway, ''Playboy'' relied on the cultural myths surrounding Mailer. Beyond his combative prose, controversial comments, and wife stabbing, Mailer presides over American literature “longer and larger than any writer of his generation.”{{sfn|McGrath|2007}} The “most transparently ambitious author of his era,” Mailer was a prolific author, social commentator, and cultural provocateur.{{sfn|McGrath|2007}} He cofounded ''The Village Voice'', won the Pulitzer Prize twice, ran for New York City Mayor, married six different women, fathered eight children (and adopted a ninth), directed films, appeared on talk-shows, and participated in many interviews, making the Mailer name a household one. In short, Mailer’s ever-present, masculine persona, ambition, and the immense quantity of his work make him an appropriate Playboy contributor. Like Hemingway in the 1930s, Mailer had already established his tough-guy persona by the end of the 1950s. The violence in his war novel, ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1948), and the obscenity in ''The Deer Park'' (1959) set the stage for Mailer’s 1959 ''Advertisements for Myself'': “a tough-guy writer’s apologia for his literary life.”{{sfn|Castronovo|2011|p=180}} In his life and literature, Mailer can stand in as a Hemingway hero, especially because Mailer lacked Hemingway’s ambiguous sexuality. Mailer consistently conducted himself with grace under pressure through the various tumults in his career. Thus, ''Playboy'' editors, from Spectorsky to Christine Hefner, frequently published Mailer to connect with their male readers. When reviewed as a body of work, Mailer’s multiple Playboy contributions reflect the historical shifts in post-war masculinity constructions, the same changes ''Playboy’s'' editorials depict. As a popular author with staggering amounts of testosterone present in his best-selling fiction, Mailer’s virile image fits comfortably into ''Playboy’s'' agenda. Beginning with an “After Hours” Book Review reference to ''The Deer Park'' in January 1958, and lasting to the publication of his conversation with Michael Lennon, “On the Authority of the Senses,” in December 2007, Mailer contributed directly to ''Playboy'' on seventeen occasions. Mailer’s numerous appearances in the magazine {{pg|206|207}}
Similar to its heralding of Hemingway, ''Playboy'' relied on the cultural myths surrounding Mailer. Beyond his combative prose, controversial comments, and wife stabbing, Mailer presides over American literature “longer and larger than any writer of his generation.”{{sfn|McGrath|2007}} The “most transparently ambitious author of his era,” Mailer was a prolific author, social commentator, and cultural provocateur.{{sfn|McGrath|2007}} He cofounded ''The Village Voice'', won the Pulitzer Prize twice, ran for New York City Mayor, married six different women, fathered eight children (and adopted a ninth), directed films, appeared on talk-shows, and participated in many interviews, making the Mailer name a household one. In short, Mailer’s ever-present, masculine persona, ambition, and the immense quantity of his work make him an appropriate Playboy contributor. Like Hemingway in the 1930s, Mailer had already established his tough-guy persona by the end of the 1950s. The violence in his war novel, ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1948), and the obscenity in ''The Deer Park'' (1959) set the stage for Mailer’s 1959 ''Advertisements for Myself'': “a tough-guy writer’s apologia for his literary life.”{{sfn|Castronovo|2003|p=180}} In his life and literature, Mailer can stand in as a Hemingway hero, especially because Mailer lacked Hemingway’s ambiguous sexuality. Mailer consistently conducted himself with grace under pressure through the various tumults in his career. Thus, ''Playboy'' editors, from Spectorsky to Christine Hefner, frequently published Mailer to connect with their male readers. When reviewed as a body of work, Mailer’s multiple Playboy contributions reflect the historical shifts in post-war masculinity constructions, the same changes ''Playboy’s'' editorials depict. As a popular author with staggering amounts of testosterone present in his best-selling fiction, Mailer’s virile image fits comfortably into ''Playboy’s'' agenda. Beginning with an “After Hours” Book Review reference to ''The Deer Park'' in January 1958, and lasting to the publication of his conversation with Michael Lennon, “On the Authority of the Senses,” in December 2007, Mailer contributed directly to ''Playboy'' on seventeen occasions. Mailer’s numerous appearances in the magazine {{pg|206|207}}


range from panelist to cultural critic. ''Playboy'' paid him $5,000 to reprint his debate with William F. Buckley and, in 1967, Mailer offered ''Playboy'' his essay on bullfighting. Then, in 1975, he wrote over 28,000 words on the prizefight between Ali and Foreman, which ''Playboy'' published in two installments (with rare illustrations). He continued to offer the magazine selections on sports and politics at the turn of the century. In 2004 ''Playboy'' published Mailer’s “Immodest Proposals,” a call to American voters to review the government’s handling of war, welfare, imprisonment, abortion, gay-marriage, and foreign policy. ''Playboy'' posthumously published “A Man of Letters” in January 2009 to honor Mailer. The byline to the feature reads, “A literary giant’s correspondence on Hollywood, celebrity, and society shows him to be a critic and crusader, pugilist and poet” (70, Jan. 2007). The simple eulogy for a poetic boxer sums up why ''Playboy'' continued to rely on Mailer for his nonfiction and fiction contributions: Mailer’s persona represented ''Playboy’s'' commitment to masculinity and intellect.
range from panelist to cultural critic. ''Playboy'' paid him $5,000 to reprint his debate with William F. Buckley and, in 1967, Mailer offered ''Playboy'' his essay on bullfighting. Then, in 1975, he wrote over 28,000 words on the prizefight between Ali and Foreman, which ''Playboy'' published in two installments (with rare illustrations). He continued to offer the magazine selections on sports and politics at the turn of the century. In 2004 ''Playboy'' published Mailer’s “Immodest Proposals,” a call to American voters to review the government’s handling of war, welfare, imprisonment, abortion, gay-marriage, and foreign policy. ''Playboy'' posthumously published “A Man of Letters” in January 2009 to honor Mailer. The byline to the feature reads, “A literary giant’s correspondence on Hollywood, celebrity, and society shows him to be a critic and crusader, pugilist and poet” (70, Jan. 2007). The simple eulogy for a poetic boxer sums up why ''Playboy'' continued to rely on Mailer for his nonfiction and fiction contributions: Mailer’s persona represented ''Playboy’s'' commitment to masculinity and intellect.
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