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{{Byline|last=Sanders|first=J’aimé L.|}}
{{Byline|last=Sanders|first=J’aimé L.|}}


{{dc|dc=I|N A 1964 INTERVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE PARIS REVIEW—}}, Norman Mailer cites the authors he has been influenced most by as James Farrell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, John Dos Passos, John Steinbeck, Thomas Wolfe, and, of course, Ernest Hemingway (). Significantly, almost twenty years later, Mailer admits in a  interview for The New York Times that his “ambition” as a writer is no longer to“try to reach Americans with a book the way Hemingway could reach them with a book, because I believe that’s beyond my powers”; “Hemingway’s style” he says, “affected whole generations of us. . . . I don’t have that kind of talent” (). In these interviews Mailer does not elaborate on how Hemingway’s style and technique“affected whole generations” of writers or his own art, yet a closer look at Mailer’s philosophy of writing and his self-proclaimed American brand of existentialism reveals that Hemingway’s influence on Mailer’s art reaches far beyond the realm of style and technique. In fact, just as Hemingway’s philosophy of writing and art correlates to what has been labeled as Hemingway’s own, self-developed “characteristic philosophy” of life, Mailer’s philosophy of writing and his self-created brand of existentialism are also inevitably intertwined (de Madariaga ). Yet in order to fully understand the depths and dimensions of Hemingway’s influence on Mailer’s art and thought, it is essential to first examine what founds each author’s philosophy of writing and artistic goals, then examine how they put their philosophy in motion in the form of literary art.
{{dc|dc=I|N A 1964 INTERVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE PARIS REVIEW—}}, Norman Mailer cites the authors he has been influenced most by as James Farrell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, John Dos Passos, John Steinbeck, Thomas Wolfe, and, of course, Ernest Hemingway (43). Significantly, almost twenty years later, Mailer admits in a 1982 interview for The New York Times that his “ambition” as a writer is no longer to“try to reach Americans with a book the way Hemingway could reach them with a book, because I believe that’s beyond my powers”; “Hemingway’s style” he says, “affected whole generations of us. . . . I don’t have that kind of talent” (). In these interviews Mailer does not elaborate on how Hemingway’s style and technique“affected whole generations” of writers or his own art, yet a closer look at Mailer’s philosophy of writing and his self-proclaimed American brand of existentialism reveals that Hemingway’s influence on Mailer’s art reaches far beyond the realm of style and technique. In fact, just as Hemingway’s philosophy of writing and art correlates to what has been labeled as Hemingway’s own, self-developed “characteristic philosophy” of life, Mailer’s philosophy of writing and his self-created brand of existentialism are also inevitably intertwined (de Madariaga ). Yet in order to fully understand the depths and dimensions of Hemingway’s influence on Mailer’s art and thought, it is essential to first examine what founds each author’s philosophy of writing and artistic goals, then examine how they put their philosophy in motion in the form of literary art.
THE MAILER REVIEW, VOL. , NO. , FALL . Copyright © . The Norman Mailer Society. Published by The Norman Mailer Society.
THE MAILER REVIEW, VOL. , NO. , FALL . Copyright © . The Norman Mailer Society. Published by The Norman Mailer Society.
HONEST, TRUE AND PURE: HEMINGWAY AND MAILER’S ART OF WRITING At their core, the art of writing both Hemingway and Mailer espouse is founded in their aspirations to, as Hemingway puts it, “tell honestly the things I have found true”(Death ).Echoing Hemingway’s standards,Mailer believes a writer must write“to the limit of one’s honesty”(“Hazards”). But what exactly does this mean? Consider Hemingway’s advice to friend and contemporary writer John Dos Passos in a March  letter. Hemingway writes,“Keep them people, people, people, and don’t let them get to be symbols . . . Keep on showing it as it is. If you can show it as it really is you will do good” (). According to Hemingway’s standards, good writing is achieved by writing honestly and thus capturing life “as it really is” (). Mailer expresses a similar standard for good writing: “It proves amazing,”
HONEST, TRUE AND PURE: HEMINGWAY AND MAILER’S ART OF WRITING At their core, the art of writing both Hemingway and Mailer espouse is founded in their aspirations to, as Hemingway puts it, “tell honestly the things I have found true”(Death ).Echoing Hemingway’s standards,Mailer believes a writer must write“to the limit of one’s honesty”(“Hazards”). But what exactly does this mean? Consider Hemingway’s advice to friend and contemporary writer John Dos Passos in a March  letter. Hemingway writes,“Keep them people, people, people, and don’t let them get to be symbols . . . Keep on showing it as it is. If you can show it as it really is you will do good” (). According to Hemingway’s standards, good writing is achieved by writing honestly and thus capturing life “as it really is” (). Mailer expresses a similar standard for good writing: “It proves amazing,”
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