65.3

“Norman Mailer’s ‘American Dream’: Superman Returns.” Interview by Nancy Weber. Books, New York Post, March, 14–16. Comment on the forthcoming An American Dream (65.7), including preliminary remarks from Mann Rubin, who wrote the screenplay for the movie version. Mailer speculates on whether Frank Sinatra could play Stephen Rojack; discusses the possibility of writing sequels to the novel in the manner of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet; discusses the Esquire and book versions; comments on J.F.K. and the roots of the novel in “Superman Comes to the Supermarket” (60.9); makes passing reference to a number of writers—Saul Bellow, Michael McClure, Claude Brown, LeRoi Jones, Edward Albee, Nelson Algren, William Styron, James Jones and Marcel Proust; and recites a poem on Rojack:

“

He’s a pretty good man
with fairly good guts
reasonably decent
not at all unintelligent
and sensitive
and kind of nice
and very aware
who finally discovers with it all
that it’s just not enough
there must be bravery or will or
genius.

”

The interview also includes two excerpts from the novel, the first to be published. See 83.6.