91.10

“The Old Man and the Novel.” Article-interview by Scott Spencer. New York Times Magazine, 22 September, 28–31, 40, 42, 47; cover photograph of Mailer by Joel Meyerowitz. On the eve of the publication of Harlot’s Ghost (91.26), Mailer spends two sessions with Spencer, who records Mailer’s comments along with his ambivalent feelings toward the man and the novel. Mailer talks on several of his favorite topics: identity and celebrity, the CIA as a bureaucracy, the Women’s Liberation movement, his competitiveness with other writers, fiction vs. nonfiction and the American establishment: “I’ll never be completely part of the establishment, because the establishment will never be completely comfortable with me. The establishment is not comfortable with anyone whose dimensions have not been calibrated.” Rpt: Guardian Weekend (London), 5–6 October, 19–22.