Lipton’s Journal/December 8, 1954/13

It seems to me that the few occasions on which I have felt close to fainting were moments when I was abruptly face to face with the reality of a situation, where I saw the horror of it. So, last night, talking to Romain [Gary]^[1] about K[afka], I was close to fainting because of the awful and meaningless gap between writing a book and what one must do to publish it afterward.

Note

↑ A prolific French novelist (of Litvak origins), Gary (1914-80) was also an aviator during WWII and a postwar diplomat. Mailer met him in in Paris in 1947-48, and became reacquainted with him when Gary headed the French delegation to the U.N. in the early 1950s.

[1] A prolific French novelist (of Litvak origins), Gary (1914-80) was also an aviator during WWII and a postwar diplomat. Mailer met him in in Paris in 1947-48, and became reacquainted with him when Gary headed the French delegation to the U.N. in the early 1950s.

[1]