69.81

“A Fire on the Moon.” Life, 29 August, 24-41; cover photograph of Mailer. Nonfiction narrative, the first of five by Mailer in Life. First of a three-part series on the 1969 moon shot, later incorporated with much reordering into Of a Fire on the Moon (71.1). According to the “Editor’s Note: Norman Mailer at the Typewriter” by Ralph Graves (p. 1), this first installment of 26,000 words is “the longest non-fiction piece Life has ever published in one issue.” Graves quotes Mailer on the length: “I can’t write anything in 5,000 words, and 10,000 words is just for poker money.” See 69.83, 70.1, 13.2, 420–425.

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