71.20
The Prisoner of Sex. Boston: Little, Brown, 27 May; London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, August. Essay, 240 pp., $5.95.
Only the first U.S. edition carries the price on the inside front dustwrapper flap. Dedication: “To Carol Stevens.” Nominated for the National Book Award in the arts and letters category. Contains Mailer’s most thoughtful literary criticism, an exploration of the writing of D.H. Lawrence. Rpt: Entire essay first appeared in Harper’s (71.10), and was revised for book publication; 98.7 (partial). See 68.11, 71.16–71.19, 71.23, 71.27, 77.14.
| “ | Since PW [prizewinner] could also stand for Prisoner of War (which he could amend to Prisoner of Wedlock, for he had never been able to live without a woman) he had another name for himself, the PW, Prisoner or Prizewinner? They were polar concepts to be regarded at opposite ends of his ego—so they provided a base for his reactions whenever that equivalent of a phallus, that ghost-phallus of the mentality, firm strong-tongued ego, had wandered into unfamiliar scenes. After a time he thought of himself as the Prisoner. | ” |
| — Mailer, 71.20 | ||
Bibliography
Reviews
- Brophy, Brigid (May 23, 1971). "Meditations on Norman Mailer, by Norman Mailer, against the Day a Norman Mailest Comes Along". New York Times Book Review. pp. 1, 14, 16. Retrieved 2018-12-18. Negative. See 71.22
- Broyard, Anatole (May 27, 1971). "Norman Writes a Dithyramb" (PDF). New York Times. p. 37. Retrieved 2018-12-18. Positive.
- Kennedy, Eugene (November 1971). "Review of The Prisoner of Sex". Critic. pp. 69–73. Positive.
- Lodge, David (December 1971). "Male, Mailer, Female". New Blackfriars. London. pp. 558–561. Mixed.
- Oates, Joyce Carol (July 1971). "With Norman Mailer at the Sex Circus I: Out of the Machine". Atlantic. pp. 42–45. Mixed. Rpt: Adams (1974), Bloom (1986).
- Pritchett, V. S. (July 1971). "With Norman Mailer at the Sex Circus II: Into the Cage". Atlantic. pp. 40–42. Positive.
Essays