84.20

“Crime and Puzzlement: The Real-Life Mystery behind Norman Mailer’s New Thriller.” Article-interview by Andrea Chambers. People Weekly, 10 September, 42–45. Discussion of the attempt by federal officials to entrap Mailer in the drug-dealing of his friend Buzz Farbar by recording a luncheon conversation. Mailer was not involved and the attempt failed. Farbar was convicted, went to prison for eight years, and later committed suicide. What is especially reprehensible, Mailer says, “is when the government tries to get a man to entrap his friend.”