61.21b

“Norman Mailer: His Blasts Come Fast.” Article-interview by Marj Wightman. Austin American-Statesman, 7 December. Most of Mailer’s comments concern his detestation of the sameness of modern architecture: “You can’t tell if you are looking a hospital, an airport, a high school, a factory or even a housing project. They’re all unbearably ugly and sterile.” He also bewailed the lack of extremes in our political life: “There used to be a time when capital and labor were against each other. Now our politics is just one big center anchored around big corporations and enormous labor unions.” Asked about American artists, he said, “At least they’re putting up a fight. Art is really the marrow of the nation. It doesn’t matter how big a country becomes, if its art becomes as sick as its architecture, you’ve got a sick giant.”