88.9a

“Personalities.” Squib in gossip column. By Chuck Conconi. Washington Post, 3 November, C3. At a Washington D.C. book party hosted by the National Intelligence Study Center, Mailer said he had written 100 pages of a spy novel (Harlot’s Ghost, 91.26), and was there to get a little atmosphere. “The nice thing about being a novelist is you don’t have to tell the truth. Atmosphere is what you’re looking for.”