Martin Peretz, March 17, 1964

NORMAN MAILER’s Letters

142 Columbia Heights

Brooklyn 1, New York

March 17, 1964

Dear Marty,^[1]

Thanks for your letter. I’m not sure I’m going to go into a ski cabin next year, for it proved expensive, and full of headaches this season.

I still have my nose deep in the serial and I’m not sure I ever want to write a novel this way again. For cumulative fatigue may get in the way of finishing the book properly. I hope not, I think I still haven’t lost the book, but I’m feeling wrung out, dull, and smoking too many cigarettes these days. Forgive the lugubrious tone—I think I’m still recovering from the Clay-Liston fight.^[2] One of my secret dreams was to see Patterson and Liston have a great third fight.

Best for now,

Norman

This page is part of
An American Dream Expanded.

Notes

↑ Editor-in-chief of The New Republic, Martin Peretz was a professor at Harvard when Mailer met him in the early 1960s.
↑ Mailer watched Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, defeat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship in Miami on 25 February 1964.

[1] Editor-in-chief of The New Republic, Martin Peretz was a professor at Harvard when Mailer met him in the early 1960s.

[2] Mailer watched Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, defeat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship in Miami on 25 February 1964.

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