98.9a

“The Great American Author.” Article-interview by Steve Horowitz. Icon (Iowa City), 7 May, 11. Responding to telephone questions about the New Journalism and putting himself in his essays, Mailer said, “If you don’t put yourself in the essay, then you’re exhibiting an unseemly arrogance because you’re pretending to be objective about what you’re talking about, as if you’re some disembodied voice.” Asked about his religious leanings, he said, “I don’t lean towards Christianity at all. I’m very interested in it and there are aspects of it I find exciting and aspects I find depressing.” He added: “I was Jewish and I’m still Jewish. I haven’t been in a synagogue in 20 years, but that’s neither here nor there. Being Jewish is a matter of having it in your pores.”