95.35

“I Ask the Questions (Such as: What’s an Old Warhorse like You Doing Drinking Iced Tea?).” Article-interview by Dermot Purgavie. Mail on Sunday (London), 24 September, 3. Brief piece based on an interview at Mailer’s Brooklyn Heights apartment. In a somewhat valedictory mood, he says,

“ Writers aren’t taken seriously any more, and a large part of the blame must go to the writers of my generation, including me. We haven’t written the books that should have been written. We’ve spent too much time exploring ourselves. We haven’t done the imaginative work that could have helped define America, and as a result we’re not a nation that has characteristics or form. ”