Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer

“Lipton’s Journal” cannot be fully understood outside of Mailer’s friendship with Lindner. We are lucky to have the bulk of their correspondence and can thus get a glimpse of the texture of their relationship. Robert Lindner came into Mailer’s life at a particularly difficult time—a period in which he was still reeling from a formidable blow to his ego after the failure of Barbary Shore, and was writing his new novel The Deer Park under a cloud of uncertainty. For many this would have been a good time to consider turning to a psychotherapist for help. So, perhaps it is not surprising that after reading Prescription for a Rebellion, Mailer felt compelled to write to the author. It seems that Mailer knew he had found a rare bird—a psychoanalyst who would not squelch his creativity and would help him remain a rebel with a cause. On November 18, 1952 Mailer sent his first letter to Lindner opening the gate for an intense and fertile friendship that lasted until Lindner’s untimely death in February, 1956.

Read the full introduction »

Date	Letter To	First Words
November 18, 1952	To Robert Lindner	I wish I had been able to write . . .
November 24, 1952	To Norman Mailer	I was very glad to hear from you . . .
April 15, 1953	To Robert Lindner	I hope you’ll excuse this long delay . . .
February 16, 1954	To Robert Lindner	I’ve been pushing hard into the book . . .
February 23, 1954	To Norman Mailer	Just receiving your letter was a great relief.
February 26, 1954	To Robert Lindner	I’m answering this immediately . . .
June 7, 1954	To Norman Mailer	It was great talking with you the other night.
June 12, 1954	To Robert Lindner	The trip to Mexico keeps getting put off.
June-July, 1954	To Norman Mailer	It is to be hoped greatly that this my letter . . .
July 16, 1954	To Robert Lindner	I really enjoyed your masterpiece . . .
July 20, 1954	To Norman Mailer	Don’t tell me we’re not simpatico!
August 19, 1954	To Robert Lindner	I’ve been sort of saving up and looking forward . . .
September 15, 1954	To Norman Mailer	Now, at last, I take my pen in hand . . .
November 29, 1954	To Robert Lindner	Just a shortie to tell you what a good time . . .
December 7, 1954	To Norman Mailer	The fact that you left a number of things . . .
December 20, 1954	To Robert Lindner	More notes from the journal.
December 31, 1954	To Robert Lindner	Happy New Year.
January 20, 1955	To Robert Lindner	Some more of the journal.
January 27, 1955	To Norman Mailer	O tried to call you last night . . .
February 3, 1955	To Norman Mailer	I have been so tremendously excited . . .
March 14, 1955	To Norman Mailer	It’s been so long since I heard from you . . .
March 15, 1955	To Norman Mailer	Either you wrote those two notes in a paranoid fog . . .
March 29, 1955	To Norman Mailer	Your manuscript is being mailed today . . .
April 22, 1955	To Robert Lindner	Just a note to tell you how good . . .
April 25, 1955	To Robert Lindner	I came over to my studio today . . .
June 3, 1955	To Robert Lindner	That was a good talk we had on the phone . . .
July, 1955	To Norman Mailer	The days go by and I find myself more hard pressed . . .
January 13, 1956	To Norman Mailer	Perhaps you will forgive my silence . . .
September 8, 2007	Postscript: Mailer on the death of Robert Lindner