Lonnie L. Wells, April 16, 1966: Difference between revisions

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(Lonnie L. Wells, April 16, 1966)
 
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Dear Lonnie Wells,
Dear Lonnie Wells,<ref>Wells was a Mailer fan.</ref>
 
I’m afraid I can’t answer your question definitively. I don’t know of any other work of fiction where John Kennedy<ref>It appears that Mailer was the first to use J.F.K. in a novel. He used Kennedy again as a character in his 1991 CIA novel, ''Harlot’s Ghost''</ref> appears as a character on or off the immediate scene of the novel. But of course, that is not at all the same thing as knowing that ''An American Dream'' is certainly the first book of that sort.<ref>The use of historical characters in novels did not originate with Mailer, of course, but the practice became more common after An American Dream. For example, E.L. Doctorow (1931-), who worked on Mailer’s novel as a young editor at Dial, depicted Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan and several other historical figures in his 1975 nonfiction novel, ''Ragtime''</ref>.


I’m afraid I can’t answer your question definitively. I don’t know of any other work of fiction where [[w:John F. Kennedy|John Kennedy]]<ref>It appears that Mailer was the first to use J.F.K. in a novel. He used Kennedy again as a character in his 1991 CIA novel, ''[[Harlot's Ghost]]''.</ref> appears as a character on or off the immediate scene of the novel. But of course, that is not at all the same thing as knowing that ''[[An American Dream]]'' is certainly the first book of that sort.<ref>The use of historical characters in novels did not originate with Mailer, of course, but the practice became more common after ''An American Dream''. For example, [[w:E. L. Doctorow|E. L. Doctorow]], who worked on Mailer’s novel as a young editor at Dial, depicted [[w:Harry Houdini|Harry Houdini]], [[w:Henry Ford|Henry Ford]], [[w:J. P. Morgan|J. P. Morgan]] and several other historical figures in his 1975 nonfiction novel, ''[[w:Ragtime (novel)|Ragtime]]''.</ref>


::::::::::::::::::::Yours sincerely,<br />
::::::::::::::::::::Yours sincerely,<br />
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===Notes===
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{Aad-letters}}

Latest revision as of 11:31, 7 April 2019

NORMAN MAILER’s Letters
142 Columbia Heights
Brooklyn 1, New York
April 16, 1966

Dear Lonnie Wells,[1]

I’m afraid I can’t answer your question definitively. I don’t know of any other work of fiction where John Kennedy[2] appears as a character on or off the immediate scene of the novel. But of course, that is not at all the same thing as knowing that An American Dream is certainly the first book of that sort.[3]

Yours sincerely,
Norman Mailer
This page is part of
An American Dream Expanded.

Notes

  1. ↑ Wells was a Mailer fan.
  2. ↑ It appears that Mailer was the first to use J.F.K. in a novel. He used Kennedy again as a character in his 1991 CIA novel, Harlot's Ghost.
  3. ↑ The use of historical characters in novels did not originate with Mailer, of course, but the practice became more common after An American Dream. For example, E. L. Doctorow, who worked on Mailer’s novel as a young editor at Dial, depicted Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan and several other historical figures in his 1975 nonfiction novel, Ragtime.
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