Norman Mailer: Works and Days/Acknowledgments and Appreciations: Difference between revisions

Without access to the Mailer archive and to [[Norman Mailer|Mailer]] himself, this volume would have been impossible. From 1982, when it began taking shape during the editing of ''Pieces and Pontifications'' ([[82.16]]), Mailer was consulted many times. His eye on the manuscript was crucial, his generosity unstinting. His wife, the late [[Norris Church Mailer|Norris Church]], helped the project in many ways and supplied items obtainable elsewhere. The friendship and remarkable support of the Mailer family, all nine children ([[Susan Mailer|Susan]], [[Danielle Mailer|Danielle]], [[Elizabeth Mailer|Elizabeth Anne (Betsy)]], [[Kate Mailer|Kate]], [[Michael Mailer|Michael]], [[Stephen Mailer|Stephen]], [[Matthew Mailer|Matthew]], [[Maggie Mailer|Maggie]], [[John Buffalo Mailer|John Buffalo]], and their cousin, [[Peter Alson]]) have been essential from start to finish. Mailer's sister, [[Barbara Wasserman]], and his assistant, the late [[Judith McNally]], provided unique insights and encouragement. Wasserman, the chief guide to Mailer family history, collected and preserved the photographs in the archive — many of them gratefully reproduced here as illustrations. McNally, Mailer's assistant since 1978, had her finger on many of the items described and filled in countless publication details. It was the late [[Robert F. Lucid]], Mailer's friend of 40 years, who — with the help and blessing of Mailer's mother — first created the Mailer archive in the early 70s. Lucid's checklist of Mailer's work in his 1971 collection, ''Norman Mailer: The Man and His Work'', is the place where all Mailer bibliographers must begin. He was our principal advisor, and his enthusiasm and counsel was crucial to the project throughout. Indeed, the unflagging and cheerful help of this "Mailer team" was marvelous and kept us always on task.

Laura Adams's ''Norman Mailer: A Comprehensive Bibliography'', which appeared in 1974, was the first major Mailer bibliography, and as noted earlier, was indispensable to the creation of this volume, as it was to earlier efforts noted in the secondary bibliography. But many new items have been discovered over the past 44 years, and the revised ''Works and Days'' contains more than twice as many primary items for the period 1941 to 1974 as does Adams's compilation. Equaling Adams's volume in value is Thomas Fiske's unpublished work, "A Collector's Bibliography of Norman Mailer". Fiske's regular and thoughtful assistance on many perplexing matters has been invaluable. ''The Mailer Author Price Guide, no. 114.2'' (1997) by Allen and the late Patricia Ahearn of Quill and Brush Books, which provides reliable information on first editions in English, has been an excellent resource. Finally, B.A. Sokoloff's 1969 compilation, ''A Bibliography of Norman Mailer'', has been useful, especially for early reviews of Mailer's books.

Our deepest thanks go out to all those named and unnamed, remembered or, alas, forgotten, who have helped us build ''Norman Mailer: Works and Days'' over the past 35 years.

[[Category:Works and Days]]