The Mailer Review/Volume 2, 2008/Norman Mailer, Metaphysician at Work
| « | The Mailer Review • Volume 2 Number 1 • 2008 • In Memorium: Norman Mailer: 1923–2007 | » |
On God: An Uncommon Conversation
Peter Allen’s striking song, “Everything Old Is New Again,” reminds me of Norman Mailer’s final book, On God: An Uncommon Conversation. Allen’s lyrics call attention to the cyclical and circular nature of human experience, the necessity of returning to core principles that inform the conscious and subconscious seminal beliefs of an artist: “Don’t throw the past away / You might need it some rainy day / Dreams can come true again / When everything old is new again.” In an obverse way, On God may be read as a rearticulation—a synoptic and aggressive synthesis—of decades of Mailer’s thinking, speculating, and interrogating—all coming together in a work shaded by eschatological nuances.