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

From Project 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.

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