The Mailer Review/Volume 2, 2008/Tributes to Norman Mailer/Despite Our Differences

Norman Mailer: In Memorium
Carnegie Hall Memorial Gina Centrello Charlie Rose Günter Grass William Kennedy Tina Brown Barbara Wasserman Sam Radin Peter Alson Susan Mailer Danielle Mailer Elizabeth Mailer Kate Mailer Michael Mailer Stephen Mailer Maggie Mailer Matthew Mailer John Buffalo Mailer Don DeLillo J. Michael Lennon David Ebershoff Neil Abercrombie Ivan Fisher Lawrence Schiller Sean Penn Lonnie Ali
Tributes Lynn Andriani Robert J. Begiebing Mashey Bernstein John Bowers Jackson R. Bryer Christopher Busa Ezra Cappell E. L. Doctorow Laura Adams Dunham Dick Fontaine Richard Lee Fulgham Michael K. Glenday Lawrence Grobel Alexander Hicks Eugene Cullen Kennedy Barry H. Leeds Donna Pedro Lennon Peter Levenda David Light Deborah Martinson Michael Millgate Stephan Morrow Julian Newman Mark Olshaker Kathrin Perutz Tom Piazza Dotson Rader Lee Siegel Phillip Sipiora Jr. Barbara Probst Solomon Richard Stratton Gay Talese Marc S. Triplett John Whalen-Bridge Veronica Windholz

Written by
Deborah Martinson

Mailer’s literature is powerful, confrontational — awe-inspiring, really. He had great power and craft as a storyteller. I didn’t always agree with Mailer, especially his views on women, but I will always respect his relentless interrogation of accepted truths. He needled the smug, and rightly so. Unlike many, Mailer fearlessly exposed his thinking, consequences be damned. When reading Mailer, I know what at least one man really thinks about sex, really thinks about politics — scary, but oh so enlightening. Knowing Norman personally was a delight — good listener, straight talk, generosity of spirit, great humor. He would dive right in to the topic at hand, and we’d explore together. Despite our differences, this feminist reverently mourns the passing of Norman Mailer — literary legend, political intellectual, man.