Norman Mailer
Page 113
“the dungeon”: TGD, 12.
“is a book”: Ibid., 25.
“The book is interested”: Peter E. Howard, “Mailer: Tough Guy at Ease in P’town,” Cape Cod Times, 8-12-84, 1, 12.
“I have to work”: James Campbell, “Making Ends Meet,” Literary Review, 29.
“drifts heavily”: Edwin McDowell, “Publishing: Mailer Talks About His New Thriller,” NYT, 6-8-84.
“I had been trying”: Dermot Purgavie, “Thoughts of a Tough Guy,” Mail on Sunday Magazine, 10-14-84, 78.
worked from eleven to nine: NM to Stephen Mailer, 8-29-83.
“too rich”: NM to JA, 10-11-83.
New York–based publisher: Edwin McDowell, “Mailer and Random House Sign a $4 Million Contract,” NYT, 8-2-83.
“I don’t know where”: Ibid.
“Mailer’s agent’s advertisement”: John Blades, “Mailer Presides over a Novel Launching,” Chicago Tribune, 5-31-84, Sec. 5, 9.
“Money,” Madden says: TGD, 104.
“We told Little, Brown”: “Little, Brown Releases Mailer Novel to RH,” Publishers Weekly, 10-21-83.
“I was shocked”: John Blades, “Mailer Presides over a Novel Launching,” Chicago Tribune.
lent them money: Tom Dunkel, “Great Scott,” United Airlines Magazine, September 1985.
“If you knew Scott”: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
“a supple brain”: Paul D. Zimmerman, “Literary Hustler,” Newsweek, 3-1-76, 76.
“was the prime client”: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
“I hear you’re the guy”: Tom Dunkel, “Great Scott,” United Airlines Magazine.
Before Norman: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
Part salesman, part banker: Alan D. Hass, “Great Scott! It’s Meredith,” Book Views, October 1977.
“To the best of my knowledge”: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
“sensitive Irishman”: Eugene Kennedy, CNM, 333.
“I figure it this way”: TGD, 159.
“Crazy people”: Ibid., 227.
“Maybe I was”: Ibid.
Rudy Langlais: A film producer, whose credits include Who Killed Atlanta’s Children (2000), Langlais began his film career working with NM.
“the first classy X-rated”: JML interview with Rudy Langlais, 3-1-12.
“How dare you”: Ibid.
“I know what”: Ibid.
“surprised that Norman”: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
gossip column snippets, and a 2009 memoir: “Esquire Goes on a Date with Carole Mallory,” Esquire, December 1980, 57–58; Ed Naha, “Mallory Labors on the ‘Job,’ ” New York Post, 8-26-81; Carole Wagner Malory, “My Story,” Parade, 6-28-87, 4–6; Annette Witheridge, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-563593/The-siren-conquered-Hollywood-Socialite/index.html; Carole Mallory, Loving Mailer (Beverly Hills: Phoenix, 2009).
“more fun than the Americans”: Annette Witheridge, “The Siren Conquered Hollywood,” Daily Mail.
films at the Thalia: Nan Robertson, “Mailer Will Star with His Movies,” NYT, 1-19-84, C17.
“I longed for an affair”: Annette Witheridge, “The Siren Conquered Hollywood,” Daily Mail.
“I noticed that he used”: Mallory, Loving Mailer, 56.
“Scott would never authorize”: JML interview with Jack Scovil, 3-23-10.
with Mailer included Vidal: Carole Mallory, “Mailer and Vidal: The Big Schmooze,” Esquire, May 1991, 108–12.
a weak piece: NM to JML, 3-15-91.
“his way of hiding the truth”: Mallory, Loving Mailer, 101.
“It was a huge part”: JML interview with Ivan Fisher, 4-14-09.
Flash: Carole Mallory, Flash (NY: Poseidon, 1988).
“Mallory packs her story”: Kirkus review, quoted before text of Flash.
“Mailer was somewhere”: JML interview with Gay Talese, 1-23-11.
“First, there’s living together”: Buzz Farbar, “Marriage,” PAP, 91.
“the church”: PAP, v.
“No woman has ever slept”: “A Doctor Is No Better than His Patient: An Interview with Norman Mailer,” Cosmopolitan, May 1990, 332.
“Honey, do you know”: JML interview with NCM, 11-17-08.
“When I was very, very young”: JML interview with Dotson Rader, 3-25-10.
Parker Tyler: A poet, novelist, and film critic, Tyler (1904–74) wrote Underground Film: A Critical History (NY: Grove, 1969).
Glenway Wescott: A friend of Hemingway’s and Gertrude Stein’s as a member of the Paris expatriate community in the 1920s. Wescott (1901–87) was a novelist and essayist.
something about venality: NM to JML, 2-19-06.
“But, the idea”: Buzz Farbar, “Marriage,” PAP, 99, 95.
greedy for knowledge: NM says as much in AON, 135.
“The more prohibited”: JML interview with Dotson Rader, 3-28-12.
“It’s a sad place”: “A Country, Not a Scenario,” Parade, 8-19-84, 4.
“evil artist”: HG, 441.
Vladimir Posner: A journalist and explainer of the Soviet system to Americans, Posner (b. 1934) lived in the United States for many years. His father was a Russian spy.
Genrikh Borovik: A Russian writer and filmmaker later active in the Soviet peace movement, Borovik (b. 1929) was reputed to have been a Russian spy. His son Artyom, an investigative reporter, died in a mysterious 2000 airplane crash in Moscow. NM was friendly with father and son.
book on Kim Philby: The Philby Files: The Secret Life of Master Spy Kim Philby (Boston: Little, Brown, 1994).
“lying around and thinking”: NM to JA, 8-13-84.
narrowed the field: Peter Howard, “Mailer: Tough Guy at Ease in P’town,” Cape Cod Times, 12.
understanding of astrophysics: Gregory Feeley, “Waiting for Mailer’s Big One,” Million, 38.
“The leading characters”: Robert Taylor, “Little, Brown Loses Mailer to Random House,” Boston Globe, 8-2-83, 57, 62.
Harlot’s Ghost: NY: Random House, 1991.
“Years ago I wrote”: NM to Bill Morgan, 3-22-84.
“Ginsberg and I met”: Peter Whitmer, Aquarius Revisited, 64–65.
elected president: “Mailer Gets P.E.N. Post,” NYT, 7-25-84.
“I always wanted”: NM to Bellow, 1-15-85.
“men like myself”: NM to Howard Fertig, 10-4-84.
talent would rub off: Herbert Mitgang, “Mailer and Caldwell Join Academy’s Select 50,” NYT, 12-8-84, 13.
everyone was passing him: Marie-Louise von der Leyen, “Norman Mailer on Anger and Love,” in Lifelines.
“That might be”: TC, 279.
January 1986 PEN congress: Madalynne Reuter, “1000 Writers to Meet in New York at PEN International Congress,” Publishers Weekly, 1-8-85, 23–24.
Lincoln: (NY: Random House, 1984).
“whether his hatred”: NM to MK, 10-23-84.
“Our feud”: NM to Vidal, 11-20-84.
Mailer wrote to Bellow: NM to Bellow, 11-20-84.
“not strong on civility”: Bellow to NM, 12-11-84.
“I shudder to think”: NM to Bellow, 1-15-85.
“Fine. Be lugubrious”: NM to Vidal, 1-15-85.
eight Sunday evenings: John Blades, “Mailer-Vidal Reading Highlights Series of Forums by 16 Famous U.S. Writers,” Chicago Tribune, 9-1-85.
“brusque and jagged”: NM to Howard Fertig, 1-29-85.
“Do you want”: JA to NM, quoted by NM in his 1-29-85 letter to JA.
I would just as soon: Ibid.
“If I had”: JML interview with Susan Mailer, 8-18-11.
“It’s through opposition”: Schroeder, Vietnam, We’ve All Been There, 101.
Peter Arthurs: NM corresponded for several years with Arthurs, the author of With Brendan Behan: A Personal Memoir (NY: St. Martin’s, 1981).
“We’re all divided”: NM to Arthurs, 9-18-84.
“the discovery”: NM to R. Emmett H. Tyrrell, 10-1-85.
Chee
ver’s collected stories: The Stories of John Cheever (NY: Knopf, 1978) won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
M. R. James: Considered by many to be the finest ghost story writer of the twentieth century, James (1862–1936), was a medieval scholar at Cambridge University.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: (London: Arnold, 1931), reprinted in many paperback editions, including one from Dover (1971), which NM owned.
“I am a phenomenon”: NM to Bruce Dexter, 6-13-85.
all five of Mailer’s daughters: TC, 288.
“The three of us”: JML interview with Stephen Mailer, 3-22-12.
“could no longer see”: NM to Richard Stratton, 9-20-85.
“takeover baron”: Tracy Daugherty, Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme (NY: St. Martin’s, 2009), 463.
“and his fund-raising efforts”: Edwin McDowell, “Mailer Sparkplug for Writer’s Congress,” Chicago Tribune, 1-2-86.
“a meeting of two toothless tigers”: “A Rampancy of Writers,” Time, 1-13-86, 22.
four hundred pages: Edwin McDowell, “Mailer Sparkplug for Writer’s Congress,” Chicago Tribune.
“I don’t have a bad”: NM to Michelson, 10-11-85.
ten sexiest American men: Natalie Gittelson, “America’s Ten Sexiest Men over 60,” McCall’s, October 1985.
“At long last, love”: NM to MK, 10-1-85.
“Guest of Dishonor”: John Blades, “Feminists Make Mailer Guest of Dishonor,” Chicago Tribune, 7-10-86, C10.
“a person of public accomplishment”: Fred Ferretti, “Celebrating Norman Mailer,” NYT, 11-22-85.
not received warmly: Walter Goodman, “Shultz Opens PEN Assembly Amid Protests,” NYT, 1-13-86, A1.
“at the feet”: R. Z. Sheppard, “Independent States of Mind,” Time, 1-27-86, 74.
“a week of petitions”: Carol Iannone, “The Political-Literary Complex,” Commentary, June 1986, 64.
theme of the conference: Edwin McDowell, “Mailer Sparkplug for Writer’s Congress,” Chicago Tribune.
Donald Barthelme: Author of The Dead Father (NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1975) and other postmodern fiction, Barthelme (1931–89) served on the PEN board with NM.
Richard Howard: Howard (b. 1929) won the National Book Award for his 1983 translation of Les Fleurs du Mal.
“Be as shallow”: How the Wimp Won the War (Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1992), 5.
“had been around”: Walter Goodman, “Norman Mailer Offers a PEN Post-Mortem,” NYT, 1-27-86.
disproportions in the number of women: Edwin McDowell, “Women at PEN Caucus Demand a Greater Role,” NYT, 1-17-86, C26.
“there are no good”: Carol Iannone, “The Political-Literary Complex,” Commentary, 64, 67.
Vonnegut, another PEN official: Miriam Schneir, “The Prisoner of Sexism,” Ms., April 1986, 83.
“I stayed away”: NM to Mary Lee Settle, 2-13-86.
“include women in the decision-making roles”: Edwin McDowell, “Women at PEN Caucus Demand a Greater Role,” NYT, C26.
“we have so many”: Walter Goodman, “Norman Mailer offers a PEN Post-Mortem,” NYT; see also Salman Rushdie, “The Pen and the Sword,” NYT, 4-17-05.
“brilliant end run”: R. Z. Sheppard, 74.
“With luck, however”: Thomas Pynchon to NM, 1-8-86.
Mailer wrote back: NM to Pynchon, 2-13-86.
Peru: (NY: Dutton, 1986).
“obsessively circular”: George Johnson, “New and Noteworthy,” NYT, 1-10-88.
“I whisper to you”: NM to Gordon Lish, 9-12-85.
THIRTEEN: AN UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL: HARLOT’S GHOST
In addition to the sources identified below, the following were drawn on: JML’s “Mailer Log”; JML’s unpublished interviews with NM and BW. NM’s letters are located at the HRC.
“You can no longer write”: Michael Schumacher, “Modern Evenings: An Interview with Norman Mailer,” Writer’s Digest, October 1983, 34.
collection of his interviews: Conversations with Norman Mailer, ed. JML (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1988); consists of thirty-four previously published interviews, three of them self-interviews.
friend pointed out: JML, “Mailer’s America,” Chicago Tribune, The Arts, 9-29-91, 18.
Some Came Running: (NY: Scribner’s, 1957); Existing paperback technology was such that Jones was required to abridge the novel for the Signet edition published in 1958.
“Plot is the enemy”: Christopher Bigsby, “Alarm Calls for American Dreamers,” Independent, 2-9-02, 10.
“the memory of the books”: Graydon Carter, ed., Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire (NY: Rodale, 2009), 132.
“writing a screenplay for Godard”: Roger Ebert, “Tough Guy Mailer Shows He Can Dance with the Big Boys,” Chicago Sun-Times, 1-23-86; rpt., CNM, 353.
“Ah! At last”: NM to Vincent Canby, 2-4-88.
“a late Godardian”: Vincent Canby, “Film: Godard in His Mafia ‘King Lear,’ ” NYT, 1-22-88.
It baffled its small audiences: Godard’s biographer, however, calls the film one of the director’s “greatest artistic achievements.” Richard Brody, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard (NY: Henry Holt, 2008), 492.
“brought me closer”: David Lida, “Stage Daughters,” W magazine, 2-8-88, 37.
The Last Sitting: (NY: Morrow, 1982).
“No one has played Marilyn”: “Striking Pose Looks Familiar,” Boston Herald, 3-26-86, 11.
“but only Kate”: Tina Brown, “Editor’s Letter,” Vanity Fair, April 1986, 8.
“a select audience”: James Atlas, “The First Sitting,” Vanity Fair, April 1986, 58–63.
“Perhaps in a year”: NM to JM, 4-23-86.
“It was just a little”: JML interview with NCM, 4-15-09.
Kate continued to act: Atlas, “The First Sitting.”
Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard: Kate played Dunyasha in Peter Brook’s 1988 New York production of Chekhov’s 1904 play.
A Matter of Degrees: Directed by W. T. Morgan, Backbeat Productions, 1990.
Mailer siblings went into the arts: Danielle is a visual artist whose work has been given many shows, and is the chair of the art department at a private school in Connecticut. Betsy is a writer, currently working on a novel and a memoir. Michael is a writer and independent film producer with more than twenty films to his credit. Stephen, a veteran stage and screen actor with credits going back to the 1980s, has also appeared in television, including an appearance on The Gilmore Girls with his father. Maggie, like her older sister, is a successful visual artist and the founder of the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Matthew is a director and screenwriter who made his directorial debut in 1998 with a film he made with his brother Michael, The Money Shot. John Buffalo, the youngest of the nine siblings, is a playwright, actor, producer, and journalist. In 2006, he coauthored a book of conversations with his father, The Big Empty.
“physical agility”: NM to Susan Mailer, 2-18-87.
“was very supportive”: “Biography for Stephen Mailer—Trivia,” IMDb.
“I think we were lucky”: JML interview with Maggie Mailer, 3-27-09.
“part autobiographical”: www.daniellemailer.com.
“I agree with you”: NM to MK, 5-19-92.
Tom Luddy: A cofounder and one of the current directors of the Telluride Film Festival, Luddy (b. 1943) has been an executive at American Zoetrope since 1979, and has served on the juries of most major international film festivals, including Cannes and Berlin.
“a normal American movie”: In his interview with JML (3-?-12), Luddy explained the deal that brought him, Mailer, Godard, and Cannon Films together.
“I knew I would”: Dinitia Smith, “Tough Guys Make Movies,” New York, 1-12-87, 34.
“Mr. Mailer, I’m happy”: Transcript of NM’s 9-22-87 interview with members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), 17 pp., JML files.
“subtly sinister”: Ibid.
“for a par
ticular”: NM to Bruce Dexter, 4-23-86.
“where you think”: NM to JA, 4-24-86.
“was unfairly convicted”: Catalogue description for My Return: http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.
“bringing him books”: Mark Muro, “Murder He Wrote, in a Bid for Freedom,” Boston Globe, 9-13-87, C31, C34.
“to behave”: Ibid.
“You are so associated”: NM to JA, 4-24-86.
“There are not legions”: NM to JA, 5-22-86.
“I am lucky”: JML interview with Naomi Zack, 1-2-12.
He finished “Havana”: NM to JA, 5-22-86. NM also discusses these screenplays in Todd McCarthy, “Mailer Gives Film Another Fling with ‘Guys,’ ” Variety, 5-4-87, 2, 13-14.
John Bailey: An award-winning cinematographer and director, Bailey (b. 1942) has worked on scores of films, including Mishima, As Good as It Gets (1997), and Groundhog Day (1993).
Bonnie Timmermann: One of the most accomplished casting directors in the business.
“an official representative”: Harvard’s invitation was received sometime in early 1986.
“Sons of Harvard”: The color painting is the work of Teresa Fasolino; it is unknown how the sixteen men were chosen.
sixty-five locales: Tough Guys Don’t Dance Location Contact List, JML files.
complete makeover: Details from Dinitia Smith, “Tough Guys Make Movies,” New York, 33; Daphne Merkin, “His Brilliant (New) Career?”, American Film, October 1987, 42–49; and Tough Guys Don’t Dance press kit, JML files.
casting call: Bonnie Barber and Gregory Katz, “Camera Angles: Reporters on the Set of ‘Tough Guys,’ ” Provincetown Arts, summer 1987, 116.
Blue Velvet: David Lynch wrote the screenplay and directed the 1986 film.
“sounds of punches”: Mark Singer, “The Pictures: Tough Guy,” New Yorker, 5-21-07, 30–31.
“Tom, my knife”: JML interview with Tom Luddy, 3-?-12.
“adored”: Mark Singer, “The Pictures: Tough Guy,” New Yorker, 30.
“was way over the top”: Philip Sipiora, “Perspectives on Cinema: A Conversation with Tom Luddy,” MR (2009), 568.
“had a lot of problems”: Ibid.