Norman Kingsley Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007) was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwriter, film-maker, actor and political activist. His novel, The Naked and the Dead, was published in 1948. His best-known work was widely considered to be The Executioner's Song, which was published in 1979, and for which he won one of his two Pulitzer Prizes. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, his book Armies of the Night was awarded the National Book Award. Along with Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, which superimposes the style and devices of literary fiction onto fact-based journalism. Mailer was also known for his essays, the most renowned of which was The White Negro. He was a cultural commentator and critic, both through his novels, his journalism, his essays and his frequent media appearances. In 1955, Mailer and three others founded The Village Voice, an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper distributed in Greenwich Village. John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band mention Mailer in the lyrics of "Give Peace a Chance". Lloyd Cole and the Commotions sang "Lean over on the bookcase, If you really wanna get straight, Read Norman Mailer, Or get a new tailor" in their 1984 hit single "Are you ready to be heartbroken". Mailer makes a heroic cameo appearance in Richard Brautigan's 1976 novel Sombrero Fallout. Welsh alternative rock group Manic Street Preachers reference Mailer in the lyric, "I am stronger than MENSA, Miller and Mailer" from their 1994 song "Faster". In Simon And Garfunkel's "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)": I been Norman Mailer'd, Maxwell Taylor'd. I been John O'Hara'd, McNamara'd. I been Rolling Stoned and Beatled till I'm blind. I been Ayn Rand'd, nearly branded Communist, 'cause I'm left-handed. That's the hand I use, well, never mind! In the comedy Sleeper, Woody Allen remarks that Mailer "donated his ego to the Harvard Medical School". The group Savage Garden mentions him in the song "Santa Monica" as follows: "But on the telephone line I am anyone, I am anything I want to be. I could be a supermodel or Norman Mailer, And you wouldn't know the difference. Or would you?" The group GWAR mentions him in the song "Vlad the Impaler" as follows (in reference to Mailer stabbing his second wife): Vlad, Vlad, Vlad the Impaler. Vlad, Vlad, he could have been a sailor but he's Vlad, Vlad, Vlad the Impaler. Vlad, Vlad, he could have been a whaler, could have been a tailor. He turned out to be Norman Mailer. In the novel The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, a minor character, Clay (who is a major character in Ellis' other novels Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms) recounts seeing a girl who left him because she saw "a spider the size of Norman Mailer" in his bathroom; Clay remarks: "I didn't ask her who Norman Mailer was, and I didn't ask her to come back." In an episode of The Simpsons, Bart is reading Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie: The Novel, and it is written by Norman Mailer. In the remix of the Kanye West song "Power", Jay Z references him: "To be continued, we on that Norman Mailer shit", referring to the last line in Mailer's novel, Harlot's Ghost (the book ends with the words "To be continued."). He is also referenced in the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Animal Bar", in the line "Ever lovin' mug of Mr. Norman Mailer, Turn another page at the Animal Bar." The 10cc song "Somewhere in Hollywood" satirically references Mailer and his interest in Marilyn Monroe: Norman Mailer, Waits to nail her. He's under her bed, and he's waiting for her to be dead. He's out on the patio with his Polaroid and scenario. And he's armed and he's dangerous... ly... close... Was the weather when I was a kid... In the first season episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "We Closed in Minneapolis", Lou Grant (Edward Asner) mentions that he wrote a novel about his experiences in Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal in the hopes that he would become "the next Norman Mailer", despite 22 publishers describing his manuscript as "dull". Comedian Ron White references the death of Mailer in a Comedy Central special Behavioral Problems by amusingly pointing out the parallels between himself and Mailer: "For the last 60 years of this man's life, he drank to excess everyday. Uh, he was married six times. He smoked pot. He stabbed his second wife. I've never read one of his books, but I gotta tell ya, I'm a huge fan!" Rapper Talib Kweli mentions Mailer in his song "Get By". Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel's music video "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" (made in response to Sarah Silverman's "I'm Fucking Matt Damon") is dedicated to Mailer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer

• published: 05 Jun 2015
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