Martin Amis is wonderful either as an interviewer or an interviewee. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of him. I enjoyed hearing him speak more than reading his novels.
Found book at library "Mind of an outlaw" selected essays Norman Mailer. Wow, what a writer he was from the old school telling as it is... Not like today... I plan on reading all his books since his first one.. Great writer...
What a pleasure! Two giants of contemporary literature; they both have that key ingredient of great novelists: learnedness. They are well-read, and they are both curious about the goings-on of the world that extend beyond sex and marriage (although they are both obsessed with these as well). With Mailer, the changes he witnessed in his country were key to his writings, but he was not afraid to venture beyond contemporary America ("Ancient Evenings" for example). Amis began in his father's tradition, the delightful and very English pastime known as the comic novel. Although dark comedy is present throughout his career, his subjects range from the holocaust to the gulags to the psyche of the modern man infatuated by greed and gluttony. We need more people like this in our time to be the center of intellectual culture; instead of our rotten, social-media fed cesspool.
i've not read Harlot's Ghost yet but this comment makes me want to read it. heretofore i've regarded Executioner's Song as Mailers most breathtaking. but now I'm going to read Harlot's Ghost. thanks much Stephen (5 years later)
Harlot's Ghost -discussed here- is a great novel that, though it finally sinks under its own colossal weight (well, so does Paradise Lost), will probably come to be regarded as Mailer's greatest work. The first hundred pages (i.e. the framing Omega section) are probably the best hundred pages in American literature since the last hundred pages of Moby Dick.
I'm fascinated by the negative comments posted to this interview. Both Mailer and Amis write remarkable prose and are, whether you agree with them or not, unfailingly smart, entertaining public intellectuals. Are those commentors who posted ad hominum attacks here able to approximate these acheivements? Or are they intimidated and, therefore, boorish and antiintellectual?
I like many of Mailers stances but what he misses completely is that the infrastructure of the USSR was crumbling because it couldn't keep up with the nuclear arms race.
well from an objective standpoint the # of great minds that are jewish is improportionately high. when you have the stubborn facts of jewish history staring at you it is hard to proceed without being seduced into one disposition towards them or another. disdain or infatuation.
Don’t forget, this is the same Norman Mailer that tried to kill his wife with a pen knife, punched out Gore Vidal at a party and had a violent on camera fight with RIP Torn. The man was prone to violent outbursts, and at best could be described as dangerous. That hardly qualifies him to lecture people about much, seeing as he was so mentally unstable
Rip Torn attacked Mailer with a hammer and Vidal brought it on himself by writing a check with his mouth that his fists couldn't cash. Can't really defend the wife stabbing, but I don't know the full story behind that. If we automatically discredited every single writer or artist who engaged in criminal, violent or anti-social behavior then we would be drawing from a rather narrow and limited pool. William S. Burroughs was a raging junkie who shot his own wife to death and turned a blind eye while his son was abused by friends of his and everyone kisses his ass. Anne Perry participated in the murder of her best friend's mother when she was sixteen years old and later went on to have a bright and flourishing career as a writer, with the whole incident even being dramatized in the Peter Jackson film "Heavenly Creatures."
Thanks for uploading this gem of 2 of the greatest writers of all time!
Martin Amis is wonderful either as an interviewer or an interviewee. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of him. I enjoyed hearing him speak more than reading his novels.
Found book at library "Mind of an outlaw" selected essays Norman Mailer. Wow, what a writer he was from the old school telling as it is... Not like today... I plan on reading all his books since his first one.. Great writer...
Thank you. I will request it...I've read almost everything Norman Mailer has written.
What a pleasure! Two giants of contemporary literature; they both have that key ingredient of great novelists: learnedness. They are well-read, and they are both curious about the goings-on of the world that extend beyond sex and marriage (although they are both obsessed with these as well). With Mailer, the changes he witnessed in his country were key to his writings, but he was not afraid to venture beyond contemporary America ("Ancient Evenings" for example). Amis began in his father's tradition, the delightful and very English pastime known as the comic novel. Although dark comedy is present throughout his career, his subjects range from the holocaust to the gulags to the psyche of the modern man infatuated by greed and gluttony. We need more people like this in our time to be the center of intellectual culture; instead of our rotten, social-media fed cesspool.
Thank you
i've not read Harlot's Ghost yet but this comment makes me want to read it. heretofore i've regarded Executioner's Song as Mailers most breathtaking. but now I'm going to read Harlot's Ghost. thanks much Stephen (5 years later)
Mailer was a bona fide titan already, but this book is a fuckin' beast.
Harlot's Ghost -discussed here- is a great novel that, though it finally sinks under its own colossal weight (well, so does Paradise Lost), will probably come to be regarded as Mailer's greatest work. The first hundred pages (i.e. the framing Omega section) are probably the best hundred pages in American literature since the last hundred pages of Moby Dick.
Executioner’s Song will probably be seen as his best work. Harlot’s Ghost was never finished and contained some bizarre sexual stuff.
.Exelente ; gracias ,desde argentina.
I'd love to see what Norman Miller thinks the politics today
Interestingly enough, Amis's best friend, Christopher Hitchens, loved this book.
Norman Mailer, a man among men.
A pint and a packet of cheese and onion please
I'll meet ya at McSorley's.
Supermailer comes to the Supermartin.
+John Breidenthal Superman comes to the supermarket/supermart is a difficult text to get hold of.
Holy crap... Mailer actually makes sense to me. What's wrong with me today.
I'm fascinated by the negative comments posted to this interview. Both Mailer and Amis write remarkable prose and are, whether you agree with them or not, unfailingly smart, entertaining public intellectuals. Are those commentors who posted ad hominum attacks here able to approximate these acheivements? Or are they intimidated and, therefore, boorish and antiintellectual?
0:53 , Is that Truman Capote?
pninianpnin Yes, it is Capote.
I like many of Mailers stances but what he misses completely is that the infrastructure of the USSR was crumbling because it couldn't keep up with the nuclear arms race.
And "The Great Space Waste".
7 years to come out with a plotless 1300 page mouse. Read Ancient Evenings instead.
@Brendy Mest Pointless, then.
Actually, 'The Tears of Autumn' is better.
Shit. I got cut off. Dumb phone...forgot character limit. To tired to retype.
he's right about the cold war exaggeration.
well from an objective standpoint the # of great minds that are jewish is improportionately high. when you have the stubborn facts of jewish history staring at you it is hard to proceed without being seduced into one disposition towards them or another. disdain or infatuation.
@Avicenna9 what an affected, clumsy insult. Talk about exposing your hand.
The Sentury of the 20th Century !
Don’t forget, this is the same Norman Mailer that tried to kill his wife with a pen knife, punched out Gore Vidal at a party and had a violent on camera fight with RIP Torn. The man was prone to violent outbursts, and at best could be described as dangerous. That hardly qualifies him to lecture people about much, seeing as he was so mentally unstable
'Pampered Super Brat' - Martin Amis quote!
That was the punch Gore Vidal should have gotten for referring to Timothy McVeigh as "a hero" imho
Rip Torn attacked Mailer with a hammer and Vidal brought it on himself by writing a check with his mouth that his fists couldn't cash. Can't really defend the wife stabbing, but I don't know the full story behind that. If we automatically discredited every single writer or artist who engaged in criminal, violent or anti-social behavior then we would be drawing from a rather narrow and limited pool. William S. Burroughs was a raging junkie who shot his own wife to death and turned a blind eye while his son was abused by friends of his and everyone kisses his ass. Anne Perry participated in the murder of her best friend's mother when she was sixteen years old and later went on to have a bright and flourishing career as a writer, with the whole incident even being dramatized in the Peter Jackson film "Heavenly Creatures."
lol...hemingway, anyone?
My Momma Says Obama™
MY MOMMA SAYS OBAMA!
2:19
Martin Amis is such a prat.
Fuck me, Amis' vocal style is intolerable to listen to