Tuesday 3 February 2015

Norman Mailer


From 'He was almost glad...' (2nd sentence) this is an extraordinary, to me at least, example of Norman Mailer's ability to be loquacious and succinct at the same time. It's like his stream of consciousness is bang on (for most of us it is far more unreliable) and for those of my students writing about the cultural significance of road trips (in this case a bus trip to jail) might take note.
This is from 'Armies of the Night'(1968) an excellent book on the writers involvement in the demonstrations at the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. Given our present situation, I can't recommend it whole heartedly enough.

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