Norman Mailer: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Today we will tell you who Norman Mailer is. His books are popular, so it is worth talking about this person in more detail. We are talking about an American writer, journalist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. He was born in 1923.

Biography

Norman Mailer was born in New Jersey, Long Branch. Comes from a Jewish immigrant family. Father - Mailer Isaac Barnet, an accountant from South Africa. Mother - housewife and nurse Fanya Schneider. After our hero, the couple had two more daughters - Norma and Barbara. Ros Norman Mailer in New York. Attended Stuyvesant School in the Brooklyn area of Bedford. In 1939 he became a student at Harvard. There he studied aeronautics. In 1943 he graduated from the university. During his student period, he took up literary activity. He wrote and published his first story in 1941, at the age of 18. He was awarded the university magazine award. Our hero fought in the Philippines. In addition to literature, the writer was engaged in journalism. Wrote movie scripts. Took a few pictures. In some he acted as an actor. One of the founders of the school of "new journalism". In 1960, while intoxicated, he wounded his wifepenknife. As a result, he ended up in a lunatic asylum, where he stayed for two weeks. Later, he dedicated a poem to this episode called “A rainy evening with his wife.”

Literary creativity

Norman Mailer wrote The Naked and the Dead in 1948. This is his most famous book, and it is dedicated to the theme of the Second World War. In addition, the following works belong to the pen of our hero: "Deer Reserve", "American Dream", "Why are we in Vietnam", "The Gospel of the Son of God", "Castle in the Forest", "Evenings in Antiquity", "White Negro", "The Song of the Executioner", "The Ghost of a Prostitute". Widely known documentary reports of our hero. In particular, the work "Army of the Night" tells about the peace march on Washington and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. "Miami and the Siege of Chicago" reports on the national conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties. The work "Fire on the Moon" tells about the landing of people on the Earth's satellite. The writer has written biographies of Lee Harvey Oswald, Picasso and Marilyn Monroe.

Working in movies

In 1968, our hero directed the films Outlaw and Wildness-90. In 1970, he made Maidstone, a satirical film about the presidential election. In this film, he also played one of the main roles. In 1987, our hero acted as a screenwriter and director of the film Tough Guys Don't Dance. The film was based on the author's own book of the same name. In addition, this creative person starred with Jean-Luc Godard, Milos Forman, Jonas Mekas and Kenneth Anger.

Editions in Russianlanguage

Norman Mailer, as already mentioned, is the author of The Naked and the Dead. Its Russian version was published in Moscow in 1976. This novel tells about the combat activities and life of the US Army. Location - Pacific Front. The story is set during the Second World War. The author exposes the manners and practices prevailing in the US Army.

In 2004, the publishing house "AST" published the book "The Ghost of a Prostitute". In 2007, the writer's work "Evenings in Antiquity" was published in St. Petersburg. This novel is a breathtaking attempt to recreate a period in the history of Egypt. The book is about the era of the New Kingdom of the times of the 19th-20th dynasties - the Ramses. The warrior Menenhetet tells his grandson about the pharaoh's various campaigns against the Hittites. He also describes the battle of Kadesh, the beautiful, refined wife of the pharaoh - Nefertari. The hero tells about the years of power, when temples were built, people praised the gods, the treasury grew fat. In this book, the magic of the word evokes a string of memories of mysterious distant lands that never cease to excite the imagination of writers and artists of our time.

The writer died on November 10, 2007 in New York. He was 84 years old.