Barbary Shore [Hardcover]

Norman Mailer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1980 | ISBN-10: 0686655214 | ISBN-13: 978-0686655213 | Edition: Reprint

Mike Lovett rents a room in a Brooklyn boarding house with the intention of writing a novel. Wounded during World War II, Lovett is an amnesiac, and much of his past is a secret to himself. But Lovett's housemates have secrets of their own. As these mysterious figures vie for Lovett's allegiance, Barbary Shore plays havoc with our certainties, combining Kafkaesque unease with Orwellian paranoia and delivering its effects with a power that Mailer has made all his own.  

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Mike Lovett rents a room in a Brooklyn boarding house with the intention of writing a novel. Wounded during World War II, Lovett is an amnesiac, and much of his past is a secret to himself. But Lovett's housemates have secrets of their own. As these mysterious figures vie for Lovett's allegiance, Barbary Shore plays havoc with our certainties, combining Kafkaesque unease with Orwellian paranoia and delivering its effects with a power that Mailer has made all his own.   --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Norman Mailer was born in 1923 in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 1955, he was one of the co-founders of The Village Voice. He is the author of more than thirty books, including The Naked and the Dead; The Armies of the Night, for which he won a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize; The Executioner's Song, for which he won his second Pulitzer Prize; Harlot's Ghost; Oswald's Tale; The Gospel According to the Son, The Castle and the Forest and On God. He died in 2007. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Howard Fertig; Reprint edition (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0686655214
• ISBN-13: 978-0686655213
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,010,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer, April 6, 2000

By 

Ryan (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barbary Shore (Paperback)

When asked what he thought of Norman Mailer, writer Charles Bukowski often responded, "I don't think of Norman Mailer." Those who have read Mailer's second novel, Barbary Shore, should understand Buke's sentiment. Set chiefly in a Brooklyn boarding house, Barbary Shore more or less details the relationships between an amnesiac young WWII veteran and his kooky housemates. Radical politics serve as a backdrop to the book, but Mailer's dull prose and the passing of time deflate any topical relevance.

The novel is primarily composed of lengthy and boring conversations between the narrator and his housemates, as well as Mailer's first-person doddering about his neighborhood. It seems that Mailer intends for his dialogue to advance the plot and to develop the characters. Unlike Steinbeck, Mailer fails at this task. His dialogue is too long, too ponderous, and intolerably fake. The characters are as believable as those of Ian Fleming, yet far less intriguing or sexy.

In sum, this book is lousy. There is nothing else to say about it. A contextual analysis or meaningful critique is not warranted.

In the future, other works by Mailer will certainly be remembered by critics and English departments worldwide. For example, The Naked & The Dead will be recalled as a solid war novel. As for Barbary Shore? At best a sophomore slump. I want my money back--and from the author himself.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mailer captured the feeling, the fear of the time, August 29, 2007

By 

Trina L. Drotar "Book Lover" (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barbary Shore (Paperback)

When we begin comparing different books by an author, we can run into problems. Each book, I believe, should be judged on its own. While Barbary Shore was certainly not my all time favorite book in the entire world, I could not put it down, either. Mailer's use of language, and his word choices, added to the overall feel of the novel. The feeling during the height of the McCarthy Era was one of caution and fear. I believe that he captured these things through his language choices as well as through the characters and their actions. Is this one of Mailer's best books? Probably not. I heard him speak several months ago in California. He was funny, charming, and he said that he believed Ancient Evenings was one of his favorites. At times, during Barbary Shore, it is a bit difficult to figure out what is going on, but that's what compelled me to continue with the book. I had to know. Mailer brought these characters to life, particularly with his wonderful descriptions. It is a book I would read again, and it will occupy a space on one of my many bookshelves. It was not, however, a fast paced book. It took me a bit of time to read. In fact, I had finished several other books in the time it took me to finish this one, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There were things he wrote in this book, too, that ring true even today, particularly at the beginning of chapter 24, when he discusses the big, rich companies, the machine that makes capitalism go and grow, and the workers. "The man grew smaller and the machine grew larger,..." he writes. Isn't this true today? It's worth a first, careful read.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Better Mind Then Mine, November 30, 2000

By 

David Feehan (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barbary Shore (Paperback)

A few things grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and made themselves evident to me when I read this novel. Firstly, Norman Mailer is a much smarter man than I, secondly, Norman Mailer can write very well when he wants to, and thirdly, he can do a lot better than this.

Set in a boarding house with a serious of muddled characters and little to drive the narrative outside of dialogue, the book fails to reach the heights that were probably imagined for it in it's conception. It is my second experience with Mailer, the first being The Fight, which I rate very highly. This novel, despite it's best efforts, have failed to seal my opinion of Mailer. Maybe I should read The Naked and The Dead and be done with it. In short, I think there are better books out there to be read.