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Kevin M. Schultz

Buckley and Mailer: The Difficult Friendship That Shaped the Sixties Hardcover – Illustrated, June 1, 2015

by Kevin M. Schultz (Author)

37 ratings

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A lively chronicle of the 1960s through the surprisingly close and incredibly contentious friendship of its two most colorful characters.

William F. Buckley, Jr., and Norman Mailer were the two towering intellectual figures of the 1960s, and they lived remarkably parallel lives. Both became best-selling authors in their twenties (with God and Man at Yale and The Naked and the Dead); both started hugely influential papers (National Review and the Village Voice); both ran for mayor of New York City; both were noted for their exceptional wit and venom; and both became the figurehead of their respective social movements (Buckley on the right, Mailer on the left). Indeed, Buckley and Mailer argued vociferously and publicly about every major issue of their time: civil rights, feminism, the counterculture, Vietnam, the Cold War. But behind the scenes, the two were close friends and trusted confidantes. In Buckley and Mailer, historian Kevin M. Schultz delves into their personal archives to tell the rich story of their friendship, their arguments, and the tumultuous decade they did so much to shape.

Here is the entertaining and deeply American story of what Mailer himself called a "difficult friendship": from their debate before the Floyd Patterson–Sonny Liston heavyweight fight in 1962 to their failed mayoral campaigns, to their confrontation at Truman Capote’s Black-and-White Ball, to their starring roles in the central events of the ’60s, including the giant antiwar rally in Berkeley, the March on the Pentagon, and the national political conventions in Miami and Chicago. Through it all, Schultz charts their friendship, whether sailing together off the coast of Connecticut, celebrating rave reviews and grousing about lousy ones, and defending each other's decisions privately even as they attack each other’s positions publicly.

Brimming with Buckley and Mailer's own thoughts from their personal diaries and letters, Buckley and Mailer also features cameos by other leading figures of the time, including James Baldwin, Joan Didion, Barry Goldwater, Robert F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gloria Steinem, and Gore Vidal. Schultz delivers a fresh chronicle of the '60s and its long aftermath as well as an enormously engaging work of narrative history that explores these extraordinary figures' contrasting visions of what America was and what it could be.

8 pages of photographs

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

June 1, 2015
Dimensions

6.6 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
ISBN-10

0393088715
ISBN-13

978-0393088717
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Buckley and Mailer brings alive two talented, tireless characters…. Schultz weave[s] their contrasting public lives together in a way that helps to make sense of an era."
― Aram Bakshian Jr, Wall Street Journal

"Judging by this ardently researched book, [Buckley and Mailer] seem to have saved every letter they wrote or received, and their lively epistolary relationship forms the core of this perceptive dual portrait."
― Kevin Canfield, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Buckley and Mailer is a largely respectful portrait, but Schultz doesn’t sugarcoat his subjects’ failings…. Flawed these men were for sure. But…it’s good to remember pundits who thought big, fought big, had something to say and said it with hellacious verve."
― Chris Tucker, Dallas Morning News

"Schultz brings a good-natured, entertaining and, rare in academe, highly readable style to his treatment of two 20th century America patriots whose lives enriched us all."
― John R. Coyne Jr., Washington Times

"[A] provocative and thorough…social and political history of the sixties, among the very best we have had."
― Mark Levine, Booklist (starred review)

"Schultz navigates the 1960s through these two larger-than-life men, offering plentiful anecdotes in an informed, entertaining style."
― Publishers Weekly

"One might think that Bill Buckley and Norman Mailer were not at all alike, but Kevin M. Schultz, in his very entertaining book, reminds us to think again. In fact, despite their complicated political differences, these two American originals liked each other, tried to understand each other, and discovered that that they had much in common: a passion for engagement, for literate expression, and perhaps above all the pleasure they took in playing their outsize selves."
― Jeffrey Frank, best-selling author of Ike and Dick

"Riveting. In this superbly written account of two of the most fascinating and important 20th-century American intellectuals, Kevin M. Schultz not only brings the spirits of William Buckley and Norman Mailer back to life, he endows us with a subtle yet profound analytical framework for understanding the massive social changes set off during the Sixties. Anyone who wants to understand contemporary American political culture needs to read this book."
― Andrew Hartman, author of A War for the Soul of America

About the Author

Kevin M. Schultz holds a PhD in history from Berkeley and teaches twentieth-century American history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Chicago.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (June 1, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393088715
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393088717
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.59 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,168 in Journalist Biographies
- #6,921 in Author Biographies
- #6,925 in Political Leader Biographies

Customer Reviews:
37 ratings

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Alex Hicks

An Inflated Account of the 1960s Buckley-Mailer Debates

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2021

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Schultz offers an anecdotal account of the 1960s political dialogue between William F. Buckley and Norman Mailers, an exchange that he writes “helped shape the 1960s.” However, the account is too loose to support his claim for the exchange’s historical importance. For one thing, Schultz frames the 1960s dialogue as Left-Right debate without referring to Mailer’s 1960s ideological self-definition as a “left conservative.” However, this term, first elucidated by Mailer in a 1963 letter to Playboy, enriched by the epigraphs to the 1964 "In the Red Light" and, at last, explicitly defined at length in the 1968 “The Armies of the Night,” shows that Mailer, however consistently contrarian he may have been, was a self-proclaimed conservative by the mid-1960s. More concretely, Schultz addresses the Left-Right debate without mention of Mailer’s 1960s transition from unqualified Leftist to critic of the women’s movement -- indeed a principal feminist bête noire.1960s. Although more entertaining than instructive, the book is likely to please those interested in celebrating Mailer as a political sage. It is also like to please those who enjoy celebration of Buckley as so open minded a conservative that he sought out strong ideological opponents for debate. Alas, at least this last group should take pause from Buckley’s view of Mailer that “politically, he is an idiot” (quoted on p. 331 of “Buckley and Mailer”).

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Bob Miller

who took great pleasure in traveling

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2015

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Buckley and Mailer were two of the leading spokesmen for their respective political leanings, mainly during the late 50’s through the 70’s. Buckley, who came from a family pedigree of wealth, advocated vociferously for those rules and philosophies that benefited corporate and individual wealth, and measures that led to lower taxes, less government control and a stronger military; Mailer, was raised in a upper middle class setting, and urged a shift of power from the wealthy (particularly corporations), strongly opposed military interventions (especially Vietnam), greater zones of privacy and opportunities for creative and spiritual energies. In this book, Kevin Schultz, does a meticulous job of researching, not only the published opinions and ideology of the two, but also their private lives- we learn that the two deeply respected each other and remained friends for years. In the private arena, Buckley was a wealthy snob (if not racist), who took great pleasure in traveling, throwing both elaborate parties and shindigs, all the time, showcasing his decadent surroundings, including his infamous yacht. Mailer’s penchant for booze, partying, and truculent (if not misogynistic) connections with women are all covered here. Both of these men were the product of their times, the postwar era, a period during which both men felt that the populace was too complacent and conforming- they needed to be schooled into action by Buckley and Mailer, albeit it in opposite directions. The Vietnam war, and the 60’s brought on a great derisiveness in the country, and the two had much fodder to debate from opposing ends- they became celebrities. At the end of the day, Buckley’s message became a lasting philosophy among conservatives. Mailer’s messages became submersed by the vocal presence of multiple activists during the 60’s, and his decision to extricate himself from the front lines of the activist movement. The book is well researched and written and I can recommend it.

6 people found this helpful

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EarlyBird

Fascinating Look at the Seeds of "the Sixties"

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2020

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This is a very engaging and entertaining book, one critical to truly understanding "the Sixties." We tend to conjure up acid, protests and hippies when we hear the term. But the seeds of the counter-culture were being sown well before that, by men in hats and ties and women in skirts and bouffants. The ideas which Buckley and Mailer debated so civilly on "Firing Line" and in print are what made "the Sixties."

Both Buckley the celebrity conservative, and Mailer the celebrity liberal, represented the intellectual forces challenging tidy American self-assumptions. While wanting to reform the Establishment in very different ways, both men criticized it as too technocratic, too bureaucratic, anti-individual, overly-rational, full of hubris, flushed with post-WII certainty that any human problem (including a then-little communist flare-up in Southeast Asia) could be solved with enough patriotic government-industrial energy.

Buckley challenged this from a classically conservative perspective, Mailer from a progressive-liberal one, both with a humanistic and libertarian point of view. This was their bond, the root of their genuine affection and often brotherly, "difficult friendship."

Mailer became quickly disillusioned and at odds with the younger generation as "liberation" quickly turned into a form of nihilism. Much later, Buckley was to quietly regret the ways in which his conservatism had become misunderstood and corrupted in the post-Reagan years.

This book helps one understand why the world is the way it is now. Just an excellent read!

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015

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This is a marvelous piece of writing and a fascinating perspective on a remarkable period of the American experience as seen through the eyes of two of the most celebrated minds and writers of the last half of the 20th Century. I lived it all along with them and I must say this book is a tale well told. It is both entertaining and informative and never dull.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Muffin man

A wonderful account

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2015

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It's good to read an account of the relationship between these two giants of American wit but the book is far more than that, giving a convincing and useful background to their thinking, especially in the case of Buckley. This book is easy to read and so well written that I was delighted.

five years. nights

A fantastic read for all Buckley/Mailer fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

If you like Mailer and Buckley then you will thoroughly enjoy this fine book.

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