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Norman Podhoretz

Ex Friends: Falling Out with Allen Ginsberg, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Lillian Hellman, Hannah Arendt, and Norman Mailer Paperback – July 1, 2000

by Norman Podhoretz (Author)

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Allen Ginsberg, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Hanna Arendt, Norman Mailer, and Lillian Hellman -among the other things these writers and intellectuals all had in common is Norman Podhoretz. With them Podhoretz was part of "The Family," as the core group of New York intellectuals of the 50s and 60s came to be known. And in Ex-Friends, he has written the intellectual equivalent of a family history- a sparkling chronicle of affection and jealousy, generosity and betrayal, breakdowns and reconciliations, and ultimately of dysfunctions impossible to cure. Ex-Friends is filled with brilliant portraits of some of the cultural icons who defined our time. Yet anyone who has followed Norman Podhoretz's career as a writer and editor and above all one of the leading controversialists of our time will expect more than just another fond memoir of literary alliances and quarrels, brilliant talk and bruised egos. Indeed, while Ex-Friends has some of the elements of a personal diary, it is also a journal de combat describing the intellectual and social turbulence of the 60s and 70s and showing how the literary living room was transformed into a political battleground where the meaning of America was fought night by night. Against this backdrop, Podhoretz tells how he left The Family and undertook a trailblazing journey from radical to conservative, a journey that helped redefine America's intellectual landscape in the last quarter of the 20th century and caused his old friends to become ex-friends. If there is a nostalgia in Ex-Friends, it is not only for lost friendships but also for a time of wit, erudition, and passionate argumentation. Norman Podhoretz bodies forth a world when people still believed that what they thought and wrote and said could change the world.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Bold. Brilliant. Fascinating. -- Jeanne Kirkpatrick

Hits like a tumbler-full of vodka. It is breakth taking, bracing, shocking, perfectly clear, highly intoxicating. -- New York Post

From the Publisher

Norman Podhoretz is also the author of a new Simon and Schuster book, My Love Affair With America.

Publisher : Encounter Books; Reprint edition (July 1, 2000)
Language : English
Paperback : 233 pages
ISBN-10 : 1893554171
ISBN-13 : 978-1893554177
Item Weight : 14 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,643,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,515 in Friendship (Books)
- #9,801 in Author Biographies
- #55,735 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
31 ratings

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4 star		14%
3 star		11%
2 star		5%
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Saulius Simoliunas

LEFT OR RIGHT You will be rewarded

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2020

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You will be rewarded by learning how the New York School (podhoretz' Family) influenced our culture AND our politics in America pre 60's. Podhoretz knew them intimately but could still keep his head enough to see their important strengths and weaknesses, culturally and politically in relation to those historical imperatives! Not a small feat, considering the heat applied and consequences of that recent time to current events.
A wonderful "dish" about the greats too, which is no small treasure either. Thanks Norman!
Irene from Detroit

One person found this helpful

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J. B. Paley

A Delightful Read About Important People Living in an Important Time

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2019

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As someone about ten years younger than the author, I found it fascinating reading about him and his ex-friends, about whom I had heard so much while growing up. Being immersed in his world (Intellectual, Jewish, New York City) during my time reading this book was an enlightening and personally invaluable experience for me.

One person found this helpful

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Revision, again.

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2015

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Well, opinions & relationships do change. This is a record of re-evaluation & commentary from someone who has earned the credentials to comment.
Refreshing in its bluntness, this a tonic for those who seek to explain changes of heart & mind.Otherwise, judgmental and self serving. But worth the read--my third.

One person found this helpful

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Mario Biondini

Great personal memory

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2017

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Great overview of a fascinating are of intellectuals from the perspective of a member that moved to the right.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

AN INTELLECTUAL IN THE REAL WORLD

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2003

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Born in 1930, Norman Podhoretz was one of the youngest members of New York's legendary "The Family". This group of intellectuals was extremely influential in literature, art, philosophy, and politics.
Mr. Podhoretz has written several books which cover most of the fascinating occurrences and turns in his life. EX-FRIENDS deals with some of the famous people he broke with as his beliefs evolved while events in the 20th century turned old political labels and beliefs upside down.
Superb writing by the author makes what could have been a dry, self-serving book into a riveting, easy to follow page-turner. Not at all what one would expect from an "intellectual".

14 people found this helpful

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GCT MemphisTop Contributor: David Bowie

Unusual journey of an ex-Leftist intellectual in New York

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2004

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This highly readable book is going to be despised on the far left for exposing some of the key intellectual icons/godparents of the movement as insidious buffoons. A useful and brief companion book written years ago for some context would be Tom Wolfe's Radical Chic/Mau Mauing the Flakcatchers.

17 people found this helpful

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Dr. Wilson Triviño

The Death of Friendship

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2012

The old maxim goes "friends are the family we choose" but what are ex-friends? We all have them; people that once were intertwined with our lives and were privy to our inner thoughts.
In Ex-Friends: Falling out with Allen Ginsberg, Lionel and Diane Trillings, Lillian Hellman, Hannah Arendt, and Norman Mailer by Norman Podhoretz, the author who was a writer and literary critique takes a look back and reviews past friends.
Being a literary intellectual, Podhoretz knew of great writers and thinkers of his day, so most of these ex-friends are well known.
What makes this book interesting is that Podhoretz has no qualms or regrets of losing contact with these folks. He just takes it as part of life and most often his actions were the cause of the ending of the relationship. He admits to be less gregarious and tolerating as in his youth but his descriptions of the idiosyncrasies of those who used to be "close" are fascinating.
For instance his turbulent relationship with the famed writer Norman Mailer. Mailer was obsessed with sex and to some extent was a fraud until he grew into his literary skin. Podhoretz tells of the night that Mailer stabbed his wife Adel and came close to killing her. Podhoretz refused to partake in covering it up even though Mailer was afraid of being institutionalized.
Podhoretz also speaks to his relationship with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, where he was direct and honest with her. This crass approach endured the former first lady to him.
Over all, this book is a good read and shows you that sometimes you don't have to make up. You simply let go and you are free to say "they used to be my friend".

4 people found this helpful

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Bernard Chapin

Compelling Vignettes and Biography of "The Family."

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2010

Norman Podhoretz is a wonderful writer along with being one of the foremost intellectuals of our time. Here he describes his relationships with intellectuals equally famous (or more famous) as he such as Allen Ginsberg, Lionel Trilling, Lillian Hellman, Hannah Arendt, and Norman Mailer. There's enough on each one of them to give those of us largely unfamiliar with them insight on the personage's life and times. Podhoretz walked among them and was considered a peer. Together the group was known as "the family" in New York circles. Unfortunately for his friendships, Podhoretz changed with the times and became more conservative. Needless to say this change was resented and led to his being abandoned after the fact by many of his former friends. Of course, some of the problems he had with these individuals was a product of ego clash. This was particularly true with Mailer who appears to have been a most treacherous man to deal with. Overall, Podhoretz speaks of his ex-friends with clear cut affection and shares with readers a glimpse of an era long forgotten. A sterling read.

5 people found this helpful

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F.J. C.S.

Un verdadero maestro

Reviewed in Spain on April 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

Una maravilla. Dice exactamente cómo son los proges, mucho vocabulario barato, pero nada de sustancia. Todo lo contrario que Podhoretz. Él sí que es un verdadero intelectual. Las descripciones de Ginsberg y Mailer son de antología. ¿Qué queda de la obra de todos estos progres? Nada. Su obra estaba vacía, no había contenido ni en los poemas ni en las novelas ni en las obras de teatro. Magnífico cómo desenmarscara el antiamericanismo de todos ellos.
¡Qué pena que en Europa no tengamos gente así!

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