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Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays Hardcover – Deckle Edge, October 15, 2013

by Norman Mailer (Author), Phillip Sipiora (Editor), Jonathan Lethem (Introduction)

7 customer reviews

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NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Norman Mailer was one of the towering figures of twentieth-century American letters and an acknowledged master of the essay. Mind of an Outlaw, the first posthumous publication from this outsize literary icon, collects Mailer’s most important and representative work in the form that many rank as his most electrifying.

As America’s foremost public intellectual, Norman Mailer was a ubiquitous presence in our national life—on the airwaves and in print—for more than sixty years. With his supple mind and pugnacious persona, he engaged society more than any other writer of his generation. The trademark Mailer swagger is much in evidence in these pages as he holds forth on culture, ideology, politics, sex, gender, and celebrity, among other topics. Here is Mailer on boxing, Mailer on Hemingway, Mailer on Marilyn Monroe, and, of course, Mailer on Mailer—the one subject that served as the beating heart of all of his nonfiction.

From his early essay “A Credo for the Living,” published in 1948, when the author was twenty-five, to his final writings in the year before his death, Mailer wrestled with the big themes of his times. He was one of the most astute cultural commentators of the postwar era, a swashbuckling intellectual provocateur who never pulled a punch and was rarely anything less than interesting. Mind of an Outlaw spans the full arc of Mailer’s evolution as a writer, including such essential pieces as his acclaimed 1957 meditation on hipsters, “The White Negro”; multiple selections from his seminal collection Advertisements for Myself; and a never-before-published essay on Sigmund Freud.

Incendiary, erudite, and unrepentantly outrageous, Norman Mailer was a dominating force on the battlefield of ideas. Featuring an incisive Introduction by Jonathan Lethem, Mind of an Outlaw forms a fascinating portrait of Mailer’s intellectual development across the span of his career as well as the preoccupations of a nation in the last half of the American century.

Praise for Mind of an Outlaw

“[Mailer’s] best and brightest.”—Esquire

“The fifty essays collected in this retrospective volume span sixty-four years and show [Norman] Mailer (1923–2007) at his brawny, pugnacious, and egotistical best. . . . This provocative collection brims with insights and reflections that show why Mailer is regarded as a great literary mind of his generation.”—Publishers Weekly

“The selections open a window onto the capacious mind and process of one of the most volatile intellects of the twentieth century.”—Library Journal

“Vintage Mailer: brilliant, infuriating, witty and never, ever boring.”—Tampa Bay Times

“As good an introduction to Mailer’s habits of mind as there’s ever been.”—Kirkus Reviews

“There’s no arguing about Mailer the essayist—he was outstanding. . . . These insightful essays educate, argue and persuade on everything from politics and literature to film, philosophy and the human condition.”—Shelf Awareness

Editorial Reviews

From Bookforum

There are about a dozen major essays among the many 'more obscure gems' chosen by Sipiora. Not to knock the 'gems'--most of which, like a pair of 1956 Village Voice columns endorsing Hemingway for president, are very charming-- but a selection that stuck to the major pieces might have served Mailer better. —Christian Lorentzen

Review

Praise for Mind of an Outlaw

“[Mailer’s] best and brightest.”—Esquire

“The fifty essays collected in this retrospective volume span sixty-four years and show [Norman] Mailer (1923–2007) at his brawny, pugnacious, and egotistical best. . . . This provocative collection brims with insights and reflections that show why Mailer is regarded as a great literary mind of his generation.”—Publishers Weekly

“The selections open a window onto the capacious mind and process of one of the most volatile intellects of the twentieth century.”—Library Journal

“Vintage Mailer: brilliant, infuriating, witty and never, ever boring.”—Tampa Bay Times

“As good an introduction to Mailer’s habits of mind as there’s ever been.”—Kirkus Reviews

“There’s no arguing about Mailer the essayist—he was outstanding. . . . These insightful essays educate, argue and persuade on everything from politics and literature to film, philosophy and the human condition.”—Shelf Awareness

Praise for Norman Mailer

“[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.”—The New York Times

“A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.”—The New Yorker

“Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure.”—The Washington Post

“A devastatingly alive and original creative mind.”—Life

“Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.”—The New York Review of Books

“The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.”—Chicago Tribune

“Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.”—The Cincinnati Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 656 pages
Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (October 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812993470
ISBN-13: 978-0812993479
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.7 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 7 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,372,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1938 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Books & Reading > General
- #2673 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Anthologies
- #5942 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Essays & Correspondence > Essays

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Excellent Collection of Essays From Major Writer

October 28, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Norman Mailer ranks as one of the leading American literary figures in the later half of the twentieth century and “Mind of an Outlaw” collects some of his best essays. While Mailer always insisted he was primarily a novelist, his work with the New Journalism and his various attempts at non-fiction are perhaps a more lasting legacy.

Mailer’s wide range of interests is in display in this excellent work including politics, literature, race and American life. Some of these essays are pivotal such as “The White Negro” on urban life and race in the 1950s “Superman Comes to the Supermarket” as Mailer covered the Democratic convention which nominated JFK in 1960. Mailer also shines in some excellent looks at “Huck Finn” and “American Psycho.” There are also some hidden gems including Mailer’s musings on putting Hemingway in the White House, his straightforward account of his patronage of murderer Jack Abbot and a look at Marilyn Monroe.

As with any collection, there are some problems. Mailer’s writings on George W. Bush and Iraq are repetitive and his take on the 1996 presidential election is colorful but seems a little off. Still, this is a book which should reinforce Mailer’s reputation as one of the great American literary figures of recent decades. Jonathan Lethem's solid introduction serves as icing on the cake.

One major caveat. Much of what’s included here has been published in recent years including in Mailer’s collections “The Time of Our Time” and “The Spooky Art.” In many ways, “Mind of an Outlaw” works better as an introduction to Mailer than for readers who are familiar with his work.

17 people found this helpful

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robert lewis mitchell

mailer- a thinking mans reporter

March 26, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

covering high points of mailers essay material from the 1950s to his death- the political arena of the 1960s is the stuff of legend- this kind of political reporting and in depth personality profile will never be topped- the man covered the times like no one else- perhaps only gore vidal or bill buckley would even come close- agree with mailer or not , the man had the most provocative views on sex, politics, drugs- the whole social arena of his times- as a non fiction writer he wrote with courage and conviction. a real heavyweight!

5 people found this helpful

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Teaches You How to Think Essay.

November 6, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Indispensable from of the modern essay.

Comment

June 24, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Mailer is still relevant today and would be having a field day with Trump if he were still alive.

Comment

William Chickering

Both egotistical and sublime.

February 23, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Have always been a Norman Mailer fan. In this collection he once again wades into the thick of things I
can tolerate the sometimes overbearing ego because his insights are usually dead on. This book was no exception.
Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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Fred FlickTop Contributor: Blues Music

Outlaw in His Own Mind

June 18, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I think Norman was a literary nerd who enjoyed pissing off other literary nerds. That is not unusual. Achievement and promotion in liberal arts academia, including English departments, is best understood as mock-Spencerian dogfights among the less distinguished breeds. Outside liberal arts academia there is what genteelistas still call the literati, a gaggle of unaccomplished men and the pugnacious, unlovely women who dominate them. Such folks assert themselves on the printed page, writing essays and short stories for obscure journals, and novels for local academic gadflies to review, incoherently but with bottomless hostility, in Sunday supplements. The lit game, on- and off-campus versions, is plainly a ludicrous way to spend one's time, and thinking of it as a profession is downright laughter-inducing. But what is one to do otherwise with these folks? God forbid that they should be forced to earn an honest living by driving semis on crowded interstates, or refilling propane tanks. People could get hurt. But all that said, I have to give Norman some credit: when it came to getting under people's skins, this two-fisted man of letters had few equals. If you are old enough to have ever cared about any of the fellow novelists Norman nerd-slaps (Updike, Styron, Bellow, Heller, etc), or to remember any of the toweringly intellectual skin flicks over which he rationalizes his salivations and trouser-gropings (Last Tango in Paris), you may find his eggings-on entertaining, as I did. Every once in a while, his hectorings are even shrewd, as with the dated but still fascinating "The White Negro." Of course, all the excusifying for his troubles getting his bad novels published gets a little old, but what the hell, not even James Patterson hits the bullseye all the time! The bell tolls for thee, boomers: this is the wife-stabbing, convict-grokking junkyard-dog-of-the-salon, idolized by the tenured oafs of the sixties, and by their students, who received the wisdom of their classroom gurus as if their little minds were shiny new American Standards.

One person found this helpful

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Not always perfect, at times arrogant and combative

September 22, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition

This is the definitive collection of essays by Mailer that spans his fifty year plus writing career. Not always perfect, at times arrogant and combative, but always brutally honest and always challenging, interesting, and brilliant.

One person found this helpful

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