Norman Mailer: A Double Life Hardcover – October 15, 2013

Lennon's biography of Norman Mailer doubles as an invaluable scholarly resource and a highly entertaining narrative. Upon its release, it became a cornerstone of Mailer scholarship and the definitive biography of one of the most formidable literary lions of the twentieth century.

However, this book isn't just for academics. Lennon turns the development of Mailer's notoriously controversial character into an intriguing tale. This is the story of Mailer's life and literary evolution---and of his context at the center of the maelstrom that was Cold War America and its cultural revolution of the fifties and sixties.

Mailer's breakout novel, The Naked and the Dead, was a reflection of his own experiences on the battlefield during WWII, and it launched him into literary stardom at the age of twenty-five. From that vantage point, through his journalism as well as his fiction, he reported the crucial sociopolitical events of the second half of the twentieth century. Mailer documented the major happenings of his era, including the counterculture of Greenwich Village, JFK's campaign and election, the moonshot, and the Rumble in the Jungle.

His account of the 1967 March on the Pentagon, published as The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, the Novel as History, won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction and the National Book Award for Arts and Fiction in 1969. By then, Mailer had mastered the style of the New Journalism---reportage of factual events through the devices of fiction. He achieved this by simultaneously playing the role of narrator and protagonist of his own works. In so doing, he cast himself as a major figure within the heady times his writing embodied, and this conceit wasn't far from the truth. The popularity of Mailer's work and his prominence in the mass media made him one of the most influential thinkers of his time. His was a voice that was listened to intently---and argued with vehemently---by his literary peers and the general reading public.

In A Double Life, Lennon has cast Mailer in a central role once again, now with the benefit of a hindsight informed by Mailer's transition into the new millennium and the enormous body of writing he continued to produce. His final novel, The Castle in the Forest, was published in 2007, the year of his passing. It was intended as the first in a triptych of novels that would serve as a portrait of the totality of Hitler's life, and Mailer continued to research the project even on his deathbed.

Mailer's final work of non-fiction, On God: An Uncommon Conversation, was coauthored by Lennon as a series of interviews conducted throughout Mailer's last summer. In addition to these discussions, Lennon's biography is informed by decades of collaboration with Mailer. He is the editor of Mailer's The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing, along with several collections of critical essays on the author's work. As Mailer's archivist, he has compiled and documented an enormous body of papers and letters, now an invaluable resource accessible through the University of Austin's Harry Ransom Center.

A longtime professor of English, Lennon's knowledge of literature, history, pop culture, and religion has brought forth the most holistic and informed Mailer biography (Lennon's is the fifth, and now the foremost).

Above all, Lennon is a consummate storyteller, and from his meticulous research and documentation, he has woven an epic worthy of Mailer's stature.

As Mailer himself wrote in his preface to Lennon's 2000 bibliography, Norman Mailer: Works and Days:

"And should I end by occupying no larger place than a footnote in literary history, it will not be the fault of Michael Lennon. Those historic tides that carry a few authors' boats to the golden islands of posthumous investiture will have felt his hand on the tiller."

There is no doubt that Lennon's biography has earned a significant investiture of its own.

The New York Time Book Review call Norman Mailer a “giant” and this biography “glorious”. It’s hard to disagree on either count. Mailer’s writing swept across the middle and end of the twentieth century like a firestorm. Unfortunately, so did he. With six wives, countless lovers and a propensity to stir up trouble, Mailer the man could upstage his literary impact and alienate people more effectively than any bad review.

As "Norman Mailer: A Double Life" shows, the man could not help himself. If someone missed the books because of the brawls and the TV stunts, the hell with ‘em. Even when it cost him dearly, as with his pointless rifts with James Jones and William Styron, he was unyielding – a caricature of The Guy.

Yet did any writer ever strive so hard at the craft, developing and redeveloping a voice, honing every aspect of a piece to fit the story and the character? Tangled as a Mailer plot may be, his characters shine with vivacity, spite, rage and need.
Nor did he simply slide along with what was comfortable. He took risks Even in his seventies and eighties, rather than re-write the World War II novels of his youth, he branched into intellectual fantasy in The Castle In the Forest. He wrote essays on God. Why not? He was ready to try any genre.

Lennon’s book does justice to the giant talent and monumental self-destructiveness of Norman Mailer, in a plain spoken, well-modulated fashion. It is entertaining without glossing over the rough spots or unduly highlighting the accomplishments. At some point, when the work of Mailer is considered without the distraction of the man’s hijinks, this book will remind future readers of both sides of the double life.

Mike Lennon has hit a home run with his authorized biography of Norman Mailer. While Lennon was close to Mailer and even appears in passing, this biography pulls no punches on his strengths, flaws, hits and misses. Lennon is a vivid writer and he shines a light on Mailer’s tumultuous public life including his writing, bid for mayor of New York, six marriages including the one he stabbed, various articles, role as a father, unending string of affairs and his attempts to make movies. Lennon also offers insights into Mailer’s creative process, including the novels he eventually abandoned (including the sequel to “Harlot’s Ghost”). Lennon also offers quick takes on Mailer’s various books, offering overviews and critical reception. While much of Mailer’s later works are generally ignored, Lennon rightfully breaths some life into “Harlot’s Ghost” and puts it alongside the likes of “Naked and the Dead,” “Executioner’s Song” and “Armies of the Night” as one of his major works. Lennon also sheds some light on Mailer’s various problems with publishers, including admittedly minor works like his biography of Picasso and “Tough Guys Don’t Dance.” Despite his closeness with Mailer, Lennon is able to view his subject with a clear and impartial eye. This is one of the best biographies I’ve come across in recent years. Highly recommended.