The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer

The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer
Author Norman Mailer
Country United States of America
Language English
Published 1967
Publisher Dell Pub. Co; First Dell Printing edition
Pages 285
ISBN 978-0523480091
OCLC 961934

The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer is a 1967 anthology of nineteen previously published stories with an original introduction by the author.[1] All the stories appeared previously in one or another of Mailer's miscellanies, with thirteen of the stories appearing in periodicals or other collections prior to being reprinted in one of the miscellanies.[2]

Mailer describes his purpose in writing through a "renaissance man" metaphor in contrast to a "jeweler" metaphor. Mailer describes himself as a Renaissance man, searching for new discoveries, yet not being specifically connected to a greater theme or specific character development. The "jeweler" as Mailer describes, is not who he is. The "jeweler" refines jewels, or short stories, and places emphasis on the story as important in developing an idea. Mailer contends that he is not a refiner, and does not think the stories are great, or even good. Mailer contends that his works of short fiction are simply short fiction, saying "It has been remarked that the short fiction of this author is neither splendid, unforgettable, nor distinguished, and I hasten hereby to join such consensus."[3]

Contents

Selection

The book is divided into eight parts.

The Disappearance of the Ego

The first section consists of two short stories, "The Killer: A Story", and "Truth and Being: Nothing and Time." Both stories were written by Mailer in December 1960.

In "The Killer: A Story", Mailer writes a fictitious first person account of a male prisoner's thought processes during his examination for parole. The name of the prisoner is not identified. Mailer goes in to extensive detail concerning the image of the interrogating officer. This description leads to a personal recount of a sexual event from the first person's past. The recapitulation of the sexual encounter is used as an example to examine the nature of clean-cut "policemen, detectives, correction officers, hacks, parole-board officials, [and how]... sex is the problem with them."[1] The prisoner contends that the actions of being well groomed and having nicely combed hair are a cover up for inner sexual desires. This recount is used to describe the overall character, morals, perspective, and thoughts of the prisoner.

In the final sequence of the story the prisoner details a look at his own habits in combing his hair. This habit is described by the prisoner as a coping mechanism. "When I comb my hair, it changes my mood.... No ups. Nor downs. Don't be friendly. Don't be sullen. Don't offer company. Don't keep too quiet. If you stay safe, in the middle, and are the same thing every day you get a good report. The reason I get parole: first time out, six years off a ten-year sentence is that I was a model prisoner which means just this: you are the same thing day. Authorities like you if you are dependable."[1]

The prisoner returns to his bunk and informs his bunk mate of "the good news." The prisoner then goes on to digress his own good comings by focusing on the negative aspects of his parole sentence which are no alcohol, close parole monitoring, paid parole, and a parole monitored job.

In "Truth and Being: Nothing and Time" Mailer writes a fictitious first person account of a revelation of having cancer. The name of the character speaking is not identified. This short story is an extended metaphor that the speaker contends is "a hint of my style and the character of my mind."[1] A good cells and bad cells long metaphorical chain of descriptions then leads to an extensive measure of the many interpretations and metaphors associated with an anus, and excretions. History, culture, and chance are compared and contrasted in another metaphorical evaluation of the essence of the terms in reference to previously documented associations.

Themes in The Disappearance of the Ego

Themes represented in the Disappearance of the Ego are sex, prison, morality, conformity, cancer, history, culture, and chance.

The Air of the Dying

Part 2 consists of 2 short stories: '"A Calculus at Heaven'" and "Advertisements for Myself on the Way Out".

In "A Calculus at Heaven", Mailer writes a short novel in third-person narrative, while young and attending Harvard University, about what war might be like. This short novel is set in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where five American soldiers who are heavily outnumbered by the enemy have direct and strict orders to uphold complete control of the nearby coastal road at all cost. Though Mailer wrote A Calculus at Heaven in 1942, it was not yet published until March 1944 when he was inducted into the Army.

"Advertisements for Myself on the Way Out" was originally published in 1959 as an inventive collection of stories, essays, meditations, and interviews. This shows Mailer at his best, being brilliant, provocative, and outrageous. Emerging and rising to the height of "hip," Advertisements is a chronicle of a crucial era in the formation of modern American culture and an important contribution to the great autobiographical tradition in American letters.

Poor Kids

Part Three consists of two short stories, "The Greatest Thing in the World" and "Maybe Next Year".

In "The Greatest Thing in the World" Mailer writes the short story in the third person narrative. The story is about a young man who is a homeless hitchhiker longing for money and all of the opportunities that come with it. The story begins with the main character, Al Groot, barely an adult, bargaining for coffee and a doughnut with the counterman. He reminisces to when he had more money than what is almost gone from his pocket. He then hitches a ride with three strangers, whom he lies to and says he has much more money than he is worth. After playing a risky gambling game of pool, Groot angers the other men when he insists on quitting the game when he is up big. The men beat him up, threaten him, and drive off with him in the car. He escapes by jumping out of the car. The story sprinkles many reminiscing moments of when Groot had some money and many future dreams he has with the money he has won.

In "Maybe Next Year" Mailer writes in the first person narrative. He is the voice and thoughts of a young boy whose parents constantly fight. Throughout the story there is dialogue of the fights between his mom and dad. Not only are these insults exchanged between the two adults, but most of the dialogue includes insults and blame on the young boy. The boys escape is to cry and run away when his parents fight. One day he runs into an injured man in the woods, whom he had heard countless insults about these men from his mother. Instead of helping the pleading man, the boy instead insults him and throws rocks at the wood man. He then runs home to tell his parents. The boy receives the first glimpse of satisfaction in this story at the end because he has seen two grown men cry in one day, and that makes him feel as if he is growing up.

Sobrieties,lmpieties

Part Four consists of five short stories, "The Paper House", "The Notebook", "The Language of Men", "The Patron Saint of MacDougal Alley", And "The Dead Gook".

"The Paper House" was set in 1951 Japan. Hayes and Nicholson are American Army men stationed there for the war. Mailer writes the story from Nicholson's point of view seeing his acquaintance's distaste for women. When Hayes was first deployed, his wife ended up moving in with another man making their marriage end in divorce. He tells Nicholson of how awful women are and to not trust them. Almost every night after their shifts as cooks, they would both drink, and go to the geisha house nearby. They went enough times that they each had their own girls that would come when they were told of their presence. Yuriko belonged to Hayes, and although Nicholson wanted her as well, he had her best friend Mimiko. Although Hayes would lay with her at night and said that he loved Yuriko to her face, he would always tell Nicholson that he didn't trust her and that she was only a whore. After Hayes got drunk one night, he told Yuriko that he would not marry her, he didn't love her, and he'd be going back home in a month. She kept pestering him, and he responded by picking her up and throwing her by her hair on the ground. Once everything calmed down, he went back to the geisha house and presented her with a new kimono to make up for what he did. She accepted his gift, but lets him know that in two weeks she will commit a hari-kari because she is no longer worthy. Hayes becomes angry and tells her to not speak of it that she couldn't do it, which made Nicholson worry and Mimiko cry. On the last night Yuriko says that he needed to say goodbye now or come before two the next day because that's when she was doing it. He didn't believe her, but worried all day until he could find a way to get to her. About forty-five minutes to two, he and Nicholson run down to the geisha house where she is dressed in white and all the other girls are around her. He tells her that she has to leave with him that she is not allowed to kill herself, and Mimiko starts to laugh. As they leave all the girls in the house follow and all start to laugh behind them. The boys visit the geisha house one more time before heading home but are not allowed to sleep with Yuriko or Mimiko.

This story is full of themes that show us not to look too closely for meaning. The girls have to look to their inner beauty to get past what they are. Hayes must push through his past to not let it effect his future. Nicholson must not sit back and let Hayes be broken. None of the characters are what they seem from the outside. The kimono symbolizes the renewal of what Yuriko could be, if she had had help from Hayes instead of him ripping away the little she had left.

"The Notebook" also set in 1951, does not reveal any character names but describes a writer and an angry girlfriend. The short story shows the writer's inner monologue for how he comes up with story ideas. When he thinks of something, he has to stop everything and put the idea in his little notebook. Also, instead of having feelings, he expresses everything in his writing instead of talking about it. This process has made his girlfriend very unhappy in their relationship. She exclaims that he doesn't actually love her and just knows the right things to say. Just as he is about to tell her how he really feels, he has to write down an idea in his notebook and she runs away crying. He yells after her but she is already gone. He has to wonder whether this might've been his intention and wanted to get rid of her. Once he realizes that he does actually love her and his intention was not to get rid of her, he runs after her.

This story is simple but shows a good example of what can happen if a person stays in their own head. Writers sometimes get lost in thought and lose connection to the outside world. The notebook that he uses is used as a symbol for his body trying to keep this enclosed in the pages rather than letting it out and expressing it.

In "The Language of Men", Mailer tells the story of Army Cook Sanford Carter and his time in the US Army in Japan. Mailer begins the story detailing Carter's distaste for army cooks and how he came to become one in the first place. Having had issues as a Clerk, A surveyor for Artillery, A telephone wireman and as a rifleman in the infantry, he finally decided to become a cook and finds that it has been the only thing he is good at, getting promoted to Sergeant pretty suddenly and soon finding himself the mess sergeant for a group of Japanese K.P. in a detachment near a seaport. He treats his K.P with dignity by working with them and visiting them, he provides above average food to the men in the detachment, serving well cooked chicken, eggs cooked for each individual soldier, as well as cake and pie. He soon finds that they don't appreciate the effort he puts in as much as he wishes. Eventually, he decides to confront them and a scuffle nearly breaks out between him and the men. He refuses to give oil for a fish fry to a soldier that mocks him constantly, Corporal Taylor and he soon finds himself confronted in the kitchen by the men in the detachment including Taylor. They accuse him of stealing and selling food on the black market. Soon he nearly fights a soldier, Hobbs, lunging at him but he is soon stopped by another soldier. He tells them that he will no longer go out of his way to cook all this food for them if they are ungrateful. Soon enough, after a few weeks of serving lower quality food, the men soon beg him to return to his old ways and he does. The men give him a few compliments and are happy to have the good food return but he soon realizes that the issues still remain as the story ends with him and Hobbs reaching an understanding as he tries to tell him he doesn't steal food to sell and he does not believe him.

In "The Patron Saint of MacDougal Alley", Norman Mailer describes a man's interactions with a man named Pierrot, who is the son of a friend of his, Jacques. Pierrot tries to feign intellectualism by asking him consistent questions about various philosophers and thinkers and when he asks a question in return, he forgets and moves to the next topic. After a little while, Jacques kicks him out, gives him two hundred dollars and forces him to live on his own. He travels between various homes of men he flirts with, friends and women he is in affairs with, such as one girl who is a Buddhist. At one point, he finds that he has acquired a condition and ponders the issue of telling his current mate. Eventually he is set to be drafted into the army, and the narrator recounts an idea in his head of how his personality and various issues will destroy the army. He states that he should send him to the Soviet Union, and the narrator plays a scenario out in his head where his faux-psychology eventually leads to peace between all nations. A statue is then erected in his honor. The story ends with people walking past this statue, spitting on it and stating, " He was a square."

In "The Dead Gook", Mailer details the story of a regiment stationed in the Philippines and the life of the soldiers there, including the various patrols they are forced to go on day in and day out.. A particular focus is on Private Brody and Sergeant Lucas. One normal day at the camp, they are approached by a group of Filipino men led by a man named Miguel. They tell them gunfire was heard nearby and they believe either a guerilla or American patrol may have gotten into a firefight. They follow them to the spot. Throughout the journey, we learn about private Brody. We learn about his letter he received from his girlfriend telling him she is to be married to another man. We learn of his journey to understanding if anyone will weep for him if he dies here. They soon reach the area and it turns out to be a dead resistance member, who fought the Japanese with a machine gun until he was finally killed. They take his body to the village to be buried. They thank the men and the Americans take the machine gun back with them. The story ends as it is weeks later and Brody and Lucas are drinking and talking with the other men at an event, we soon learn of Brody's personal journey as the story ends with him crying for the dead Guerilla as he realizes that he no longer needs to find someone to cry for him, as he has accepted his position.

A common thread among the military based stories in this section is the understanding of ones position and the final acceptance of where one is and how they must cope with it. Both Brody and Carter are confused by the position they are in and hate that they are not loved by others. Brody loses his girlfriend and feels as if no one will care for his passing and Carter can not achieve the respect of his men he serves for. Both of them eventually reach an understanding though as Brody cries at the end for others rather than himself and Carter realizes that the others will always have a similar contempt for his position that he had when he was the same rank.

Dark to Dawn, Dawn to Dark

Part 5 consist of two short stories, "Great in the Hay" and "The Last Night: A Story." Both of these narratives are written in the third person and both end in death. The themes of these two short stories seem to be death, darkness, power, time, and humans causing their own downfall.

"Great in the Hay" was written by Mailer in 1950 when he was a young Hollywood writer. The short story has been used as an "actors bit" in parties throughout the years.

In "Great in the Hay" Mailer writes a short story about two men who live similar lives with only one big difference. The story begins by introducing the characters, Al and Bert. Mailer then describes how similar the two characters are. Both married, similar in appearance, with the same job as film producers. They could have been considered twins if not for one difference. Al had a reputation of being great in the hay and Bert was known only for his love of money. Bert did everything in his power to find out why people, despite their similarities, were much more fond of Al. After his research, he found that people thought of Al as a great lover. Al ends up killing himself due to depression. Bert remains confused as to why Al was greater in the hay than he. Bert claims that "all women are the same in the dark. I ought to know." Mailer ends by stating that the moral of the story is, "People who live in the dark live the longest of all."

"The Last Night: A Story" was written by Mailer in 1962. It is a prediction by Mailer that there will be a movie released about the humans polluting the earth to the point of destruction.

In "The Last Night: A Story" Mailer describes a movie that he believes will take place in the future. The story shows us a world of destruction. Humans have polluted the world to the point of an expiration date. Eventually, the illness that is spreading will take over, leaving no survivors. This leaves humans with only one option, to evacuate the earth and find another planet to live on. The illness would take over within a short amount of time, making the time period to come up with a plan to evacuate limited. Only a select few that were still healthy would be chosen to travel to Mars in rocket ships to create new life, leaving many behind. For the first time in history, the world was at peace. Those who were going to Mars had a mission and hope. Those who were staying behind had a sense of weightlessness that was guilt free. Mailer writes,"Man was never so close to finding his soul as he was when he was soon to lose it."

Despite their efforts, the plan did not work. Mars had the same illness, killing people off even faster than on earth. The disease had taken over the whole solar system. The premiers of the world, including the main character of the story, The President of the United States, decide to keep the failed attempted a secret until they could come up with a new plan. Anderson Steve, the Presidents most trusted technical advisor, came up with a plan to send humans to another galaxy. The plan once again did not work. With very little time left after the two failed attempts, the Russians formulated a final plan to evacuate.The only way to successfully leave the galaxy would be to blow a planet up. The force released by the planet would counteract the gravitational pull of the sun, helping the rocket ship avoided extensive heat and safely fly towards the stars. The only planet that would work according to the plan was earth. The President tells those who will be left behind that this must be done to ensure new life in the future. After the rocket takes off, the President presses the button that destroys the earth. The rocket ship then disappears into the darkness.

Mutants

Part seven consist of two short stories, "Ministers of Taste: A Story" and "Locust Cry."

Within the short story "Ministers of Taste: A Story," contains Norman Mailer writing two real letters sent to Robert B. Silvers. In the first letter of "Ministers of Taste: A Story" written February 22, 1965, Norman Mailer mentioned Robert B. Silvers wanted him to review three different biography books of Hubert Humphrey, Johnson (Jack), and George Patton. After Mailer mentioned what Silvers had him to do, Mailer felt the need to express the way he felt about the past. Norman felt he always took the time out to review Silvers request, which Mailer expressed how his interest level was low doing so. Norman felt that since he was doing the reviews, Silvers would return the favor and submit his two books "The Presidential Papers," and "An American Dream" into the New York Review of Books. However, that was not the case. This was just the beginning of the angry letter, because Mailer mentioned how Silvers's editorship was tedious, impoverished as spit, and etc...

On April 4, 1965 Norman Mailer wrote his second letter to Robert B. Silvers. In the second letter, Mailer was continuing to stand his ground and gave Silvers an ultimatum. Mailer told Silvers that if he does not publish his work into the review, then he is bound to take his work else where. Also, Mailer described how Silvers use to be. Mailer described Silvers's personality in the past as marvelous and complicated. Mailer expressed to Silver about how the world does not know this person. However, Mailer does in fact end his note calling Silvers his devoted friend. This is truly an interesting friendship.

The "Locust Cry" consisted of two short stories itself, "The Test" and "Upsetting the Bowl." In short story "The Test," Prince Adam Czartoryski was married for many years.However, he and his princess could not conceive a child. Therefore, Prince Adam Czartoryski traveled to the maggid of Koznitz and asked to be prayed for. Soon afterwards the prince and his princess were able to conceive a son. The prince told his brother about his blessing, but his brother took everything as a joke. The two then went traveling to the maggid of Koznitz, so that the brother could get prayer for his son. The son was really ill. Unfortunately, the maggid of Koznitz was joked upon, so they were told to leave by the maggid and the son died before they ever made it back home. The locust cry is defined as oncoming and a sense of stillness within the haiku introduced in the beginning. The other short story is call "Upsetting the Bowl." Rabbi Elimelekh raised and poured a bowl of soup among the table, as he and his disciples sat around the table. This action caused one of the disciples to get really upset. The Rabbi then told that disciple to not be afraid. The whole Jew country became edict. The consciousnesses of a man in this story is portrayed to be evil. He is portrayed as doing ungodly-like activities. Also, he is considered of going to Hell, because he smoked on some cigarettes. This man is considered to be an atheist, and he is a sociologists wearing a suit. He has many worries and has to do the same thing each day. If one thing goes wrong, then the rest of the day goes wrong. Then one day everything became clear and the man became more grateful and became a true believer of God. He started letting life take its core and became a very happier person in life. This story brings a great definition of the locust cry, a person dead to the world who begs of for better days.

Clues to Love

Part eight consists of two short stories, "The Time of Her Time" and "The Man Who Studied Yoga."

In "The Time of Her Time", Mailer writes about Sergius O'Shaugnessy and his life as an amateur bullfighter. It starts off by giving us a view of his home and the neighborhood in which he lives in. This story plays true to what a normal Manhattan neighborhood looks like and sounds like. The story then begins to talk about Sergius love or rather sex life. His sex is so good that word travels and every woman in the village want's a piece of him. He meets his match when he meets Denise and can't perform like he is accustomed to performing. When he is unable to cause Denise to have an orgasm, his manhood is questioned and he convinces her to have an affair with him. Denise is the women that comes into his life and sets him straight. She was unlike all the other women and wasn't falling into his trap. She tells him the morning after having sex that his life is a lie and he is denying his true identity of being a homosexual. Denise was the person he needed in his life, to put him back in touch with reality.

In "The Man Who Studied Yoga", Mailer writes about a comic magazine writer by the name of Sam Slovoda, who is the middle of a midlife crisis. He wants to write the best novel known to man but has trouble with organizing all of his thoughts. With him usually writing comedy, he is concerned with what he wants to say and how he wants to say it when it comes to fiction writing. He also does not love his wife and dreams of having affairs with other women. They both fell out of love with one another and their relationship is more like roommates than a married couple. He dreams of writing an essay that can live up to his heroic potential but finds it hard to do so. The story ends with sam not knowing how to go about writing his story and resenting being in a sexless relationship with his wife

Both of Mailers stories in this section deal with two men on the quest of finding love, and not being content with what they have. Sam basically wants to live the life of Sergius being a single man, and having multiple women, but Sergius longs for what sam has. These stories show how crazy the love game is for men and how easy it is to loose what right in front of you.

Reception and legacy

Norman Mailer was a two time Pulitzer Prize winner.[4] Other than his collection of short stories in The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer, Mailer also wrote fiction novels and plays. Among his non-fiction work includes general non-fiction, essay collections, biographies, and an anthology.

The Norman Mailer Society[5] was established as "a community of scholars and enthusiasts devoted to maintaining the legacy of American writer Norman Mailer."

The Mailer Review[6] is a Medium publication that "publishes articles, notes, creative works, interviews, cultural / biographical commentary, images, and book reviews relevant to the life and work of Norman Mailer."

Critical Views

In An American Dreamer: A Psychoanalytic Study of the Fiction of Norman Mailer,[7] author Andrew Gordon discusses the relationship between psychoanalysis and the fiction works of Norman Mailer. Gordon writes:

"Mailer's own relationship as a novelist to psychoanalysis over the years has been much like his relationship to his audience: a combative affair mixed with equal parts of love and hate. Mailer has used psychoanalysis in a very conscious and sophisticated way in his fiction, and at the same time he has carried on a crusade, both in his essays and his fiction, against the power of psychoanalysis in popular culture."

Adaptations

Mailer's World War II novel, The Naked and the Dead, was adapted by Director Raoul Walsh into a 1958 film of the same name. Made by RKO Studios just before its demise, this turned out to be Walsh's last directorial work for that studio.

Mailer's novel An American Dream was adapted by director Robert Gist into a 1966 film of the same name, starring Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Song, "A Time for Love,".

Mailer's Story "The Time of Her Time" was adapted by director Francis Delia into a 2006 film of the same name, Starring Linden Ashby and Leslie Bega.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mailer, of Norman (1981). The Short Fiction (First Printing. ed.). New York: A Tom Doherty Associates Book/Pinnacle Books. ISBN 978-0523480091.
  2. ↑ Lennon, J. Michael. "67.11" Norman Mailer: Works & Days.
  3. ↑ Sevenoaks, Kent (August 1982). 67.11 The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer. New York:Dell: New English Library. p. 285. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Search: Norman Mailer". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  5. ↑ "The Norman Mailer Society". normanmailersociety.org. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  6. ↑ "The Mailer Review". The Mailer Review. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  7. ↑ Gordon, Andrew (1980-01-01). An American Dreamer: A Psychoanalytic Study of the Fiction of Norman Mailer. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN 9780838621585.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.