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Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays
The definitive Norman Mailer collection, as he writes on Marilyn Monroe, culture, ideology, boxing, Hemingway, politics, sex, celebrity and - of course - Norman Mailer
From his early '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 wonderful Advertisements for Myself; and a never-before-published essay on Freud. The book is introduced by Jonathan Lethem.
From his early '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 wonderful Advertisements for Myself; and a never-before-published essay on Freud. The book is introduced by Jonathan Lethem.
624 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
41 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
Norman Mailer
340 books1,416 followersNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.
Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, but which covers the essay to the nonfiction novel. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award once. In 1955, Mailer, together with Ed Fancher and Dan Wolf, first published The Village Voice, which began as an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper initially distributed in Greenwich Village. In 2005, he won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation.
Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, but which covers the essay to the nonfiction novel. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award once. In 1955, Mailer, together with Ed Fancher and Dan Wolf, first published The Village Voice, which began as an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper initially distributed in Greenwich Village. In 2005, he won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 9, 2013
Please note: This is a review for an uncorrected proof received through Goodreads.
I finished this collection a few days ago but found myself struggling to write a review and ended up lazily putting it off until I realized the problem. It’s almost impossible to try and define Mailer as a writer let alone summarize 600 pages of essays on everything from writing and politics to “Marilyn Monroe’s Sexiest Tapes and Discs”. Where to begin?
Mailer is a man of contradictions and inconsistencies which defies definition. In Jonathan Lethem’s introduction he quotes a fellow writer, Darin Strauss, explaining, “Other writers are inconsistent book to book, but Mailer’s inconsistent within books, sometimes even within paragraphs. . .” and this is certainly true essay to essay. In the first essay, he describes himself as an “ignorant Marxist” and a bit of a communist sympathizer but then (fortunately) realizes his naiveté and writes of the arrogance of Stalinism four essays later. He can admit a change of heart such as in “The Homosexual Villain” yet can also stubbornly refuse to recant an off-hand remark and write, “Until Dead: Thoughts on Capital Punishment” as a defense.
Overall, even if you disagree with him on his politics and opinions, Mailer thoroughly explores his subjects in a way that even the most controversial essays and thought experiments demand you to evaluate your own opinions even if you think he’s dead wrong.
I finished this collection a few days ago but found myself struggling to write a review and ended up lazily putting it off until I realized the problem. It’s almost impossible to try and define Mailer as a writer let alone summarize 600 pages of essays on everything from writing and politics to “Marilyn Monroe’s Sexiest Tapes and Discs”. Where to begin?
Mailer is a man of contradictions and inconsistencies which defies definition. In Jonathan Lethem’s introduction he quotes a fellow writer, Darin Strauss, explaining, “Other writers are inconsistent book to book, but Mailer’s inconsistent within books, sometimes even within paragraphs. . .” and this is certainly true essay to essay. In the first essay, he describes himself as an “ignorant Marxist” and a bit of a communist sympathizer but then (fortunately) realizes his naiveté and writes of the arrogance of Stalinism four essays later. He can admit a change of heart such as in “The Homosexual Villain” yet can also stubbornly refuse to recant an off-hand remark and write, “Until Dead: Thoughts on Capital Punishment” as a defense.
Overall, even if you disagree with him on his politics and opinions, Mailer thoroughly explores his subjects in a way that even the most controversial essays and thought experiments demand you to evaluate your own opinions even if you think he’s dead wrong.
September 3, 2018
I am of the right age to know just enough of who he is writing about in his beginnings and near his end, so I was engaged throughout this book of essays. If you were born 15 years either side of 1960 this could feel alien to you. Mailer is a genius. Who could write the Naked and the Dead at 26 without the insight of an older human being? When I got to the end of this book I had to wonder what it was like to have been born so smart, for the one constant through the chronologically structured collection was how even was his intellect and the quality of his prose. Most of us develop, Mailer seems fully formed from his beginning. I then imagined, if I was correct, how frustrating that must have been, hoping on the one hand the world might catch up, but on the other enjoying the on-going celebrity of the intellectual. It's good to be King, but as a democrat he was always looking to develop a better social narrative. Mailer does a good job of managing his mind. There are outbreaks of ego, but how can reportage be anything but an ego. The essays here are the novelist as journalist, occurring in a moment in time when a growing group of free educated people read, reflected, and thought hard about the world. Right time, right place, right temperament. I would have liked to have been Norman Mailer. What a way to make a living.
October 9, 2013
I had previously only read one novel by Mailer and not one of his 'major' works. I knew, though, that quite a bit of his notoriety was based on his essays and other journalistic work. So, I looked forward to reading this.
I saw right away what Lethem meant when he said in the introduction that the best character that Mailer invented was himself. He was acerbic and combative and just seemed to be looking for a fight. But, not because he wanted to be mean. More so that the target of his ire will rise to the occasion.
His essays cover areas such as literature, the act of writing, politics and celebrity. I think his essays on literature and writing were the best for me. He obviously was passionate about his field and saved the deadliest of venom and the highest praise for these topics.
He seemed to be obsessed with good to great writers creating 'major' works. Mostly, in his opinion, they fall short due to lack of courage. Again, it doesn't seem to be coming from a mean place. He's rooting for them to succeed, but doubts they will. He has no shortage of pride about his own talent, but doesn't completely spare himself from his own critiques and those times he turns his insight inward are some of the best moments of his essays.
His dismissal of women writers in several of his essays seems a little strange to me. He didn't think any women writer up to that point had written a 'major' novel. It's not as if he really disliked women. He just seemed to imply they lacked something needed to make a great novelist, some perspective or hardship in life they miss that men do have. Again, bizarre, because there are plenty of novels written by women that became turning points of their time.
I'll admit that his work, sometimes, went over my head. He was an intellectual and quite proud of it. But, he was also an interesting man with interesting insights into why people are the way they are. I appreciated that and I enjoyed reading these essays.
I saw right away what Lethem meant when he said in the introduction that the best character that Mailer invented was himself. He was acerbic and combative and just seemed to be looking for a fight. But, not because he wanted to be mean. More so that the target of his ire will rise to the occasion.
His essays cover areas such as literature, the act of writing, politics and celebrity. I think his essays on literature and writing were the best for me. He obviously was passionate about his field and saved the deadliest of venom and the highest praise for these topics.
He seemed to be obsessed with good to great writers creating 'major' works. Mostly, in his opinion, they fall short due to lack of courage. Again, it doesn't seem to be coming from a mean place. He's rooting for them to succeed, but doubts they will. He has no shortage of pride about his own talent, but doesn't completely spare himself from his own critiques and those times he turns his insight inward are some of the best moments of his essays.
His dismissal of women writers in several of his essays seems a little strange to me. He didn't think any women writer up to that point had written a 'major' novel. It's not as if he really disliked women. He just seemed to imply they lacked something needed to make a great novelist, some perspective or hardship in life they miss that men do have. Again, bizarre, because there are plenty of novels written by women that became turning points of their time.
I'll admit that his work, sometimes, went over my head. He was an intellectual and quite proud of it. But, he was also an interesting man with interesting insights into why people are the way they are. I appreciated that and I enjoyed reading these essays.
November 5, 2014
This retrospective collection of essays spanning more than sixty years is, unavoidably, uneven. Unavoidably partly because that's the nature of retrospective collections, but mostly because that's the nature of Norman Mailer. In his introduction, quoting the novelist Darin Strauss, Jonathan Lethem writes, "Other writers are inconsistent book to book, but Mailer's inconsistent within books, sometimes even within paragraphs." I've been a huge fan since my undergraduate days and at that time - Berkeley in the eighties - being a Mailer fan required a modicum of the sort of perverse willingness to be on the deeply unpopular side of an argument that is perhaps the best thing about Mailer himself as a writer. He's wrong more often than he's right but, more than any other writer I can think of, he's got the sand to say the unsayable. This courage, in combination with deep reserves of anger and an almost desperate need for attention and approval, makes his prose exhilarating even as it's infuriating. I read a piece by Mailer scholar Edward Mendelson in NYRB that reviewed this collection and
Norman Mailer: A Double Life
. Mendelson quotes the biography, which contains a lovely quote from Mailer's journal summing up why I think he was great even when he wasn't always very good:
"I, who am timid, cowardly, and wish only friendship and security,am the one who must take on the whole world.”
"I, who am timid, cowardly, and wish only friendship and security,am the one who must take on the whole world.”
May 14, 2017
Traducción muy deficiente
February 5, 2020
a collection of mailer's most notable essays, mind of an outlaw covers the '50s through the '00s and traces the political and social evolution of one of america's most complex thinkers. this collection is at its best when mailer is talking about literature and his peers, with the recurring theme of what a major work from a serious novelist is and means and how that concept changes over time. the political stuff is complicated and at times hard to read; while mailer is a labyrinthine thinker, he's also kind of a troll (before we had language for that) or a provocateur, whose ugliest moments come when he's discussing race and gender, though his thoughts are recursive and he's one of the rare essayists unafraid to change his mind and makes a value out of talking about how his thought process changed. mailer was a public intellectual in a time when we had a few of those, and now we have very few of those, so these essays are worth eating up. their chronological presentation and how that tracks the directed growth of a human make it much more interesting that collections (which include essays like these) like cannibals and Christians and advertisements for myself.
November 14, 2013
I couldn't get past some of the misogynistic essay about how Mailer couldn't finish reading anything written by a woman.
Not that I was a big fan to begin with...but I was deeply curious about this hefty book after reading all the deliriously thrilling reviews.
I didn't like this book, but I'm sure from the fanfare there are enough fans out there who will devour this regardless of my commentary.
Not that I was a big fan to begin with...but I was deeply curious about this hefty book after reading all the deliriously thrilling reviews.
I didn't like this book, but I'm sure from the fanfare there are enough fans out there who will devour this regardless of my commentary.
August 16, 2020
Lot of these essays are boring and dated. My favorite is mailer weighing in on gay people and repeatedly being like, "BUT BEING COOL WITH GAY PEOPLE DOESN'T MAKE ME GAY." So funny. Lots of psudeo-intellectual psychobabble but honestly you know what you're getting into with any NM nonfiction writing: lots of run on sentences and vague mystic self-indulgence coupled with the occassional brilliant thought that's decades ahead of its time and never really expanded on. What a dude.
November 21, 2013
I never cared for Norman Mailer. Over time, I read some of his work, and then still didn't care much for the man. Who is interesting, in his life, was his last wife. Go and read her last two books about her life with the minotaur. Sophia Tolstoy could have told her, "Life with a great man is never easy." I would only recommend this book for a real Mailer fan.
May 30, 2014
The essays were wildly inconsistent. Some (the one about the Democratic convention and another about Jackie Kennedy) rambled on and on, with seemingly no structure or focus. Many of the shorter ones were quite good though. Perhaps it's our modern attention spans...
July 12, 2014
This is my first exposure to Mailer and I'm not a fan. Most of the essays lacked any type of focus or theme; mainly odd, often offensive ramblings.
March 17, 2018
Thank you Norman Mailer for your many thoughts covering five decades between your 30th and 80th birthdays.
January 18, 2021
Mailer dispara para todos lados. Algunos tiros salen bien, otros difícilmente dan en el blanco, pero siempre dispara y eso se agradece. La selección de ensayos que conforma este libro hace que Mailer sea una especie de cápsula de tiempo que refleja el siglo XX gringo a la perfección, son geniales los panoramas literarios que hace hablando sin reservas sobre sus compañeros de ruta -digo compañeros porque Mailer no leía mujeres- tiene una genial capacidad para el retrato, ya sea hablando de escritores, Jackie Kennedy (a la que envió un libro del Marqués de Sade pensando que era un gesto de cariño), Mohammed Ali, Hemingway y Faulkner (sus padres literarios, de los que en principio reniega y luego añora), aunque algunos de sus mejores ensayos son los que dedica a Marilyn Monroe, hay uno especialmente genial en el que se defiende ante una especie de tribunal literario por hacer ficción sobre la vida de Monroe.
Pero más allá del talento para hablar de sus contemporáneos y las estrellas de su tiempo, Mailer es un viejo mañoso y odioso, a veces bien facho, siempre machista y homofóbico, aunque dichas características sean difícil de evitar para un gringo blanco hijo del siglo XX, el tema es que Mailer en sus ensayos siempre busca justificar lo que piensa, y aunque por momentos eso logra desafiar el propio pensamiento para poder discutirle, a veces solo se lee como ese meme de Los Simpsons en el que el hombre viejo le grita a las nubes.
Por último, se nota mucho que el libro quiere cubrir casi toda la vida de Mailer, pero parece un exceso que tenga 500 páginas, un libro de 200 páginas seleccionando mejor los ensayos hubiese sido mejor que este ladrillo con varios ensayos que son ni chicha ni limonada. Me quedo con lo bueno igual, con la prosa áspera del joven Mailer, ese que pensaba que podía comerse el mundo, que escribía con los dientes apretados y no con la comodidad o el púlpito del escritor consagrado, el Mailer con un poco de hambre, ese es el mejor, al menos para escribir ensayos.
Pero más allá del talento para hablar de sus contemporáneos y las estrellas de su tiempo, Mailer es un viejo mañoso y odioso, a veces bien facho, siempre machista y homofóbico, aunque dichas características sean difícil de evitar para un gringo blanco hijo del siglo XX, el tema es que Mailer en sus ensayos siempre busca justificar lo que piensa, y aunque por momentos eso logra desafiar el propio pensamiento para poder discutirle, a veces solo se lee como ese meme de Los Simpsons en el que el hombre viejo le grita a las nubes.
Por último, se nota mucho que el libro quiere cubrir casi toda la vida de Mailer, pero parece un exceso que tenga 500 páginas, un libro de 200 páginas seleccionando mejor los ensayos hubiese sido mejor que este ladrillo con varios ensayos que son ni chicha ni limonada. Me quedo con lo bueno igual, con la prosa áspera del joven Mailer, ese que pensaba que podía comerse el mundo, que escribía con los dientes apretados y no con la comodidad o el púlpito del escritor consagrado, el Mailer con un poco de hambre, ese es el mejor, al menos para escribir ensayos.
September 17, 2018
Three stars on the editing side, primarily -- this feels like an attempt to simultaneously be a selection of Mailer's best and some of his less well known, and it doesn't quite work. Would've been better to do a volume for one and a second for the other.
November 4, 2022
Libro con una selección de artículos de Mailer desde los años cincuenta hasta 2005. Dos años antes de su muerte.
July 15, 2024
ability to inhabit the American conscience is next level
August 15, 2024
A combination of interesting things, enjoyable.
February 12, 2015
This is a compilation of 50 of Norman Mailer's best essays, spanning 60 years of his writing career. There are selections on theology, sports, book reviews, critiques of contemporary writing, philosophy and lots and lots of politics. The essays are arranged chronologically so you can follow Mailer's thoughts as he matured. I read it alongside of Michael Lennon's biography of Mailer, "Norman Mailer: A Double Life".
My ten favorite essays in this collection are (in chronological order):
The White Negro--Mailer's definition of hip in 1957
The Mind of an Outlaw-1957- his struggle to publish his second book, "The Deer Park"
Superman Comes to the Supermarket-1960- JFK at the Los Angeles Democratic Convention
Tango, Last Tango-1973- review of Last Tango in Paris
Genius- 1976- tribute to Arthur Miller
Discovering Jack H. Abbott- 1981- the convict Mailer helped free, only to commit a murder after release
Huckleberry Finn: Alive at One Hundred- 1984- a tribute to the book on it's 100th anniversary
How the Whimp Won the War- 1991- on the first Gulf war
Clinton and Dole: The War of the Oxymorons- 1996- on the 1996 conventions
Gaining an Empire, Loosing Democracy?- 2003- Why are we in Iraq? Again.
But read them all if you have time.
My ten favorite essays in this collection are (in chronological order):
The White Negro--Mailer's definition of hip in 1957
The Mind of an Outlaw-1957- his struggle to publish his second book, "The Deer Park"
Superman Comes to the Supermarket-1960- JFK at the Los Angeles Democratic Convention
Tango, Last Tango-1973- review of Last Tango in Paris
Genius- 1976- tribute to Arthur Miller
Discovering Jack H. Abbott- 1981- the convict Mailer helped free, only to commit a murder after release
Huckleberry Finn: Alive at One Hundred- 1984- a tribute to the book on it's 100th anniversary
How the Whimp Won the War- 1991- on the first Gulf war
Clinton and Dole: The War of the Oxymorons- 1996- on the 1996 conventions
Gaining an Empire, Loosing Democracy?- 2003- Why are we in Iraq? Again.
But read them all if you have time.
October 12, 2017
I'll have to return to this book once I've actually read Mailer's fiction. He's a wonderful writer, but my ignorance of the bulk of his literary corpus basically had me flying blind (e.g. I don't know how he had previously "vilified the homosexual"; so I can't really judge the merit of his semi-apologetic column on the subject). Turns out there's a lot more to Mailer than one can learn in a single passion-filled weekend withThe Executioner's Song.
March 19, 2015
a series of essays by Norman Mailer, much of which focus on his reviews of other writers, so it was fascinating to see what one great writer thought of others on a professional level. Throughout the essays, which start in the 40s and end in the 2000s, you can see an evolution in both his thought and political views and his style. His thoughts on the death penalty after writing "The Executioner's Song" on Gary Gilmore show both the complexity of his thoughts on complex issues
October 9, 2013
I won this book through Goodreads and I'm glad I did. Very interesting and complicated man. I imagine it is not easy to have your comments put on paper for all the world to see and analyze years later, but that is what Norman Mailer did. As we look at the essays of the 1950's, the comments may sound bigoted and offensive but they were the prevailing thoughts of his time, unfortunately.
October 3, 2013
I received this through the Goodreads Giveaway contest. An excellent collection by one of the greatest authors of the post WWII generation. Mailer writes with such power and clarity, his opinions are relevant and pressing, and there is nothing like hearing him expand on topics. A must-read for his fans and others who are interested in essays.
July 4, 2015
Mailer always comes at subjects or topics from his own unique angle. Provocative but invariably illuminating. Like looking at the world through a telescope that not only brings subjects closer, it also tears them open and dissects them for you.
April 28, 2017
A better essayist than novelist. Certainly my favorite wife-stabbing, dick-swinging, murderer-sponsoring, egomaniacal 20th century American writer.
June 11, 2014
a good selection of the great man's essays, but, like all his work, very uneven. just because he wrote it does not mean that it needs reprinting. the majority though are worth reading or re-reading.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews