Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer

by Richard Bradford

The first biography to examine Mailer's life as a twisted lens, offering a unique insight into the history of America from the end of World War II to the election of Barack Obama.

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song , Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.

The Naked and the Dead was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction – Catch 22 and MASH would not exist without it. Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters – to lovers and editors – which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels.

Bradford strikes again with a merciless biography in which diary entries, journal extracts and newspaper columns set the tone of this study of a controversial figure. From friendships with contemporaries such as James Baldwin, failed correspondences with Hemingway and the Kennedys, to terrible – but justified – criticism of his work by William Faulkner and Eleanor Roosevelt, this book gives a unique, snappy and convincing perspective of Mailer's ferocious personality and writings.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 17, 2023

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer offers the reader an in-depth and meticulously researched portrait of a controversial writer. In some ways, it may prove to be too much detail and too much information for the casual reader. Rather than idolize Mailer as so many biographers due to their subjects, Bradford presents Mailer as he was, warts and all. Best known for his seminal works, the Naked and the Dead, the Armies of the Night, and the Executioner’s Song, Mailer wrote countless magazine pieces, often on current topics AB’s events, campaigned to New York City’s mayor, married six times, stabbed his wife nearly killing her, and engaged in all manner of drunken brawls. He was an American original, machismo and all.

[Fiachra Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was exceptionally well researched - I knew nothing about Norman Mailer going in, and feel now like I have a very good understanding of his life story, perspective, and cultural relevance. It’s written in an entertaining way that shines a light on what a crazy bastard he was.

As much as there is no doubt that Mailer was generally not a good guy, this book is clearly written with an agenda, the author often presenting his own unflattering opinions on the various works of Mailer and disregarding and/or defying positive reviews of his books - reviews coming from the “intelligentsia”, “the cultural elite”, at odds with the “common sense” conclusion that his work is rubbish. Mailer was a homophobic, mysoginistic, racist, abusive, egomaniacal brute who put the proliferation and promotion of his own mythos above all else; but he won two Pulitzer Prizes and is credited by his peers as a landmark 20th century author. I can’t help but feel that a little more balance in this biography could have resulted in a more interesting examination of his character. But it’s still well worth reading, especially as someone who knew nothing going on

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its subject matter, the book grinds to an exhausted halt...but my god the journey to get to the end tells a disgusting tale. I didn't know many details about Norman Mailer before reading this biography...and now that I do, I can genuinely describe him as being one of the most perverted, disgusting, outrageous, terrible human beings I have ever encountered in the historical record of the 20th century. Dear god, this man was a terrifying obscenity.

[John Dalziel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cut and Paste Tabloid Biography.

Contrary to what should be expected in the presentation of a work by an Oxford educated literary professor, the title and cover of Richard Bradford's " biography " of Norman Mailer are reminders of the popular lurid magazines that clutter supermarket racks.
Considering that four substantial biographies were published before Mailer's death and that Michael Lennon's monumental Norman Mailer: A Double Life of 2013 will likely stand as the definitive history of Mailer and his times, we well might wonder if this ( blessedly ) comparatively slim and tawdry gush of bile is necessary.
While trawling the five previous works for material from which to cherry-pick details that most obsessively interest him, Bradford exposes the limitations of his research and indifference to all that would divert from the intended portrayal of a Mailer whose life, personality, acts, ideas and works, are repeatedly referred to as "ludicrous", and "stunted, psychotic, macabre, hilarious, shifty, perverse, farcical, deranged, unhinged, maniacal, mendacious" and, most frequently, "bizarre."
At times the prose will whip itself into such a vitriolic lather that any two of these mix and match epithets will grace the one paragraph.
Not only does Bradford spout scorn on Mailer and every book that bears his name, any who have the temerity to write favourably on his work are also derided.
Those who praised the Pulitzer Prize awarded The Executioner's Song are "Critics who saw themselves occupying the intellectual high ground," (displaying) "highbrow idiocy at its worst."
Commentators on earlier books by Bradford have wondered why somebody would willingly spend so much time delving into the life of a subject he obviously hates. Added to the already mentioned "masochism" could be "macabrely bizarre" and mercenary.
Mailer's flaws, follies, mis-steps and transgressions have been so thoroughly revealed and discussed during his life and since, that Bradford's sad effort to effectively bury his literary legacy beneath a morass of sordid "revelations" is little more than a footnote to, not only the five actual biographies, but the still increasing wealth of memoirs and critical studies that contribute essential assessments to an understanding of the life and work.
Perhaps in part because of a rush to print in an effort to capitalize on the advent of the centenary of Mailer's birth, the litany of vilification abounds with unsubstantiated incidents and blatant errors that are not ameliorated by lazy or indifferent editing.
The reader would be justified in using Bradford's favoured epithets to describe a few examples:
"Bizarrely" Mailer is shown at the 1968 Republican convention in Miami meeting candidates McCarthy, Humphrey and McGovern.
Research shouldn't be necessary to inform Bradford that he has misplaced the three front runners for the Democrats, whose convention was in Chicago.
"Ludicrously," people sometimes fall victim to a change of name : The mashup of Henry and Arthur Miller has already been noted, but also Mary Dearborn becomes Dearlove, John Hersey becomes Hershey and Peter Maas is confused with Peter Manso.
"Hilarious" as they might be, such errors can be seen as innocent errors of negligence, not as serious as accounts of incidents which are open to suspicion of either poor research or dishonest fabrication:
We are told of Norman and Adele Mailer moving into a 1st. Avenue apartment, but Bradford conveniently doesn't provide a specific timeline.
Fully engaged in degenerate behaviour as he is portrayed to have been, Mailer here entertained notable guests with a supply of willing companions with whom to share "a spare bedroom."
Prominent among those named is Charles Chaplin, which will surprise those readers with some knowledge of Chaplin and the history of the period.
The Mailers moved into the 1st. Avenue apartment (the exact address given is incorrect) in October, 1952.
1952 was a watershed year for the then sixty-three year old Chaplin, culminating in his exile from America. "On September 17th. he embarked for England on the Queen Elizabeth." (My Father, Charlie Chaplin. Charles Chaplin Jnr. 1960).
He would not return until April, 1972, making it extremely difficult to engage in revelry with Mailer in October, 1952.
An experienced biographer such as Richard Bradford surely knows that such factual falsehoods, intentional or not, will raise questions of trust in the author and the totality of his work.
While it is possible to continue with almost a page by page commentary on this marrowless minnow of a book, which is so lacking in a sense of irony that the author is unaware that it is rife with many of the defects that he castigates in Mailer and his work, it is doubtful that it merits further discussion.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury USA for an advanced copy of this biography and study of the works by the author known more for his actions than his works , Norman Mailer.

As a reader there are some authors that at one point in my life I would have done anything to collect. In the day before Internet shopping books meant going the city to the Strand, haunting book sales reading articles in the New York Times about authors, seeing what they read and doing the same. Authors that I would once brawl to defend their reputation, or to get copies of change as a person gets older. That story of putting away childish things. Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs don't seem the same later in life as they did in youth. Norman Mailer is also another one, thought it was more his nonfiction I enjoyed. The Fight still holds up, Fire on the Moon and Armies of the Night I like still, I think. And as a recovering conspiracy buff I did enjoy Oswald's Tale, mainly for the build up of great revelations, that petered out. Though as I got older is was harder to remove the man from the art. Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer by Richard Bradford is a warts, bruises and liver bursting look at the life of Mailer, his works, legacy and the many people he left damaged in his wake, while making his own path in the world of literature.

The book begins with Mailer's parents, their upbringing and his father's coming to America after the First World War. Norman was a smart kid, testing highest in his school, but lazy in other ways, sure that he was right, and that what he decided to do was the only true path, and god forbid anyone get in his way. Mailer was accepted to Harvard, but was not accepted by the people going, as soon Jewish admissions would be cut, and Jews were hardly invited to the clubs where serious social connections were made. However, even dressed in colors that stood out, Mailer did well, getting started in writing, and making contacts that would help later. The Second World War came and Mailer joined with the idea of making a book of his experiences after the war. Mailer kept notes on his fellow soldiers and experiences using this to create his first novel The Naked and the Dead. The book hit the bestseller's list, giving Mailer fame, fortune and the opportunity to share any idea, no matter how dumb or ill informed with the world. Which continued for most of his life.

A book that covers both Mailer's life, his many works, and his role in literature up until the end of the 20th century and beyond. Bradford has a real gift for both research and for discussing Mailer's actions and possibly why he did so many, many odd things. The style is very good, and even when Bradford is panning a book, or an event the writing is never nasty, more why would anyone write this, and what could the author be thinking. Bradford is able to draw on examples, using the author's or critics or even friends to back up comments, or criticism of Mailer's writing or antics. Familiarity with both Mailer and his contemporaries would be helpful, but Bradford does a good job of introducing this world to readers.

For fans of Mailer, and for fans of literature or his time. A very well rounded look at the man and his writings, and how much of a difficult person he could be. Separating the artist from the person is kind of difficult after reading this, but I still enjoyed this book.

[Ronnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He is a man whose faults, though many, add to rather than subtract from the sum of his natural achievements." - Gore Vidal

Much like Mailer's outrageous adult life, the reporting of it in this biographer is by turns entertaining and appalling. Describing the relationship between Mailer and the third of his six wives, Jeanne Campbell, Bradford writes, "They were ludicrously ill-matched in terms of background, upbringing and politics, and Mailer was enthralled by this because it was like the plot from a novel that defied credibility." In fact, much of Mailer's life could be said to fit that same credibility-defying plot, and, borrowing liberally from all previous Mailer biographies, Bradford covers all of it as he works his way through the author's extensive oeuvre, seemingly with an agenda to verbally crap over all of it. Easily the most often used descriptor in these pages is some form of the word "ludicrous," and even though Mailer published more than 30 books, 11 of which were bestsellers and two of which won Pulitzers, the work Bradford returns to most often--so often it becomes thematic--is Mailer's 1957 essay "The White Negro," probably because of its complex and problematic take on sex, violence, and race. Bradford says, "The passages of [the] essay that do make sense are uniformly ghastly." It becomes amusing just observing the various phrases Bradford concocts just to talk smack about Mailer's writings. For example, he says one short story is "a chaotic mixture of coprophilia and Manichean gibberish" and of Mailer's book of poetry: "it is difficult to find a collection in print as execrable as this." Some of my other favorite trash-talking highlights:
On Ancient Evenings: "Some passages are almost hilariously terrible."
On Tough Guys Don't Dance: "It is difficult to summarize a plot where little makes sense and few of those involved care too much."
On Harlot's Ghost: "[I]t saps our will to remain awake, let alone to read on."
On The Gospel According to the Son: "In a film adaptation Woody Allen or Mel Brooks would have been well-suited to the role [of Jesus, as Mailer portrays Him]."
The sheer, relentless volume of the creative takedowns eventually comes across as sort of massive penis envy on Bradford's part, but his brutal honesty (or drollity) would seem even shrewder or more perspicacious if his own writing wasn't riddled with typos, mispunctuations, missing words, repeated words, and so on, leaving too many sentences not quite working or even making no sense. In the end, if you didn't know already, you'll leave this biography knowing that Mailer, while maybe a genius, was definitely an asshole, but you'll probably think Bradford is something of one, too, albeit on a much smaller scale.

First lines [Chapter 1]:
"Norman Mailer's father, Isaac Barnett 'Barney' Mailer, was born in Lithuania but spent most of his early years in South Africa after his parents, Benjamin and Celia Mailer, emigrated there in 1900 when he was roughly ten years old: exact certifications of dates of birth are not available."

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

They don’t make literary titans like this anymore. And, as anybody who ever had the misfortune of meeting Norman Mailer will no doubt respond, “thank Christ for that”.

From reading “Tough Guy”, there can be little doubt that Norman Mailer was a racist, a homophobe, a macabre sexually incontinent voyeur, and a serial wife-beater, and in Richard Bradford he doesn’t exactly have an overly sympathetic biographer here. With “Tough Guy”, in fact, it is rare to read a biographer who has such unconcealed and persistent scorn for their subject.
Norman Mailer’s relentlessly obnoxious and conceited personal behaviour is recounted in lurid detail throughout “Tough Guy”. This is a guy, lest we forget, who stabbed his wife – coming perilously close to killing her – and then wrote a thinly-fictionalised account of the assault that essentially argued that Mailer was justified in stabbing her.

But Bradford is entirely dismissive even of Mailer’s talents as a writer (disdainfully describing him as “a shifty literary narcissist”). Mailer undoubtedly wrote more than his fair share of pseudo-intellectual gibberish, but even his most enduring works like ‘The Executioner’s Song’ and ‘The Fight’ are cursorily skirted over in little more than a paragraph by Bradford. Reading “Tough Guy” begs the question: if Mailer was as consistently a rotten a writer as Bradford maintains, how did he manage to pull the wool over the eyes of so many readers for so long?

“Tough Guy” is as concerted a character assassination that I’ve ever read, with Robert Bradford almost taking relish in how grotesque, preposterous and buffoonish a figure Mailer was. It is this partisan inability of Bradford to find any redeeming characteristic in its subject that ultimately makes the book an unsatisfying read. On the flipside, for any budding biographer-cum-character assassin, Norman Mailer unwittingly provides a hell of a lot of bullets.

[Alex Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The importance of Norman Mailer seems mostly like a combination of his own self-aggrandizing PR and the culture’s willingness to buy into that PR. From this remove it all seems strange and even embarrassing that he was so revered, basically being the poster boy for what would now be called “toxic masculinity.” However all the things that made him an awful person make him interesting to read about.

[Alan Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bradford is himself a tough guy when it comes to Mailer’s appalling behavior and his sloppy writing, but he gives due credit to the writer for his best work and his own prose is clear and detailed. Mailer was sexist, racist, narcissistic, and pugilistic in an era when the literary world let him get away with it. We judge him more harshly but I honor his best work.

[Niels Frid-Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bradford is a brilliant storyteller, Norman Mailer was a unique literary phenomenon. Bradford is clearly fascinated by Mailers life and he has created a page turner out of it

[Francisco Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Flawed but Fascinating Portrait of a Literary Titan. Norman Mailer was not just a writer, he was a force of nature. He was a man whose life often overshadowed his work. In Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer, Richard Bradford attempts to capture the essence of this larger-than-life figure.

Mailer belongs to that rare category of artists—like Yukio Mishima—whose work cannot be fully appreciated without understanding the man behind it. His fiction and journalism were extensions of his own mythos, a performance of intellectual bravado, machismo, and relentless self-mythologizing. If some artists create in solitude, Mailer turned his entire existence into a public spectacle. He blurred the line between life and art. Bradford recognizes this, but his treatment of Mailer’s life often feels superficial, relying on anecdotes and judgments rather than deep psychological or literary analysis.

That said, the book remains engaging. This is largely because Mailer himself was such a magnetic, contradictory figure. Mailer’s life was a series of dramatic acts.

Mailer was a complex figure—a man capable of profound insight and staggering self-delusion. He was a writer who could produce both masterpieces (The Executioner’s Song) and pretentious failures (Ancient Evenings). A more probing biography might have explored these contradictions with greater depth.

Despite its shortcomings, Tough Guy is a worthwhile read for those intrigued by Mailer’s legacy. It may not be the definitive biography, but it offers a brisk, entertaining, if sometimes frustrating, tour through the chaos of Mailer’s world. For better or worse, Mailer remains an indelible figure in American letters. And Bradford’s book, imperfect as it is, serves as a reminder of why his life—and his myth—still fascinates.