Michael Lennon - Norman Mailer - a double life

Mailer, John Buffalo, 522, 524, 525, 526, 535, 538, 553, 601, 618, 623, 628, 639, 655, 661, 662, 721, 738, 740, 743, 745, 749, 753, 763

birth of, 520

on family boxing sessions, 546–47

NM’s interviews with, 736

NM’s relationship with, 526, 746

Mailer, Kate Cailean, 323, 336, 402, 430, 459, 525, 601, 614, 620, 656, 731, 756

acting career of, 614–15, 616, 638, 649–50

birth of, 312, 315

on climbing Mount Katahdin with NM, 625

NM’s relationship with, 615

Norris and, 499

on relationship of Jeanne and NM, 296–97

on summers with NM, 417

Mailer, Louis, 22, 178, 369, 425, 447–48

NM’s letters to, 520, 526

Mailer, Maggie Alexandra, 425, 429, 445, 454, 491, 494, 524, 601, 616, 720, 749

birth of, 441

NM’s support for artistic efforts of, 616

painting by, 616

wedding of, 757, 758–59

Mailer, Matthew, 485, 489, 490, 494, 506, 520, 525, 553, 601, 618, 628, 655, 749, 763

on NM’s failing health, 759–60

Mailer, Michael Burks, 402, 430, 475, 490, 491, 499, 508, 521, 587, 601, 606, 608, 616, 631, 693, 736, 749, 761

birth of, 339

NM’s support for artistic efforts of, 616

boxing by, 546, 547

Deer Park film project and, 752, 757

NM’s correspondence with, 698–99

“Ringside” film and, 698–99

on summers with NM, 471

Mailer, Moos, 325, 339, 369, 425, 447–48, 494, 520, 526

Mailer, Norman:

and Abbott’s murder of Adan, 560, 561, 562

accusations of misogyny against, 249–50, 435, 456–57, 607, 735, 739

in Adan murder impromptu press conference, 563–64

Adele’s relationship with, see Morales, Adele

on aftermath of stabbing, 291–92

alcohol given up by, 545–46

alimony and child support payments of, 324, 428, 458, 523

as anti-Stalinist, 113, 117, 133

antiwar speeches and writings of, 355–56, 363, 364, 374, 378, 398, 399, 408, 425

arrest and incarceration of, in March on Pentagon, 388–89

arrested for stabbing Adele, 286

ARTE interview of, 687–89, 694

as atheist, 133, 191

Atlas’s profile of, 535–36

as autodidact, 116

back taxes owed by, 439, 472, 487, 493, 502, 523, 574

balance tests as compulsion of, 332, 366, 429

bar mitzvah of, 18, 21–22

on Barney’s gambling, 17–18

Bea’s relationship with, see Silverman, Beatrice “Bea”

Bellevue commitment of, 286–87, 318

birth of, 13

and birth of Susan, 121

boxing as passion of, 15–16, 35, 214–15, 267, 352, 445, 447–48, 546–48

Bridgewater house of, 211, 214

Brooklyn Heights brownstone of, 309–10, 323, 328, 337, 456, 494, 504, 519, 539, 628, 631, 655, 759

Buckley’s debate with, 315, 317–20, 324

bypass surgery of, 740–41

cancer obsession of, 285, 294, 330, 539, 681, 725, 759

childhood of, 14, 15–22

as “concealed Communist,” 153

on crime as inherently human, 167, 221

as DEA target, 571–73

detached retina of, 453

dinner parties of, 354–55

disintegrating mental state of, 262, 277–78, 281–82, 285–87, 292

as dismissive of women writers, 249–50

dogs owned by, 194, 211, 266, 317, 329, 576–77

and Donoghue’s birthday party, 280–81

drawings and cartoons by, 674, 730

drinking by, 138, 142, 143, 147, 158, 170, 171, 180, 181, 188, 190, 193, 212, 222, 226–27, 246, 267–68, 274, 281, 293, 322, 331, 348, 408, 418, 449, 460, 472, 738

drug use by, 193–94, 274

drunk and disorderly arrest of, 267–68, 428

dual personas of, 183–84, 185, 224, 256, 267, 382, 384, 397, 453, 463, 488, 549, 551, 597, 599, 605, 696

early schooling of, 15

existentialism of, 190, 191, 203, 207, 274, 278, 279, 307, 314, 317, 318–19, 380

experimental films of, 96

in eye-gouging incident, 211–12, 216, 218

fame as mixed blessing for, 113–14

family background of, 7–8

feeling/observing synthesis in, 190–91

fiftieth birthday party of, 458–61

“fifty-first” state platform of, 414, 415

fighting and acting out by, 216, 280, 281, 320, 331, 348, 353, 371, 398, 449, 475, 513–14, 539, 701

on filmmaking vs. writing, 622

films of, 336–37, 375–77, 379–81, 398–99, 400, 403, 698; see also Maidstone

final illnesses and death of, 760–63

finances of, 194–95, 324, 507, 428, 431, 439, 456, 458–59, 472, 483, 487, 502, 523, 544, 574, 589, 691–92, 737

generosity of, 494, 617, 690

grandchildren of, 570, 601, 731–32, 749

health issues of, 607, 708, 713, 724, 725, 732, 740, 749, 753–54, 756, 757–58, 759–60

on Hemingway, 150, 300–302, 716

and Hemingway’s suicide, 297–300, 302

high academic achievement of, 23

high IQ of, 20

high school years of, 22–24

Hip philosophy of, 203, 208, 219–20, 238–39, 240, 279

in Hollywood, 118, 119, 120–26

homosexuality and, 29, 33, 87, 141, 145, 165, 174–75, 596–97

indictment and suspended sentence of, in stabbing, 288–89

infidelities of, 81–82, 118, 119, 124–25, 133, 136, 165, 171, 172, 188, 218, 255–56, 263, 290, 324, 369, 412, 454–55, 471–72, 484, 485, 486, 495, 541–42, 592–97, 610, 623, 625–27, 651, 652, 654–59, 662–63, 666–67, 681, 682, 691, 735

jazz as passion of, 176, 181, 246

on Jewish identity, 21, 59, 527, 699–700

on JFK, 266, 268, 334–35, 336

JFK assassination as obsession of, 370, 377, 599, 653–54, 666

“Kakutani File” of, 739–40, 751

in last trip to Brooklyn, 759

letters to Utah Board of Pardons from, 552, 565–66

“liberal” label rejected by, 317–18

literary press conferences of, 303

Making It reviewed by, 394–96

marijuana use by, 140, 171, 172, 176–77, 181, 182, 190, 191, 193, 206, 214, 279

on marital fidelity, 81–82

mayoral ambitions of, 274, 275, 278, 279, 280, 282–83, 286, 358

memorial for, 538, 625, 761–62

on memories as “crystals,” 23

memory crystals of, 291

mescaline used by, 194

Mike Wallace’s Night Beat interview with, 217–18

Millett’s attack on, 433, 436

on MLA panel, 362–63

mysticism of, 90, 145, 194, 203, 219–20, 238, 361, 419, 427, 431, 444, 481, 569, 575, 576–77, 713, 740

on narcissism, 497–98

National Book Award medal won by, 743

at National Book Award press conference, 347–48

“navigator” concept of, 239, 277, 297, 311, 427, 452, 483, 502, 512, 541

need for fame and greatness in, 2–3, 4, 27, 197, 246, 251, 261, 448, 495, 581

as New Journalism founder, 270, 271

9/11 attacks and, 720–21, 727–28, 729

1969 mayoral campaign of, 403, 410, 412–20

orgone boxes of, 164, 214

parents’ high expectations of, 17, 20, 21

on parents’ relationship, 18

Paris Review interview of, 228, 337

PEN presidency of, 600–603, 606–10, 612

physical appearance of, 35–36, 316

poker playing by, 747–48, 759

political ambitions of, 271, 274, 278, 335, 400, 653, 696

political views of, 99, 110–13, 116–17, 118, 121, 133, 268–69, 317–18, 343–44, 355–56, 386–87

postmodern fiction as viewed by, 611

as preeminent insider-outsider of American culture, 336

in prison visit with Abbott, 541–42

Provincetown funeral for, 763

on psychology of prisoners, 554

as public intellectual, 260

as pushing children to overcome fears, 470–71

Pygmalion role of, 141, 223, 242, 494

on race relations in U.S., 426–27

Reich’s influence on, 164, 219, 382

in RFK memorial honor guard, 412

saint-psychopath dualism seen by, 167, 183, 187–88, 239, 277–78, 319, 434, 504–5, 741