Norman Mailer in Context

Maggie McKinley

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781108477666
• eBook ISBN: 9781108804677
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

This volume offers new insight into the breadth of contexts that inform Norman Mailer's body of work. It examines important literary, critical, theoretical, cultural, and historical frameworks for Mailer's writing, highlighting the ways his work reflects the concerns of twentieth and twenty-first century America. This book traces Mailer's literary influences; his contributions to a variety of literary genres; his participation in the American political sphere; the philosophical, religious, and gendered contexts that shape his work; and the iconic American figures he profiled. The book concludes with reflections on Mailer's literary and cultural legacy, emphasizing his advocacy for literary freedom and the contemporary resonance of his work.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• A Note on References and Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part I Literary Influences
• Part II Form and Genre
• Part III Political Contexts
• Part IV Philosophical and Cultural Contexts
• Part V Gender and Sexuality
• Part VI Profiles and Literary Biographies
• Part VII Mailer's Legacy
• Primary Bibliography
• Selected Secondary Bibliography
• Index