Advertisements for Myself

Norman Mailer was an American novelist and essayist.

Anyone with a serious interest in American and in twentieth-century literature will applaud the reprinting of Norman Mailer’s Advertisements for Myself. No single work of his, before or since, is as important to an understanding of his literary career or of his emergence as an authentic public personality, and none is as fully representative of the range and variety of his concerns.

• A NOTE TO THE READER There are two Tables of Contents. The First lists each piece in sequence, and anyone wishing to read my book from beginning to end may be pleased to hear that the order is roughly chronological. The author, taken with an admirable desire to please his readers, has also added a set of advertisements, printed in italics, which surround all of these writings with his present tastes, preferences, apologies, prides, and occasional confessions. Like many another literary fraud, the writer has been known on occasion to read the Preface of a book instead of a book, and bearing this vice in mind, he tried to make the advertisements more readable than the rest of his pages. Since such a method is discursive, and this is a time in which many hold a fierce grip on their wandering attention, a Second Table of Contents is offered to satisfy the specialist. Here all short stories, short novels, poems, advertisements, articles, essays, journalism, and miscellany are posted in their formal category. For those who care to skim nothing but the cream of each author, and so miss the pleasure of liking him at his worst, I will take the dangerous step of listing what I believe are the best pieces in this book. In order of appearance they might be: * The Man Who Studied Yoga * The White Negro * The Time Of Her Time * Dead Ends * Advertisements For Myself On The Way Out * and some of the writing in italics. "Advertisements For Myself On The Way Out" is the title to the Prologue of a long novel. Since one of the purposes of this collection is the intention to clear a ground for that novel, I have taken the opportunity to use a part of the title as a name for this book. Acknowledgment is made to Cross-Section, Story magazine, The Harvard Advocate, New World Writing, New Short Novels, The Independent, One Magazine, The Village Voice, the N. Y. Post, Modern Writing, The Provincetown Annual, Discovery, Esquire, Partisan Review, Western Review and Dissent, where many of these pieces first appeared. Acknowledgment is also made to Time magazine and Newsweek for permission to quote from their reviews of The Deer Park. The date which comes at the end of some of these writings refers to the year in which the piece was written. Where a date does not appear, the material is new and was written during 1958 and 1959 for this book. FIRST TABLE OF CONTENTS A Note to the Reader FIRST TABLE OF CONTENTS SECOND TABLE OF CONTENTS First Advertisement for myself Part 1--BEGINNINGS Advertisement for "A Calculus At Heaven" A CALCULUS AT HEAVEN Advertisement for "The Greatest Thing in the World" THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD Advertisement for "Maybe Next Year" MAYBE NEXT YEAR Part 2--MIDDLES Second Advertisement for myself EXCERPTS FROM Barbary Shore Third Advertisement for myself Advertisement for Three War Stories THE PAPER HOUSE THE LANGUAGE OF MEN THE DEAD GOOK Advertisement for "The Notebook" THE NOTEBOOK Advertisement for "The Man Who Studied Yoga" THE MAN WHO STUDIED YOGA Advertisement for Three Political Pieces OUR COUNTRY AND OUR CULTURE (Partisan Review Symposium) DAVID RIESMAN RECONSIDERED THE MEANING OF WESTERN DEFENSE Postscript to "The Meaning of Western Defense" Part 3--BIRTHS Advertisement for Part Three Advertisement for "The Homosexual Villain" THE HOMOSEXUAL VILLAIN Fourth Advertisement for myself: The Last Draft of The Deer Park THREE EXCERPTS FROM RINEHART AND PUTNAM VERSIONS OF The Deer Park Two REVIEWS: Time AND Newsweek Postscript to the Fourth Advertisement for myself Advertisement for Sixty-Nine Questions and Answers SIXTY-NINE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Fifth Advertisement for myself: GENERAL MARIJUANA The Village Voice: FIRST THREE COLUMNS Postscript to the first three columns The Village Voice: COLUMNS FOUR TO SEVENTEEN Advertisement for the End of a Column and a Public Notice A PUBLIC NOTICE ON Waiting for Godot Postscript to a Public Notice Part 4--HIPSTERS Sixth Advertisement for myself THE WHITE NEGRO Note to "Reflections on Hip" REFLECTIONS ON HIP HIPSTER AND BEATNIK Advertisement for "Hip, Hell and the Navigator" HIP, HELL AND THE NAVIGATOR Part 5--GAMES AND ENDS Advertisement for "Games and Ends" Advertisement for "It" IT Advertisement for "Great in the Hay" GREAT IN THE HAY Advertisement for "The Patron Saint of Macdougal Alley" THE PATRON SAINT OF MACDOUGAL ALLEY Advertisement for a letter to the New York Post A LETTER TO THE NEW YORK POST HOW TO COMMIT MURDER IN THE MASS-MEDIA--A HOW TO COMMIT MURDER IN THE MASS MEDIA--B Advertisement for Buddies BUDDIES, OR THE HOLE IN THE SUMMIT Postscript to Buddies Advertisement for "Notes Toward a Psychology of the Orgy" THE HIP AND THE SQUARE 1. The List 2. Catholic and Protestant 3. T-Formation and Single Wing A NOTE ON COMPARATIVE PORNOGRAPHY FROM SURPLUS VALUE TO THE MASS-MEDIA SOURCES--A RIDDLE IN PSYCHICAL ECONOMY LAMENT OF A LADY I GOT TWO KIDS AND ANOTHER IN THE OVEN Advertisement for The Deer Park as a play THE DEER PARK (Scenes 2, 3, and 4) AN EYE ON PICASSO EVALUATIONS: QUICK AND EXPENSIVE COMMENTS ON THE TALENT IN THE ROOM Last Advertisement for myself Before the Way Out A Note for "The Time of Her Time" THE TIME OF HER TIME Advertisement for "Dead Ends" DEAD ENDS (a long poem) ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MYSELF ON THE WAY OUT SECOND TABLE OF CONTENTS FICTION A Calculus at Heaven-short novel The Greatest Thing in the World-story Maybe Next Year-story Barbary Shore-excerpts from the novel The Paper House-story The Language of Men-story The Dead Gook--story The Notebook-story The Man Who Studied Yoga-short novel The Deer Park-excerpts from the Rinehart and Putnam versions of the novel It-story Great in the Hay-story The Patron Saint of Macdougal Alley-story The Time of Her Time-section from a novel in progress Advertisements for Myself on the Way Out--Prologue to a Novel in Progress ESSAYS AND ARTICLES Our Country and Our Culture--a contribution to a Partisan Review Symposium David Riesman Reconsidered--criticism The Meaning of Western Defense--political article Postscript to "The Meaning of Western Defense" The Homosexual Villain--article A Public Notice on Waiting for Godot--criticism The White Negro--essay Reflections on Hip--polemics Hipster and Beatnik--article How to Commit Murder in the Mass-Media (A and B)--article The Hip and the Square--notes for an essay A Note on Comparative Pornography-article From Surplus Value to the Mass-Media--political article Sources--a riddle in psychical economy An Eye on Picasso--critical note Evaluations: Quick and Expensive Comments on the Talent in the Room--criticism JOURNALISM The Columns for The Village Voice First three columns Columns Four to Seventeen A Letter to the N.Y. Post INTERVIEWS Sixty-Nine Questions and Answers Hip, Hell, and the Navigator POETRY The Drunk's Bebop and Chowder Lament of a Lady I Got Two Kids and Another in the Oven Dead Ends PLAYS Buddies, or The Hole in the Summit--a fragment The Deer Park-Scenes 2, 3 & 4 BIOGRAPHY OF A STYLE First Advertisement for myself Advertisement for "A Calculus at Heaven" Advertisement for "The Greatest Thing in the World" Advertisement for "Maybe Next Year" Second Advertisement for myself Third Advertisement for myself Advertisement for Three War Stories Advertisement for "The Notebook" Advertisement for "The Man Who Studied Yoga" Advertisement for Three Political Pieces Advertisement for Part Three Advertisement for "The Homosexual Villain" Fourth Advertisement for myself: The Last Draft of The Deer Park Postscript to the Fourth Advertisement for myself Advertisement for "Sixty-Nine Questions and Answers" Fifth Advertisement for myself: General Marijuana Postscript to the first three columns Advertisement for the End of a Column and a Public Notice Postscript to a Public Notice Sixth Advertisement for myself Note to "Reflections on Hip" Advertisement for "Hip, Hell, and the Navigator" Advertisement for "Games and Ends" Advertisement for "It" Advertisement for "Great in the Hay" Advertisement for "The Patron Saint of Macdougal Alley" Advertisement for a letter to the New York Post Advertisement for "Buddies" Postscript to "Buddies" Advertisement for "Notes Toward a Psychology of the Orgy" Advertisement for The Deer Park as a Play Last Advertisement for myself Before the Way Out A Note for "The Time of Her Time" Advertisement for "Dead Ends"