Norman Mailer bibliography explained

Author:Norman Mailer
Booklink:Chronological, 1948–2007
Novel:12
Novellink:Novels
1Optionname:Nonfiction narratives
1Option:13
1Optionlink:Essays, Nonfiction narratives
Story:25
Storylink:Short stories
Collection:15
Collectionlink:Anthologies, Collections, Miscellanies
Interview:3
Interviewlink:Conversations and interviews

This Norman Mailer bibliography lists major books by and about Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), an American novelist, new journalist, essayist, public intellectual, filmmaker, and biographer. Over a fifty-nine-year period, Mailer won two Pulitzer Prizes and had eleven books spend a total of 160 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Mailer's output included fiction, non-fiction, poems and essays. Biographer J. Michael Lennon called Mailer the chronicler of the American Century, and a talent whose career has "been at once so brilliant, varied, controversial, improvisational, public, productive, lengthy and misunderstood".__TOC__

Chronology

TitleAbbr.YearTypeNotes
The Naked and the DeadNAD1948novelspent 62 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 1; received a New York Newspaper Guild's "Page One Award"; chosen as one of the four best books of 1948 by Newsweek; original manuscript housed at Yale University
Barbary ShoreBS1951novelspent 3 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 3
The Deer ParkDP1955novelspent 15 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 6
The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the HipsterWN1959essayfirst published in Dissent 4, Summer 1957
Advertisements for MyselfAFM1959miscellanyoriginal working title: The Hip and the Square: a Miscellany
Deaths for the Ladies (and Other Disasters)DFL1962poetry
The Presidential PapersPP1963miscellany
An American DreamAAD1965novelspent 6 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 8
Cannibals and ChristiansCAC1966miscellany
The Short Fiction of Norman MailerSFNM1967short story collectionnineteen stories — one new ("The Shortest Novel of Them All") and eighteen previously published with an original introduction; published with material from Existential Errands under the title The Essential Mailer, Sevenoaks, Kent: New English Library, 1982
The Deer Park: A Play1967play
Why Are We in Vietnam?WWVN1967novelnominated for the National Book Award
The Bullfight: A Photographic Narrative with Text by Norman Mailer1967essay
The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, the Novel as HistoryAON1968nonfiction narrativewon the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and the National Book Award for arts and letters; ranked nineteenth on a list of the top 100 works of journalism of the twentieth century
The Idol and the Octopus: Political Writings on the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations1968miscellanyselections from PP and CAC, including the new "On Lady Chatterley and Tropic of Cancer"
Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968MSC1968nonfiction narrativenominated for the National Book Award in history and biography
Of a Fire on the MoonOFM1971nonfiction narrativenominated for the National Book Award in the sciences category
King of the Hill: Norman Mailer on the Fight of the Century1971nonfiction narrative
Prisoner of SexPOS1971essaynominated for the National Book Award in the arts and letters category
Maidstone: A MysteryMM1971screenplaybased on the 1968 film that was mostly improvised
The Long Patrol: 25 Years of Writing from the Work of Norman Mailer1971collectionedited and introduced by Robert F. Lucid
Existential ErrandsEE1972miscellany
St. George and the GodfatherSGG1972nonfiction narrative
Marilyn: A Biography; Pictures by the World's Foremost PhotographersMAR1973biographyspent 9 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 6
The Faith of GraffitiFOG1974essay
The FightFIG1975nonfiction narrative
Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960-1972SHM1976anthologyincludes a new preface and four previously published political narratives: "Superman Comes to the Supermarket", "In the Red Light", MSC, and SSG
Genius and Lust: A Journey through the Major Writings of Henry MillerGAL1976essay
A Transit to NarcissusTTN1978novelfacsimile of typescript of previously unpublished novel written in 1943
The Executioner's SongES1979nonfiction narrativespent 25 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 3; won the Playboy Writing Award for fiction in 1979 and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1980; nominated for the American Book Award for fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1979; ranked 72 on a list of the top 100 works of journalism of the twentieth century; Mailer insisted on calling ES a "true-life novel"
Of Women and Their EleganceOWE1980novelphotographs by Milton Greene
The Essential MailerEM1982collectioncombines SFNM and EE in a British release
Pieces and PontificationsPAP1982miscellanyPontifications edited and introduced by J. Michael Lennon
Ancient EveningsAE1983novelspent 17 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 6
Tough Guys Don't DanceTGD1984novelspent 10 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 5
Conversations with Norman MailerCNM1988collectionedited and introduced by J. Michael Lennon; contains 34 previously published interviews, including three self-interviews, an introduction, and chronology of Mailer's life
Harlot's GhostHG1991novelspent 4 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 12
OT1995nonfiction narrative
Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man: An Interpretive BiographyPOP1995biography
The Gospel According to the SonGAS1997novelspent 6 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 7
The Time of Our TimeTOOT1998anthologycontains 139 excerpts from 26 of Mailer's books and uncollected periodical pieces; includes "The Shadow of the Crime: A Word from the Author", a one-page reflection on the 1960 stabbing of his second wife Adele; Mailer signed 25,000 copies
The Spooky Art: Thoughts on WritingSA2003miscellanyedited and introduced by J. Michael Lennon; contains previously published and original material
Modest Gifts: Poems and DrawingsMG2003poetryold (some revised) and new poems; reprint of DFL and poems from CAC
Why Are We at War?WWW2003essayassembled from two interviews and a speech, September 2002 to February 2003, against the Iraq war
Norman Mailer's Letters on An American Dream, 1963-1969LAD2004letters76 letters about the writing and publication of AAD, edited by J. Michael Lennon
The Big Empty: Dialogues on Politics, Sex, God, Boxing, Morality, Myth, Poker and Bad Conscience in AmericaBE2006conversationswith John Buffalo Mailer
The Castle in the ForestCIF2007novelspent 3 weeks on the bestseller list, achieving no. 5
On God: An Uncommon ConversationOG2007conversationswith J. Michael Lennon; edited transcripts of ten conversations between Lennon and Mailer, 2003–2006
Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays of Norman MailerMO2013collection49 important essays, 1948–2006, including "Freud" an unpublished essay from the mid-1950s; edited by Phillip Sipiora
The Selected Letters of Norman MailerSLNM2014letters714 letters, 1940 to 2007, selected from the approximately 50,000 Mailer wrote over his lifetime, edited by J. Michael Lennon
Norman Mailer: Four Books of the 1960s2018collectionLibrary of America #305 contains AAD, WVN, AON, and MSC; edited by J. Michael Lennon
Norman Mailer: Collected Essays of the 1960s2018collectionLibrary of America #306; edited by J. Michael Lennon
Lipton's: A Marijuana Journal2024journalA journal written in the winter of 1954–1955, containing an introduction, annotations, an index, and correspondence between Mailer and Robert Lindner; edited by J. Michael Lennon, Gerald R. Lucas, and Susan Mailer

Novels

TitleYearPublication Information
The Naked and the Dead1948New York: Rinehart, 6 May; London: Wingate, 9 May 1949.
Barbary Shore1951New York: Rinehart, 24 May; London: Cape, 21 January 1952.
The Deer Park1955New York: Putnam's, 14 October; London: Wingate, 1957.
An American Dream1965New York: Dial, 15 March. London: Deutsch, 26 April.
Why Are We in Vietnam?1967New York: Putnam's, 15 September; London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, March or April 1969.
A Transit to Narcissus1978New York: Howard Fertig, 29 March.
Of Women and Their Elegance1980New York: Simon and Schuster, 26 November; London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Ancient Evenings1983Boston: Little, Brown, 4 April; London: Macmillan, 26 May.
Tough Guys Don't Dance1984New York: Random House, 20 August; London: Michael Joseph, 15 October.
Harlot's Ghost1991New York: Random House, 2 October. London: Michael Joseph, October.
The Gospel According to the Son1997New York: Random House, 2 May; London: Little, Brown, 18 September.
The Castle in the Forest2007New York: Random House, 23 January.

Non-fiction

TitleYearPublication Information
The White Negro1959San Francisco: City Lights Books.
The Armies of the Night1968New York: New American Library.
Miami and the Siege of Chicago1968New York: New American Library.
Of a Fire on the Moon1971Boston: Little, Brown.
King of the Hill1971New York: New American Library.
Prisoner of Sex1971Boston: Little, Brown.
St. George and the Godfather1972New York: New American Library.
The Faith of Graffiti1974New York: Praeger.
The Fight1975Boston: Little, Brown.
Genius and Lust1976New York: Grove.
The Executioner's Song1979Boston: Little, Brown.
Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery1995New York: Random House.
Why Are We at War?2003New York: Random House.
Lipton's: A Marijuana Journal2024New York: Arcade.

Anthologies, collections and miscellanies

Beginning in 1959, it became a habit of Mailer's to release his periodical writing, excerpts, and the occasional new piece in collections and miscellanies every few years. Not including letters, Mailer had written for over 100 magazines and periodicals, including Dissent, Ladies Home Journal, One: The Homosexual Magazine, Playboy, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Harper's, New Yorker, and others.

TitleYearPublication Information
Advertisements for Myself1959New York: Putnam, 1959.
The Presidential Papers1963New York: Putnam, 1963.
Cannibals and Christians1966New York: Dial, 1966.
The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer1967New York: Dell, 1967.
The Idol and the Octopus1968New York: Dell, 1968.
The Long Patrol: 25 Years of Writing from the Work of Norman Mailer1971New York: World, 1971.
Existential Errands1972Boston: Little, Brown, 1972.
Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960-19721976Boston: Little, Brown, 1976.
The Essential Mailer1982Sevenoaks, Kent: New English Library, 1982.
Pieces and Pontifications1982Boston: Little, Brown, 1982.
The Time of Our Time1998New York: Random House, 1998.
The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing2003New York: Random House, 2003.
Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays of Norman Mailer2013New York: Random House: 2013.
Norman Mailer: Four Books of the 1960s2018New York: Library of America, 2018.
Norman Mailer: Collected Essays of the 1960s2018New York: Library of America, 2018.

Conversations and interviews

By 1986, Mailer had been interviewed approximately 200 times, perhaps more than any other American author on a wide range of topics. He may maintain that distinction today.

TitleYearPublication InformationNotes
Pieces and Pontifications1982Boston: Little, Brown, 1982.contains 20 interviews
Conversations with Norman Mailer1988Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.Edited by J. Michael Lennon.
The Big Empty2006New York: Nation Books.With John Buffalo Mailer.
On God: An Uncommon Conversation2007New York: Random House.With J. Michael Lennon.

Short stories

See main article: article and The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer.

TitleWrittenPublishedOriginal PublicationCollected InNotes
"The Greatest Thing in the World"19401941Harvard AdvocateStory 19 (1941); Hold Your Breath: Suspense Stories (1947); Story: The Fiction of the Forties (1949); AFM (1959); SFNM (1967)written during Mailer's sophomore year at Harvard; won Story magazine's eighth annual college writing contest
"Right Shoe on Left Foot"19411942Harvard Advocatenever reprinted
"Maybe Next Year"19411942Harvard AdvocateThe Harvard Advocate Anthology (1942); AFM (1959); SFNM (1967)written in Mailer's junior year at Harvard
"A Calculus at Heaven"1942 (Oct.)1944Cross-Section: A Collection of New American WritingAFM (1959); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)written for Robert Hillyer's English A-5 class in Mailer's senior year at Harvard
"The Paper House"1951–1952 (Winter)1952New World Writing: Second Mentor CollectionLilliput's Extra Holiday Reading (London 1953); AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); A Selection from the Short Fiction of Norman Mailer (1968); EM (1982); Stag (1975)based on an anecdote by Vance Bourjaily, to whom Mailer dedicated the story
"The Dead Gook"1951–1952 (Winter)1952Discovery, No. 1AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); A Selection from the Short Fiction of Norman Mailer (1968); EM (1982)
"The Language of Men"1951–1952 (Winter)1953EsquireVarious Temptations (1955); The Armchair Esquire (1958); AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); A Selection from the Short Fiction of Norman Mailer (1968); EM (1982)
"Pierrot"19511953World ReviewAFM (1959); SFNM (1967)published as "The Patron Saint of MacDougal Alley" in AFM and SFNM with changes
"The Notebook"1951–1952 (Winter)1953Cornhill Magazine no. 996The Berkley Book of Modern Writing, No. 3 (1956); AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)reprinted in The Mailer Review 12.1 (2018)
"The Man Who Studied Yoga"1951–1952 (Winter)1956New Short Novels 2AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); EM (1982); TOOT (1998)
"Advertisements for Myself on the Way Out"19581958Partisan Review 25AFM (1959); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)
"The Time of Her Time"19581959AFMSFNM (1967); Writer’s Choice: Each of Twenty American Authors Introduces His Own Best Story (1974); EM (1982); TOOT (1998)
"It"19391959AFMSFNM (1967)
"Great in the Hay"19501959AFMSFNM (1967)
"Truth and Being: Nothing and Time"1960 (Dec.)1962Evergreen Review no. 26PP (1963); SFNM (1967); Evergreen Review Reader: A Ten Year Anthology, 1962–1967, Vol. II (1980); EM (1982)
"The Locust Cry"19631963CommentaryPP (1963); CAC (1966); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)
"The Last Night: a Story"19621963EsquireCAC (1966); SFNM (1967); EM (1982); The Last Night (1984)reprinted in The Mailer Review 13.1 (2019) with an introduction by J. Michael Lennon
"The Killer: a Story"19601964Evergreen Review no. 32CAC (1966); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)
"Ministers of Taste: A Story"19651965Partisan Review no. 32CAC (1966); SFNM (1967); EM (1982)
"The Shortest Novel of Them All"19631967SFNMthe only story in SFNM that was not previously published
"The Blood of the Blunt"19512012The Mailer Reviewpreviously unpublished short story, circa 1951
"Love Buds"1942–432013The Mailer Reviewpreviously unpublished short story written in Mailer's senior year in college, 1942–43
"La Petite Bourgeoise"19512014The Mailer Reviewpreviously unpublished short story, circa 1951
"The Thalian Adventure"19512015The Mailer Reviewpreviously unpublished short story, circa 1951
"The Collision"19332016The Mailer ReviewMailer's first complete story, previously unpublished, written January 1933
"Dr. Bulganoff and the Solitary Teste"19512017The Mailer Reviewpreviously unpublished short story, circa 1951

Critical studies of Mailer's work

References

Notes

Citations

Works Cited