November 12, 2007
Literary lion Norman Mailer dies
If you're not familiar with Norman Mailer, go ahead and dig up "The Executioner's Song." Mailer is, without question, a superb and original storyteller - and always had a mouthful to say about anything and everything. I have a lot of respect for this writer, although he left me rather perplexed with his 1983 novel "Ancient Evenings." While he was always in pursuit for that "great American novel" all his life, the title "literary giant" is befitting.
A journalist, but not quite fond of journalism, he once said:
"...generally speaking journalism is sloppy writing, and unless you have a real talent, it can injure you to write too quickly, come to too many conclusions. It’s frantic and hysterical.
"Lots of journalism writing is bad because the pressure of being a good writer is not the first talent you need to be a good journalist. The first talent you need is the emotional readiness to introduce yourself to strangers and pick their brains."
And a quote the husband will surely agree about journalism:
"You can't be too certain about what happened."
