American literature of the second half of 20 century

Norman Mailer

• American writer Norman Mailer’s works often explore subconscious impulses and reflect his liberal political outlook. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for Armies of the Night, which recounts his experiences as part of the Washington peace rallies that year.

Norman Mailer

• His service in the United States Army during World War II (1939-1945) provided background material for his naturalistic novel The Naked and the Dead (1948), which was a critical and financial success. Mailer’s next novels, Barbary Shore (1951) and The Deer Park (1955), were considered by many to be disappointments. He revived his reputation with “The White Negro” (1957), a sociological essay, and Advertisements for Myself (1959), a collection of essays, reviews, notebook entries, and unfinished stories that was an artistic search for alternative modes of expression. Mailer’s next novels, An American Dream (1965) and Why Are We in Vietnam? (1967), explored the place of violence in modern American life.