The reissue of Joseph Wenke’s thoughtful study, Mailer’s America,
provides renewed hope for a deeper understanding of Mailer’s
work. No other commentator has focused so relentlessly on the
deepest purpose of Mailer’s hugely varied oeuvre, namely to
“clarify a nation’s vision of itself.” Wenke’s examination inhabits,
patrols and maps the territory between the millennial promise
of America and its often dispiriting actuality. His study contains
probing, nuanced and careful examinations of all Mailer’s work
though the mid-1980s, including one of the first major examinations
of Mailer’s most demanding novel, Ancient Evenings. Wenke’s book
deserves a wide audience, and is essential reading for all who have
enjoyed Mailer’s work.
J. Michael Lennon
Author of the authorized biography, Norman Mailer: A Double Life
provides renewed hope for a deeper understanding of Mailer’s
work. No other commentator has focused so relentlessly on the
deepest purpose of Mailer’s hugely varied oeuvre, namely to
“clarify a nation’s vision of itself.” Wenke’s examination inhabits,
patrols and maps the territory between the millennial promise
of America and its often dispiriting actuality. His study contains
probing, nuanced and careful examinations of all Mailer’s work
though the mid-1980s, including one of the first major examinations
of Mailer’s most demanding novel, Ancient Evenings. Wenke’s book
deserves a wide audience, and is essential reading for all who have
enjoyed Mailer’s work.
J. Michael Lennon
Author of the authorized biography, Norman Mailer: A Double Life
