Norman Mailer: 50 Years of Writing - Page 2© Robert Powers
Page 2
Jul 3, 1998
Mailer's 1983 epic, Ancient Evenings, received mixed notices, ranging from those who found the tale of ancient Egypt unreadable. But writer Anthony Burgess called the novel "one of the great works of contemporary mythopoesis." I contend that Mailer's work, especially over the past decade, has been too uneven to nail down for him a position as one of the great writers of the 20th century. His ego, his attitudes toward women (both insulting and reverential), and his combativeness disqualify him for greatness, according to some. But revisiting bits of the entire Mailer repertoire in The Time of Our Time may cause a revival in Mailer's status. Perhaps not in the top echelon of the century's best, he certainly demands attention as a writer who seldom bores, who's always willing to try new things, to attack fresh avenues, and to go where less adventurous authors fear to tread.
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you are an asshole. it seems you like mailer, but afraid to give him kudos because it wouldn't be PC. Mailer is certainly one of the greatest of this century, precisely for hs honesty and articulation ...
-- posted by michaelrusso
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My assumption is that the book title is a reflection of perhaps the best of his short stories, one that sticks in my head and kept me reading Mailer long after I really had lost interest in his prose. ...
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I am intrigued by the Title "Time of our Time, particularly as I recall a very powerful and revealing short story of his called "Time of Her Time"
I wonder if some resonance of that story and its
m ...
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