This page highlights some of the major works of Norman Mailer housed in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Thomas Cooper Library, which has a substantial Mailer collection. These items, along with additional printed items and pieces of correspondence, will be on display in the Thomas Cooper Library West Gallery from September - October 2007.

Beginning with his first book, The Naked and the Dead, the first major novel of the Second World War, Mailer has continuously explored nuances of life and love, violence, celebrity, and power in his many works of fiction, nonfiction and the "nonfiction novel." In addition to his extensive writing career, Mailer has written and directed films, run for public office, and been a mainstay of American cultural and intellectual life for the past sixty years. Additional information about these books, as well as a complete listing of our extensive Mailer holdings, can be found by searching the library catalog, limiting to "Columbia Cooper Rare Books."

The Naked and the Dead. New York: Rinehart, 1948. Gift of Joel Myerson.

Barbary Shore. New York: Rinehart, 1951. Mailer's second novel, set during the immediate aftermath of World War II and how world events affected a cast of six: two women, three men, and a child.

The Deer Park. New York: Putnam’s, 1955. Inscribed by Mailer: “To Mike / fulfilling one of our annual traditions / say hey! / Norman.” “Mike” is Michael Lennon, Mailer’s bibliographer and a long-time friend. The novel is the story of a pair of affairs in Hollywood’s movie community.

The White Negro. San Francisco: City Lights, 1957. Signed by Mailer. Mailer's seminal cultural essay on hipsters and the Beats.

One, The Homosexual Magazine. Volume III (1), 1955. First Edition in wrappers. This issue contains Mailer’s essay “The Homosexual Villain.” Signed by Mailer on the front cover.  

Advertisements For Myself. New York: Putnam’s, 1959. Inscribed by Mailer. His first collection of essays and non fiction. The back of the jacket, pictured above, included his most memorable and superlative review quotes to date.

The Presidential Papers. New York: Putnam’s, 1963. Inscribed by Mailer: “To Ruth McNulty / to whom I still owe a drink of champagne. / Norman Mailer / Nov. 1963.” Mailer offers an overview of America’s political system in a series of 12 “Presidential Papers,” addressing such topics as juvenile delinquency, a Kennedy miscellany, the debate with William Buckley, and the "metaphysics of the belly."

An American Dream. New York: Dial Press, 1965. Inscribed by Mailer to American literary critic Lionel Trilling: “To Lionel / with high - I fear - regard. / Norman, Feb. ‘65.” Mailer’s first work of fiction in 10 years, it revolves around Stephen Richards Rojack, a war hero/professor who, from his home base in New York’s Upper East Side, journeys through every imaginable evil in the space of 32 hours.

Cannibals and Christians. New York: Dial Press, 1966. Inscribed by Mailer: “To Dr. George A. Silver / some silky writing with sour(?) spots for… / cordially / Norman Mailer / April 1967.” Mailer’s well-rounded, “heaven-pointed” sensibility engages such topics as literature, politics, architecture, science, and war, and poses a pair of pointed questions: “How do we live in America in this age - and what is the quality of our experience?” 

Why Are We In Vietnam? New York: Putnam’s, 1967.

The Bullfight. New York: CBS Records/MacMilllan, 1967. First Edition in dust jacket with a long-playing 33 1/3 RPM record featuring Mailer reading from his text with music and the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca.