"An American Dream" by Norman Mailer

I had bought this book sometime ago, put it on my shelf, and forget about it immediately. I had never read a Norman Mailer book before, and though the name was well known to me, I was completely unfamiliar with both his life and his works. As an introduction to the legendary career of one of American history's truly epic characters, "An American Dream" was a real kick in the pants. Having possessed no context for the tone of the book, I was a little shocked. This book is offensive! And, if you are familiar at all with my tastes in art, you would know I appreciate offensive.

If you didn't know, now you know: Norman Mailer is one of the bad dudes of the 20th century. After finishing his book, I had to go Wikipedia him. The dude lived one helluva life. Raised in Brooklyn, Mailer attended Harvard University, fought in WWII in the Philippines, co-founded the Village Voice, won the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award, stabbed one of his 6 wives with a penknife in the middle of a party, and helped parole a convicted killer who, 6 weeks later, killed another victim. He fought many demons in his day, and it is often said that the main character in "An American Dream", Stephen Rojack, is somewhat autobiographical. That is not a good thing for Norman Mailer, I must say.

"An American Dream" is all about one guy: Stephen Rojack. A denizen of dismal New York City, Rojack is a decorated WWII vet, an ex-congressman, a university professor, a TV personality, and an all around successful society type. When he married the wicked, influential, and matronly Deborah, he married the only daughter of the billionaire boss-man Oswald Barney Kelly. When he killed Deborah by strangling her and then dumping her body out of a highrise, he married the filthy, haunted fate of a sick man.

The story opens with the story of how Rojack, during a German battle in WWII, maniacally and robotically stormed a defended hill and blew up 4 enemy gunmen, thereby defending his troop and conquering the day. The significance of that experience resonates throughout the rest of the story. We find connected thoughts and emotions, and small rememberences of the day he first killed. It may even be suggested that this experience dramatically effects Rojack's morality and sense of superstition. I say this because everything that happens subsequently is a delerious nightmare.

This book is dark. Really dark for its publication in 1965. This book is dedicated to chronicling about 2 days in the recent life of Stephen Rojack, and the man is truly a monster. A raging alcoholic, a liar, a killer, a psychotic, and a nymphomaniac, the man is governed by forces he cannot come to grips with. He is a puppet, and a wacked-out puppet at that. He is extraordinarily superstitous and places his fate in ritual, he lives out the moral battle between God and Satan, he is capricious and controlled by his vascillating moods, and he always makes the wrong choice. The man's breath reeks of cigarettes, gin, and hate. I was often reminded of pulp fiction writing in this book. Rojack and the other characters have this sharp, disturbed, obscuring animation to them, and the rainy, grimy city sets the perfect stage for a noir ambience. The zietgiests of the time manifest in a reversed ethos of greed, perversity, disease, and evil. And it's clear in this book that the richer and more powerful man, the more violent the fight for their morality.

Several works came to mind while reading "An American Dream". First of all, I can't help but think Bret Easton Ellis had this book in mind when he wrote "American Psycho". Beyond the title, Ellis's book mimicks many similar themes: violence, death, compulsion, indulgence, grim powers operating under the surface, the state of our culture, and pandemic phsychosis. The level of sickness and the personal narrative perspective also connect the two works. Also, I thought of Jack Kerouac and Cormac MacCarthy towards the end.

The title of this book suggests a couple of things. First off, the whole book has a very palpable dream-like quality. It's hazy, amnesiac, evocative, and lethargic. Nightmarish. Also, it suggests that, if the "successful" characters in the book have acheived the "American Dream", then how effed up is that? And, just as a juxtaposition to the entire work, "An American Dream" just drips with satire. A good working title, in my opinion.

One thing is for sure: Norman Mailer is a writer of immense talent. At 265 pages, this book just zooms along with a virtuoso's elegance. There are passages in this book that just sweep you up and zone you out. With thriftiness and savagery, Mailer delivers a brutal round-house punch to the cranium with a velvet gloved fist. Enchanting and haunting simultaneously.

I have to be honest, though. As I closed the book upon finishing it and set it on the table, I realized I was missing something. This happens to every reader out there from time to time, I think. Your conception of the book just feels unfinished, even though the book itself is through. Well, sure, I thought this book was satisfying in many ways, but due to the stratospheric heights on which this book operates, it's tough to keep your feet on the ground towards the end. (Take this as a challenge, and not a negative review).

Read it, but use discretion.

Quote: "Then I was caught. For I wanted to escape from that intelligence which let me know of murders in one direction and conceive of visits to Cherry from the other, I wanted to be free of magic, the tongue of the Devil, the dread of the Lord, I wanted to be some sort of rational man again, nailed tight to details, promiscuous, reasonable, blind to the reach of the seas. But I could not move." pg 255