[monkey]

To me, mailer has always seemed like a guy who thought that other people would not think of him as manly because he was a writer, so he had to do all this posturing.

Mailer idolized Hemingway, at a time when Hemingway was a literary and celebrity giant. In Advertisements for Myself, Mailer suggested that Hemingway be elected President, because then we would have a real man in charge. ("President Eisenhower was a bit of a woman.")

So he became a 5'3" imitation of Papa, except that he couldn't box, and couldn't write very well (The Executioner's song was O.K.)

Mailer has a shock value publicity approach. It's sad when anyone takes him seriously, as in the Abbot case.

[Pharmboy]

I remember a few decades ago watching Mailer on TV telling the interviewer that writing was like boxing, with the writer facing the typewriter (the adversary) "punching" the keys (as he said this he shot out a few quick jabs with his index fingers pointed towards an imaginary Smith-Corona). I though to myself: "What an *sshole."