Norris Church Mailer (1941–2010)

Memoirs are typically not my favorite reads but I was intrigued by the reviews I read of Mailer's along with the New York Times Magazine profile. Thankfully I didn't listen to all of the Norman Mailer fans who have been "dissing" this book.

Norris Church Mailer is candid and witty. She is unapologetic without sounding pompous. Her writing is crisp and ironic, hilarious in spots and heart-breaking in others.

You may not envy her often testy life with "this old, fat, bombastic, lying little show more dynamo" but you'll be glued to her account of it. Plus you'll pray that the author's health allows her to tour in your neck of the woods. (Pssst - Norris. Portland, Oregon beckons!)

Recommended for folks who enjoy Diana Athill ("Somewhere Towards the End") and Lucette Lagnado ("The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit.") show less

Honest, gripping memoir from the last wife of Norman Mailer who, by herself, is an amazingly talented artist, actress, and writer.

Theirs is not the all-American love story, but it is an accurate portrayal of two people struggling to reconcile their differences, forgive betrayals, and embrace each other "for better or for worse."

The humanity in this book is worth reading. Norris has a gift of the artist's eye for the perfect image. Her style is very different than Mailer's, but it is engaging show more and moving all the same.

If you are looking for a great memoir about what it means to try to love the one you married for over 30 years, this is the book for you. There are no easy answers, but a lot of sharing and caring and honesty from a woman who has been there and done that. show less

I love reading life stories of any kind, especially those by or about writers. So when I heard Norris Church Mailer had written a memoir, I immediately raced out and got, read it, and savored it.

Then I mentioned it to a couple of people. "Norman Mailer was a good writer, but how could she have stayed with such a misogynistic, gruff ogre for over thirty years?" was the general response I got. Slightly taken aback by the deep emotional response these intelligent people had toward Norman show more Mailer, who consequently none of them knew personally, I gave it some thought. Norris Church Mailer refers to this image of her husband, and paints a portrait of a man with good and bad points, who was very passionate and loving and driven in his professioanl pursuits as well as his romantic conquests.

From reading this memoir and from reading some of Mailer's novels and interviews he gave during his career, I see an intelligent man who was perhaps a bit immature, certainly irresponsible in handling relationships, but this picture I have of him is not much different form many other creative types of people who are driven, confident and disciplined in terms of their work habits. And who whose work I admire.

But I have already spent too much space talking about Norman Mailer, because he really isn't the most fascinating part of this book. It is Norris Church herself. She is a gifted storyteller, with southern and modest roots I can relate to, and she accomplishes the feat of being true to herself. She doesn't fall into the trap that some people do of making everything in her life sound wonderful; she doesn't brag on herself, but then she presents no false modesty either. A difficult feat to pull off.

She presents a valid answer to the eternal question of what draws a young, attractive person into a realtionship with an older, more established person: here a man with great talent living a somewhat glamorous New York lifestyle is part of it, but there are many more layers. I think the light she sheds on May-December relationships is one of themost valuable contributions of the book

In addition, she shows the many different sides of herself as a woman, growing and evolving at a time when women's roles in society were very much in flux. She calls herself a feminist, but keeps saying how she was the one taking care of her large family, holding it all together. These seemingly conflicting roles very much define many women of her generation.

She grows as a writer and artist, by practicing her skills, but also by taking chances in living her life. All of us who seek to get better as various creative enterprises should remember the importance of that. show less

Far more entertaining than it had any right to be. The book meanders a lot, and God knows I don't find Norman Mailer's behavior to be nearly as charming or understandable as she did, but still a very solid--if somewhat name-droppy--memoir.