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Norman Mailer

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The Executioner's Song Paperback – International Edition, April 28, 1998

by Norman Mailer (Author)

1,938 ratings

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Pulitzer PrizeWinner, 1980

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Winner of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize

In what is arguably his greatest book, America's most heroically ambitious writer follows
the short, blighted career of Gary Gilmore, an intractably violent product of America's
prisons who became notorious for two reasons: first, for robbing two men in 1976, then
killing them in cold blood; and, second, after being tried and convicted, for insisting on
dying for his crime. To do so, he had to fight a system that seemed paradoxically intent on
keeping him alive long after it had sentenced him to death.

Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story--and those of the men and women caught up in his
procession toward the firing squad--with implacable authority, steely compassion, and a
restraint that evokes the parched landscapes and stern theology of Gilmore's Utah. The
Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks to the deepest sources of
American loneliness and violence. It is a towering achievement--impossible to put down, impossible to forget.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Winner of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize

In what is arguably his greatest book, America's most heroically ambitious writer follows
the short, blighted career of Gary Gilmore, an intractably violent product of America's
prisons who became notorious for two reasons: first, for robbing two men in 1976, then
killing them in cold blood; and, second, after being tried and convicted, for insisting on
dying for his crime. To do so, he had to fight a system that seemed paradoxically intent on
keeping him alive long after it had sentenced him to death.

Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story--and those of the men and women caught up in his
procession toward the firing squad--with implacable authority, steely compassion, and a
restraint that evokes the parched landscapes and stern theology of Gilmore's Utah. The
Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks to the deepest sources of
American loneliness and violence. It is a towering achievement--impossible to put down, impossible to forget.

From the Back Cover

"The big book no one but Mailer could have dared. . . . Absolutely astonishing." --Joan Didion, The New York Times Book Review

"Literature of the highest order. . . . It lives in the mind long after the last page has been read." --Miami Herald

"A harrowing, absolutely eyes-on account . . . elevated by Mailer's genius into art." --Houston Chronicle

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 28, 1998
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st Vintage Internat
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 1072 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375700811
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375700811
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 1.77 x 7.98 inches
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 960L

Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,819 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #3,618 in Criminology (Books)
- #7,094 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction

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1,938 ratings

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Norman Mailer

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Norman Kingsley Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007) was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film-maker, actor and political activist. His novel The Naked and the Dead was published in 1948. His best-known work was widely considered to be The Executioner's Song, which was published in 1979, and for which he won one of his two Pulitzer Prizes. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, his book Armies of the Night was awarded the National Book Award.

Along with Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, which uses the style and devices of literary fiction in fact-based journalism.

Mailer was also known for his essays, the most renowned of which was "The White Negro." He was a cultural commentator and critic, expressing his views through his novels, journalism, essays and frequent media appearances.

In 1955, Mailer and four others founded The Village Voice, an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper distributed in Greenwich Village.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Customers find the book engaging and well-written, with one describing it as a page-turner from beginning to end. Moreover, the narrative receives positive feedback for being a compelling account of life. However, the book's length of over 1100 pages receives mixed reactions, with some appreciating its thoroughness while others find it too long. Additionally, the character development and pacing receive negative feedback, with customers finding the characters unsympathetic and the pacing dragging. Moreover, the emotional depth and interest levels are also criticized, with customers describing the book as beyond dull and hard to maintain interest.

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Readability Length Character development Interest Emotional depth Pacing

87 customers mention "Readability"87 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a masterpiece that keeps them engaged from beginning to end.

"...to scare anyone away, but the joy you take in reading it is well worth the time...." Read more

"...the necessary elements to turn this epic project into a beautiful, insightful novel...." Read more

"...The Executioner's Song is a TRUE classic. A great novel by NORMAN MAILER (1-31-23 /11-10-2007). It was a HUGE..." Read more

"...sides their voice in regards to Gilmore's latter days and execution is really charming...." Read more

35 customers mention "Length"13 positive22 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's length, with several noting it is over 1100 pages long.

"...I think it was unnecessarily long. Tedious...." Read more

"...This novel is the true definition of an epic; it has a large scope that encapsulates probably everything that surrounded these events...." Read more

"A very long book, but it keeps your interest the entire time. Pulitzer winner -" Read more

"This book is over 1,000 pages long. There is a moderately interesting true crime story here about Gary Gilmore...." Read more

19 customers mention "Character development"7 positive12 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book, with some finding them interesting while others describe them as unsympathetic and horrible.

"...Nicole was an atrocious mother. (Don't you wonder what became of her children?)..." Read more

"...This is quite a twist that makes Gilmore even more of an interesting character...." Read more

"...Yet we are presented with their life stories, and these are not interesting people, execept to the people who know them...." Read more

"...There is just too much detail about insignificant players in the story— which could have been told concisely in 500 less pages...." Read more

19 customers mention "Interest"0 positive19 negative

Customers find the book unengaging, describing it as dull and uninteresting, particularly noting that the narrative shifts make it difficult to follow.

"...Indeed, it drags away from the plot until I feel I don't care anymore. I don't feel compassion or much interest for Gilmore or Nicole...." Read more

"...REGARDING TO NOT WANTING TO FINISH THE BOOK DUE TO FINDING IT EXTREMELY TIRESOME AND DIFFICULT TO CONCENTRATE ON...." Read more

"...It was such a chore to keep reading but I was determined to get to the end of this darn thing, quietly hoping I would find some redeeming value in..." Read more

"...This book is beyond dull. Except for Gilmore, no one ever heard of the rest of the people in this book before or since they met Gilmore...." Read more

15 customers mention "Emotional depth"4 positive11 negative

Customers find the emotional depth of the book lacking, with one customer describing it as highly disturbing and another noting the author's excessive sympathy for the murderer.

"...However, the main theme is at moments repulsive, a reflection of a real life...." Read more

"...of these people had no redeeming value, and it was hard to find sympathy for any of them, apart from the tragically murdered victims and their..." Read more

"...Apparently Gilmore was a gifted artist and poet and could even be a tender lover, as evidenced by his love letters to Nicole, many of which are..." Read more

"(Spoiler!) Highly disturbing book about Gary Gilmore, the convicted murderer in the 1970's that did not want his death sentence appealed and his..." Read more

13 customers mention "Pacing"2 positive11 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book dragging out forever.

"...All in all, it's a great book, but tends to drag." Read more

"...By the end there were so many people involved, I felt like I needed a flow chart...." Read more

"...that at the end of the book, for the last 200 pages or so, it tends to drag a bit. It is considered by some, including me, to be Mailer's best book...." Read more

"...It held my interest most of the time, except when it seemed to really lag during the portion of the book dealing with who would have rights to Gary..." Read more

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MG
Considerations about the death penalty
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2014
Format: KindleVerified Purchase

The "Executioner's Song" may have deserved the Pulitzer price since the way it's written is exceptional, in my humble opinion and from my layman point of view. I consider Mailer a superb writer, having read "Of a fire on the moon" and "The Armies of the Night" and plan to read a couple more books.

However, the main theme is at moments repulsive, a reflection of a real life. Making a book about a low life character and thinking if he deserves all the attention could cause a mental dilemma. It has some " Romeo and Juliet" characteristics, but the whole background is dirty and on a criminal level. The media coverage described could be considered exploitative, immoral and unethical (in spite of having financed the making of this book).

This book shows some of the inclinations of Mailer who liked tough and dirty talk, and made me wonder if he symphatized with the main character of the book, Gilmore, having had some criminal behavior himself when Mailer stabbed his wife.

Something that makes this book important is the detailed description of an average small town in America and a particular moment that reflecte a different era. The way that Mailer can describe the tiles of a floor or the hardware of a door are almost photographic. This is an aspect of life that can be considered of historic value and a point of view usually forgotten,

The book may have a practical purpose which is to ponder about the jail system, system that does not rehabilitate in most cases, on the contrary, criminals may get worst as in the case of Gilmore. Also, it helps create an opinion about the death penalty. As always, Mailer will not give you the right direction but will offer you the several posibilities of analysis on any topic such as the death penalty. In this case having read that killing someone who killed made me make up my mind against it,since it is a contradiction. Also, it makes you think about those who pulled the trigger and the guilt they may experience in the rest of their lives,

What I was not expecting to find was how the media can profit from a criminal life. It makes you think about the moral issue of celebrating a murderer and how money may flow into non-deserving pockets. Gilmore was paid for the rights of his story and distributed the money amongst his family and "friends". In another proof of his crook mind he gave $2,000 to a jail mate and only thought about his needy mother when he was reminded of her and instructed his uncle to give her only $1,000 (from about $50,000).

The story also shows how desconsiderate Gilmore was, when he brainwashed his girlfriend to commit suicide, knowing that she had two kids that would be left out without a mother, and a family who would suffer. The book mentions the high IQ of Gilmore, who at the same time behaved like a retarded and selfish person.

Conclusion, this is a well written book, probably not for everybody since it needs to be read with a mature mind.

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LauraLMHS
IRONIES ABOUND IN NORMAN MAILER'S AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING IN THE TRUE CRIME GENRE
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2018
Verified Purchase
The tale of Gary Gilmore is one of those "You can't make this stuff up" kind of stories. Gilmore, whose name shall live in infamy, spent 18 of the last 22 years of his life in reform schools and prisons for crimes mostly in the nature of robbery and burglary; he was 36 years old when he was executed for murder by the State of Utah in 1977. Beginning as a tale of a career criminal, the Executioner’s Song evolves into what is tantamount to a modern-day morality play.

During a release on parole, in a terrible twist of fate for his victims (a gas station attendant and a motel manager), Gilmore, in the course of robbery, murdered two people (family men both) in cold blood, execution style, for no greater reason than he needed money to buy a used car.

Gilmore is tried, convicted and sentenced. Sentenced to death, that is, in a case that culminated in the first state-sanctioned execution in American history in the prior ten years. His sentence, or more accurately, his resigned acceptance of his sentence, is the very crux of this story.

Having languished in “the system” for so long, Gilmore is adamant that he does NOT want to spend the rest of his life in prison and, more significantly, that he will NOT fight or appeal his conviction or his sentence.

Ironies are rife and abounding in this story, to the point where it would be comedic…if it weren’t so tragic.

Gilmore is both cowardly and brave at the same time: cowardly in the dastardly acts he perpetrated with seemingly no moral compunction, but brave in his acceptance of his fate with no vacillation and no trepidation, fully steadfast and prepared to take his lumps. Throughout the story – while everyone else, it seems, is trying to save his hide - Gilmore is unwavering in his determination and has no second thoughts about accepting what is doled out to him. It is almost darkly comedic to read of his angry reactions full of cuss words upon learning that the Court has granted him yet another stay of execution. He is quite prepared to die, and chooses death by firing squad as his preferred method.

The overriding irony of this story is that while Gilmore himself is accepting of his fate, all manner of third-parties, including the ACLU and NAACP and members of his own family, are rallying and litigating on his behalf (against his wishes!) to appeal and/or stay his sentence. The notion of “mandatory appeal” is one I found particularly intriguing. Did Gilmore have the “right” to waive an appeal? Is it Constitutional to allow an execution to proceed without at least one appeal? Since these issues posed such a novel legal encounter at the time, the courts – local courts, appellate courts and even the Supreme Court of the United States – were bombarded with appeals and various requests on Gilmore’s behalf (regardless of his own intentions), resulting in a whirlwind of orders, stays and writs.

There is a harrowing description as the book nears its climax of how, on the eve of his scheduled execution date, a small group of attorneys takes a treacherous helicopter flight over the mountains to the Tenth Circuit Court to try to stave off the execution. When that fails, the matter is taken to the U.S. Supreme Court in an “eleventh hour” attempt and there is a scene – just like in old Hollywood movies – where the Warden is awaiting a call to say that the execution is off. (Except in this case, the call comes in to say that the execution is NOT off, and Gilmore is ultimately put to death, on January 17, 1977.)

In addition to the “mandatory appeal” question, there is also great hair-splitting on the question of “day versus time,” i.e. if the execution cannot for whatever reason be carried out at the exact time of day as set forth in the order of execution, does that nullify the sentence? Or can the execution still legally take place at another time during the same day?

In a secondary stroke of irony, during his incarceration, Gilmore makes not one but TWO suicide attempts. In addition, he embarks on a month-long hunger strike. The authorities ensure that each time he is at death’s door, he is revived, all for the end of putting him to death anyway!

Bottom line is that The Executioner’s Song offers up a banquet of ironies and legal and moral conundrums.

Then there is the love story. During his (brief) period out on parole Gilmore meets and falls deeply in love with a beautiful young girl by name of Nicole, who almost serves as his muse. In fact, the two are so obsessed with one another, they actually enter into a suicide pact. A good part of the beginning of the book is devoted to this symbiotic relationship and it serves to underscore yet another great irony in this story: Apparently Gilmore was a gifted artist and poet and could even be a tender lover, as evidenced by his love letters to Nicole, many of which are excerpted throughout the book. And yet at the same time he could be prone to fits of anger and rage, enough to end in a cold-blooded double murder.

Ironically (once again), Gary Gilmore is larger in death than he ever was in life, certainly larger than the two poor souls who so tragically lost their lives to his violent outburst, whose names have been practically lost in the mists of time.

As for the way this book is written, this is going to sound downright iconoclastic to the mighty Norman Mailer, but I wasn’t terribly impressed with his style of writing. In fact, I found some of his turns of phrase rather awkward and at times even cringe-worthy. Citing but one example on page 990: "….his bowels flared up like a calf bawling." That being said, I certainly was impressed with his thoroughness and this book (weighing in at 1109 pages) is no doubt an ambitious undertaking. Moreover, Mailer excels at describing the machinations of the attorneys involved in this case and the veritable circles upon circles of appeals by outside parties and parties acting without Gilmore’s consent, encompassing state, circuit and Supreme courts. He also describes to a “T” the ghoulish members of the press and other hangers-on who want a piece of Gilmore and strive to make a buck off of him.

The Executioner’s Song is fact but reads almost like a legal thriller. The actual execution is a “down to the wire” experience such as you might read in a work of fiction or view in an old-time movie-of-the-week. But this is NOT a work of fiction; instead Mailer’s tale ranks among the classics of true crime, right up there with Truman Capote and Joe McGinniss and Joseph Wambaugh.

The story is told in excruciating detail. This may be a criticism in the early chapters of the book, but edging toward story’s end, the tension mounts and we are given a sense of immediacy such that the reader can almost hear the clock ticking inside his head. We are walking that last mile side by side with Gilmore. And it doesn’t end with the execution, as we are subjected to the gruesome descriptions of the autopsy and the cremation, as well as touching excerpts from his eulogy by his family and, oddly enough, the attorneys who had gotten to know him so well over those last few nerve-wracking months.

All in all, this was a good easy-to-read book that will really draw the reader in and pose numerous life questions to ponder, not the least of which is the morality of capital punishment and the taking of a life in vengeance for another.

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Top reviews from other countries

D. Will
Excellent
Reviewed in France on May 12, 2015
Verified Purchase

But needlessly long. Minute detail on meaningless characters. Could have been half as long and twice as riveting. But worth the effort.

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Paul Richard Mc Mahon
Wonderful book
Reviewed in Spain on September 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
Beautifully written, this is my favourite of Mailer's books. Even more powerful is Gilmore's brother's (Mikal, a Rolling Stone journalist) account of his family story. It is called 'Shot in the Heart' and is the most heart-rending true story of abuse and pain and the different ways people deal with pain that I have ever read. It also contains the creepies and most believable ghost story I have ever read.

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Scott Mavor
Classic masterpiece
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
Had a copy which I read while back in school. Unfortunately as time goes on we move to the latest hot bestseller. This book should be on school curriculum everywhere as it gives insight how society can help create sociopathic criminals. It's still a facinating read that makes you not put it down. It is also important as it may get readers to try other books by Norman Mailer. An author who at the time was a cultural icon. Take the chance buy the book and read away

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Mauricio S Jardini
I liked more the part about if one should or not appel when sentenced to death penalty
Reviewed in Brazil on July 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
It was very interesting the argument that it has to be an appel when someone is setenced to death, with his concent or not.

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maria boylan
Excellent read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
Well, I didn't think I would do it but, I did. All 1,000 odd pages and now I can't find another book to equal it.
There were about two or three places in the book where I found my interest waning a bit, the media deals being done and the amount of different characters involved, but Mr. Mailer hauled me back in again.

I can see why The Executioner's Song won the Pulitzer prize. It is a book that really gets you thinking about the whole circus that was Gary Gilmore's execution. I can't decide if Gilmore was a very clever individual and playing the State at a game of chicken by making his death wish appear to be an illegal suicide thus dragging his sentence out for years and years with legal wranglings or if he genuinely wanted to die.
The man was a master of manipulation and clearly intelligent so, my first question about his agenda would fit. Don't let the size of the book put you off buying it. You will finish it. Highly recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Considerations about the death penalty

4.0 out of 5 stars IRONIES ABOUND IN NORMAN MAILER'S AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING IN THE TRUE CRIME GENRE

Top reviews from other countries

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic masterpiece

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked more the part about if one should or not appel when sentenced to death penalty

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read.

Considerations about the death penalty

IRONIES ABOUND IN NORMAN MAILER'S AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING IN THE TRUE CRIME GENRE

Excellent

Wonderful book

Classic masterpiece

I liked more the part about if one should or not appel when sentenced to death penalty

Excellent read.