He made his mark: Norman Mailer dies

At 7:52 CST, Norman Mailer's Wikipedia entry included today - Nov. 10, 2007 - as his death date. That type of immediacy and importance was something mailer strived for in the iconic writer's lifetime of work. Along with Hunter S. Thompson, and Truman Capote, Mailer led the charge of the 1950's-1970s Era of the Journal-Novelist. Mailer said his generation wanted to be like Hemingway and often allowed his personality to be as big as the words.

The Literati may struggled with that.

Mailer was controversial. He certainly gets props for making his mark; one wonders how history will regard him. He found second fame in the 60's, putting easily the coat of literary rock star. The question is with literature is either how entertaining, accurate (as in "Truth") or creative one is - and how (if at all) one will be remembered (and why).

A great movie about writers, in case you ever want to see, is WONDERBOYS starring Michael Douglas and Tobey McGuire. The soundtrack includes a wicked song by Bob Dylan ("Things Have Changed"). Writing is about doing, but it's also about NOT writing. When you don't (or can't write), Life for a writer is like trying to walk across an ice rink full of marbles.