This is the same bunch that gleefully piled on Anna Nicole Smith when her corpse was still warm. You could hardly have expected better.

there are TWO threads on the same topic. many have said this policy is a mistake, but Salon nevertheless persists. i suppose the By-Line is All Powerful. This is the derogatory thread, if you wish the adulatory thread you need to go to the other. (something like the Monte Python skit)

. . . the most overrated writer of his generation. His non-fiction was completely untrustworthy and his fiction (often one in the same) almost unreadable.

I came back to this thread to correct a mistake in my last posting. When I quoted Auden's line (with a change), I had him writing "pardon" instead of "pardons." Bugs me to misquote a poet I really like. Would have to change the syntax of my sentence, but shouldn't have missed this.

Reading through other letters, I noticed the post from Nathforde. Two things: 1) It hardly seems accurate to characterize ALL the letters posted as attacking Mailer. It is true, I have reservations about his talent, and so am willing to suffer Nathforde's scorn, but many of these writers praise Mailer. 2) What is it exactly about dying that implies we should be less than honest regarding how we feel about the person who dies? Does the person suddenly become more virtuous, more talented? I would agree that it is chickenshit to pile on a person only after they die, when they cannot fight back. But I, and many others, have openly said what we thought while Mailer was alive. Why should we pretend now that we didn't think it? And incidentally, Nathforde, it is you who connects Mailer to Anna Nicole Smith. None of the rest of us suggested such a thing. In my opinion, of the two, Mailer was unquestionably the more gifted writer.

It was I who brought up Anna Nicole Smith. Your joke (Mailer was the more gifted writer) is funny, and it suggests that you did understand my point: that the readers of this magazine are itchin' for celebrities to die, their virtues be damned, so they can bring the gods down from Olympus.

No, david, I'm not the Anonymous from the adulatory thread. I'm the one who feels really bad for you that Garry's got a new (and annoyingly faux-incoherent) sidekick.

Yes, and fair enough as a general critique of a tendency in our culture, to first elevate people for no very good reason and then vindictively tear them down.

However, I have honest opinions about Mailer which I have held for a long time. I suspect most writers here have such opinions too, and that most of the people posting are not attempting to vilify a dead celebrity. (Some are, of course.) Those like myself simply resist automatic hagiography of the deceased, such as we saw in the disgraceful outpouring of sentiment about how wonderful Reagan was.

Have always had opinions about Anna Nicole Smith, too, but except for these posts, have never mentioned her in any forum. Mailer, by me, was at least interesting enough to disagree with.

i'm glad you don't like bebop-o, but some folks find him a treasure. i think it must be mostly the vietnam vets, like garry. it's really a tight club - they went through a lot and would feel that it was a profound betrayal if they *didn't* support each other wholeheartedly. it's funny when they disagree, they always preface their remarks with the obligatory, "i thank you for your service", like it was a waiter or something. but then, there are people here who think i'm psychotic, so who's to judge? fortunately, with the Club of Jews, there's always plenty to hate so it's not so rigidly inclusive as The Vets. the whole thing's funny. i was really glad when bebop-o said those really offensive remarks - now i can hate him with clear conscience. it's a relief, really. like the kid who said he was glad he hated spiniach because if he liked it, he would eat it - and he hates it. it's nice being alive - too bad mailer's not - but, as they say, rather him than me.(that's something i always wanted the grieving widow to say to the obnoxious reporter when he puts the mike in her face and asks, "how does this make you feel", but that's never going to happen, so poor dead norman must stand in for the joke)

... (Rosten), the first Poet Laureate of Brooklyn, and a wonderful human being, one of the last of the "mensches" and who often gets overlooked despite the support he provided budding authors (such as Mailer) whose fame would outstrip his own.

He used to regale us with tales of him and Mailer schlepping around Manhattan from editor to editor with the manuscript of THE NAKED AND THE DEAD in two shopping bags. Norman (who is credited as being Marilyn Monroe's best [and probably only true] friend] also said that Mailer never forgave him for not introducing him to her (apparently at her behest), though they maintained their friendship until the other Norman's death in 1995.

To clarify, criticisms for Mailer's writing, I agree with as he is far from my favourite.

It is merely the objectifications of his character that i find both pointless, and hardly intellectually rigorous.

Nor did, i mention Anna Nicole.