{"product_id":"tough-guy-9781448218141","title":"Tough Guy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe first biography to examine Mailer''s life as a twisted lens, offering a unique insight into the history of America from the end of World War II to the election of Barack Obama.\u003c\/b\u003eTwice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for \u003ci\u003eThe Armies of the Night \u003c\/i\u003eand again in 1980 for \u003ci\u003eThe Executioner''s Song\u003c\/i\u003e, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American Novel: beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.\u003ci\u003eThe Naked and the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction  \u003ci\u003eCatch 22\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMASH\u003c\/i\u003e would not exist without it. Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters  to lovers and editors  which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels.Bradford strikes again with a merciless biogra\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBradford offers a solid sense that Mailer could be unpleasant. * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003eBritish academic Bradford seems to thrive [...] when sniping, deriding perceived flaws of style and soul. * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eabsorbing […] Bradford draws from myriad sources to craft an indelible portrait of the artist as a fascinating, never-boring man. * Booklist *\u003cbr\u003e... the book’s very existence attests to a more complicated reality. It would be naïve to suppose that the renewed attention on Mailer has nothing to do with the scandals attached to his name. It would also be naïve to pretend that he was not a great American writer. * The New Yorker *\u003cbr\u003e... if this lively biography ends up being a damning speech for the prosecution, well, pugilistic old Norman is simply receiving a dose of his own medicine. You can imagine Mailer’s ghost becoming suitably energised to rise from his sulphurous grave to box Bradford’s lights out. * The Times *\u003cbr\u003ecompulsively readable…[a] solid multifaceted critique of Mailer * The National Review *\u003cbr\u003e... there are some interesting asides and neat apercus. * The SundayTelegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer\u003c\/i\u003e brings the life of an epic personality down to earth for a modern-day re-evaluation. Author Richard Bradford writes of Mailer’s storied life in a fair and objective manner, leaving the reader to judge Mailer’s words and actions […] Bradford’s book is as fascinating and awe-inspiring as his subject * City Book Review *\u003cbr\u003ethe story itself is so gripping (even jaw-dropping) * Readers Digest *\u003cbr\u003ethe book [does a] careful investigation into the subtle, emotional aspects of power between men. * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTough Guy\u003c\/i\u003e adequately charts the controversies, the scandals, the successes, and the failures — in literature and in life — of its complicated subject * The Washington Independent Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003eA good illustration of the risks of elevating Mailer to sainthood is found in a new biography. Richard Bradford’s \u003ci\u003eTough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer\u003c\/i\u003e is a slender volume that tends to summarize huge amounts of information in single pages… Bradford’s hasty approach … has the advantage of plainly and clearly stating Mailer’s profound limitations…he has a gift for making Mailer look and sound preposterous — and rightly so. * Washington Examiner *\u003cbr\u003eBradford’s book has all the personal info you \u003ci\u003ewant \u003c\/i\u003eto know… * Truthdig *\u003cbr\u003e“Tough Guy” is well-written and lurid, its subject a cautionary tale… [it] will hold your attention. * Pittsburg Post-Gazette *\u003cbr\u003e[H]e has a penchant that’s incredibly refreshing in the 21st century because it’s so rare: he sometimes allows himself to \u003ci\u003edislike\u003c\/i\u003e his subjects. This makes \u003ci\u003eTough Guy\u003c\/i\u003e a bracing reading experience… his analyses are also superb… Norman Mailer would certainly have sued Richard Bradford over this book, and that should stand as its strongest recommendation. * Open Letters Review *\u003cbr\u003equeasily compelling … a colourful and bracing read … memorably scathing * The Business Post Ireland *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTough Guy\u003c\/i\u003e makes a sturdy case for Mailer as, if not a great guy, the author of era-defining books and a cultural force worth reckoning with... Veteran biographer Bradford reliably illuminates how Mailer's work reflected his life at the time… Bradford is unsparing in his criticism of Mailer. * Shelf Awareness *\u003cbr\u003eBradford is a fluent narrator and provides a useful refresher on the salient details of a long and interesting life. \u003ci\u003eTough Guy\u003c\/i\u003e will satisfy salacious appetites as it explores Mailer’s relational dynamics and sexual proclivities, his alcohol and drug use, his penchant for fisticuffs. … Efficient and gossipy, \u003ci\u003eTough Guy\u003c\/i\u003e does ample justice to Mailer the charismatic self-marketer, one of the baddest of the bad boys of postwar American literature. * Art Fuse *\u003cbr\u003e... told in forensic detail by Richard Bradford... * Oldie *\u003cbr\u003eThis may be the best biography Mailer deserves: for after all the best possible things have been said about Mailer, it’s hard to feel he made the most of his talent. * The New Republic *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAbbreviations and Referencing Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Brooklyn Boy 2. Odd Man Out 3. Pacific Grim 4. Waiting For Fame 5. Back Home 6. \u003ci\u003eThe Deer Park\u003c\/i\u003e 7. Norman Mailer: The Death of the Novel 8. ‘The White Negro’ 9. How Not To Murder Your Wife 10. Time For Something Different? 11. Apocalypse Now 12. Politics and the Women 13. The Biographer’s Song 14. Pharaohs and Tough Guys 15. A Clandestine World Revealed 16. Retirement: With Picasso, Oswald, Christ and Hitler Bibliography Index","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408536936791,"sku":"9781448218141","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781448218141.jpg?v=1730503249","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/tough-guy-9781448218141","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}