(Random House, 416 pages, $26)
It’s an unusual book that can make you feel real affection for a pugnacious, willful man who is “flagrantly unfaithful” to his loyal and beautiful wife, said Martin Rubin in The Washington Times. But this one does. Norman Mailer apparently lucked out when he crossed paths with the woman who would become his sixth spouse, the future Norris Church Mailer. It was 1975. She was a 26-year-old divorced Arkansas art teacher. He was a potbellied 52-year-old passing through town because he had been asked to give a talk at a local college. Within hours, they were rolling on her living room floor; within five years, she had moved to New York to be with him, and she never left. Her forthright new memoir mostly conveys fondness for the man who would eventually break her heart, and that very fact tells us much about “the kind of person she is.”
Norris is truly a fascinating character, said Jennifer Senior in The New York Times. Sexually liberated but ultimately old-fashioned, she found her way into the elite world in which Norman dwelled by running the couple’s daily life “like a tidy ship.” The rewards were great: parties with Jackie O, Woody Allen, and the Ramones; adventures around the world. And her physical chemistry with Norman burned strong for years. When she discovered, at 42, that he was carrying on affairs with “an army” of other women, she was shocked. But apparently something in her “traditional Southern girl” background made her stay.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Three years after Norman’s death, his widow admits there was a part of him she hated, said Judith Newman in O magazine. He had a habit of trying to spoil nights out, for instance, by whispering in her ear, “You’re losing your looks.” But Norris’ memoir also shows he could be a “sweet, intelligent, terrific, funny guy,” and that he never stopped being crazy about her. It’s hard to say she was wrong to stick with him, said Ariel Gonzalez in The Miami Herald. One can’t help concluding that Norris has lived “a full, regretless life,” at least according to her own account. “How many of us will be able to say the same?”
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Crossword: September 13, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 13, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
-
Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
-
The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
-
Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
-
Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
-
Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
-
You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
-
Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”