Chapter 34 - Political Resonance

Summary

Though many see the 1950s–1970s as the height of Mailer’s career, he remained a fixture in the literary world – and on best-seller lists – for decades afterward. During the last decade of his life, Mailer offers some of his sharpest and most poignant cultural commentaries, offering a critical appraisal of the American political system and the country’s political leaders, examining the way recent presidential administrations continue to feed the imperialist myth of an American empire, and weighing in on the subject of patriotism and American exceptionalism after 9/11. At this writing, it has been 13 years since his passing, and in some ways his early writings seem to be gaining in relevance, his nonfictional pieces serving as eerie predictions of contemporary issues, and have been referenced frequently in recent years.