I should start out by admitting that I'm wary of inordinately long books. However, this, my first Mailer, had a reputation such that I decided to give it a shot.

Then, a few days ago, a sensation akin to exasperation and/or fatigue set in. I don't think it was related to the quality of Mailer's prose. I was on page 802, and had a moment of terrifying clarity when I realized I still had another 250 pages to go. After that, I started to find it difficult to maintain the proper perspective on how well written this book is.

But I maintain that this book would be hard to evaluate anyway. The quality of the research is amazing. With Gary Gilmore especially, Mailer creates a wonderful literary portrait. Gilmore comes across as a psychopath, yet still a human. Even when repulsed by his motivations and actions, the reader can understand them. And although I never felt a great surge of sympathy for Gilmore, this portrait makes the second half of the book, when the media and the legal system engage in a truly nauseating liaison to exploit his pending execution, all the more effective. Here too, I felt like I understood the people involved, even as their actions made me physically wince.

However, I couldn't shake the feeling that as Mailer so meticulously reconstructs the pertinent actions and backgrounds of virtually everybody important to his subject, the discussion of Gilmore's victims felt kind of tacked on. He discusses their lives and the trauma to their families, but, for example, Gary's cousins and uncle both get more attention. In fairness, this disparity could well just be because Gilmore's side cooperated with Mailer on the book.

Similarly, I was a little disappointed that Gilmore's girlfriend Nicole, to whom Mailer devotes about as much attention as Gilmore and paints as a compelling portrait, just kind of disappears at the end. She spent much of the book seeming like a co-star in Mailer's story, and a very intriguing one, given that she wasn't a heartless killer but was in love with one. But after Gilmore's death, she just kind of disappears, notwithstanding some extremely sad omens that she's just going to continue her self-destructive patterns. Some other material could have been clipped, and these kinds of issues addressed, to create a conclusion more consistent with the text without adding length.

All in all, though, the book is remarkable simply because I'm not sure I've read anything quite like it. It's certainly reminiscent of In Cold Blood, but seeks a more comprehensive effort to document everything about the time period between Gilmore's parole for one crime and his execution only nine months later. The breadth of subjects interviewed and the scope of the narrative is astonishing.

I gave up reading the book after page 200.

The story was so flat and stiff that it felt like I was reading cardboard.

There was no excitement or depth to the characters or the plot.

It was a real disappointment as I had been looking forward to a great read.

I tried to push through, hoping that it would get better, but it just didn't.

In the end, I decided to cut my losses and move on to something else.

Maybe the author had good intentions, but they just didn't manage to bring the story to life.

It's a shame because there were some interesting ideas, but they were not executed well.

I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging and enjoyable read.

I firmly believe that this book received yet another significant boost from Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, and for that, we should be grateful. It is truly incredible. Mailer chronicles the life and execution of Gary Gilmore, a man who spent far more time incarcerated than outside - by a wide margin. Eventually, he randomly murdered two Mormon men in Utah, where he lived for nearly nine months after being released from prison and before being incarcerated again. There is no doubt that this is Gilmore's story and no one else's.

It is impossible to summarize this book without being more banal than it merits. It is indeed a substantial work, but every time you pick it up, you forget how long you have been reading. Unlike Capote in "In Cold Blood," Mailer was granted an open line of communication with Gilmore's lawyers, had access to the interviews, letters, and drawings that Gilmore created while on death row, and interacted with the man who represented Gilmore's privacy and entertainment rights in his death, Nicole, and various other family members with whom he stayed or depended on during his nine months of freedom in Utah.

While delving deeply into capital punishment, Mormons, lawyers, entertainers, criminals, prisons, obsession, love between family members, and romantic love, Mailer skillfully weaves his opinions on all these aspects into the narrative. Sometimes, it is through a Gilmore rant, but more often, it is through the interactions and actions within the novel itself.

Feeling far too happy? - read this, it'll plunge you head first into gloom akin to this goldfish.

------------------------------------

mp3 Unabridged and read by Jonathan Reese

BLURBIFICATION Winner of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize.

In what is arguably his greatest book, America's most heroically ambitious writer, Norman Mailer, follows the short, blighted career of Gary Gilmore. Gilmore, an intractably violent product of America's prisons, became notorious for two reasons. First, in 1976, he robbed two men and then callously killed them in cold blood. Second, after being tried and convicted, he was insistent on dying for his crime. To achieve this, he had to battle a system that, paradoxically, seemed determined to keep him alive long after sentencing him to death.

Mailer tells Gilmore's story, along with those of the men and women ensnared in his path towards the firing squad, with unyielding authority, steely compassion, and a restraint that brings to mind the arid landscapes and strict theology of Gilmore's Utah. The Executioner's Song is a journey down the wrong side of the tracks to the deepest roots of American loneliness and violence. It is a monumental achievement - impossible to put down and impossible to forget.

January 19, 1977. 8:07 am

This is the second book by Norman Mailer that I have read. It doesn't equal the devastating power of "The Naked and the Dead" (an absolute masterpiece), but it comes close (four and a half stars).
It is a true novel that tells the story of Gary Gilmor. Condemned to death for a double homicide that occurred during a botched robbery, he refused to go through the exhausting (and hypocritical) process of appeals and chose, demanded, to be executed.
If you are interested in the book, I refer you to the Wikipedia page about it:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_cant...
But don't delude yourself into thinking you can read it easily because it has been out of print for a long time. There is no e-book version, and even finding it in a library is a Herculean task.

https://youtu.be/8IDnc4Tir3Q

Norman Mailer's works are often lauded for their profound insights and vivid portrayals. In this particular book, the story of Gary Gilmor is presented in a captivating manner. The details of his crime and his unwavering stance towards his punishment make for a thought-provoking read. Although it may not reach the same heights as "The Naked and the Dead," it still manages to engage the reader and offer a unique perspective on the criminal justice system and the human psyche. Despite its unavailability in modern formats, the book remains a significant piece of literature that is worth exploring for those interested in Mailer's work or in-depth examinations of true crime and its consequences.

The Executioner’s Song is a remarkable account that chronicles the life of Gary Gilmore from his release from prison until his ultimate execution, a span of just a few months.

Imagine the arduous task of collecting, gathering, or being provided with an enormous wealth and breadth of information on such a complex and controversial topic, and then sitting down to distill it all into a coherent and engaging story. That is precisely what Norman Mailer accomplished.

Although my exposure to Norman Mailer’s work has been somewhat limited, The Executioner’s Song was a departure from what I had previously read. In Gary Gilmore, Mailer didn’t merely create a character; he brought to life a real, believable, and articulate individual, especially considering his extremely limited education. I’m hesitant to say that he was likeable, even in part, as one must view the whole person, but I did have the distinct impression that here was someone who could have potentially contributed something positive.

Mailer masterfully weaves this vast amount of information into a narrative, interspersing the perspectives of numerous individuals in short, impactful segments. The story is told in a straightforward manner, lacking an overly elegant structure and with simple language. This allows for a direct connection between the reader and Gary Gilmore, with little to get in the way. The short chapters and diverse perspectives generate a momentum that propels the reader through the 1,000 pages without any thought that the story might be too long or cumbersome.

If capital punishment is not a subject that you have recently considered, this story will bring it to the forefront, leaving you to form your own conclusions.

While my other experiences with Mailer’s writing did not necessarily compel me to seek out more of his work, I was truly impressed by The Executioner’s Song. Mailer was effectively a part of this story, yet despite his large ego, he selflessly stepped aside to tell the story as effectively as possible. I’m not sure if I will read more by Mailer in the future, but I can wholeheartedly recommend The Executioner’s Song.

There is a TED talk by Bryan Stevenson regarding racial and class injustice in the prison system. It poses a question that I have come to understand is the hardest and most crucial one about capital punishment. It is not "does a guilty criminal deserve to die?" but rather "does the state have a right to kill?". This is a fundamental and evident question, yet it often takes a secondary position in discussions about the death penalty. The debate over capital punishment is as much, if not more, driven by gut feelings as it is by reason.

After reading this book, working for the government, and witnessing bureaucracy in action, I must admit that I have little confidence in the state's objectivity and its ability to determine a person's life. Many aspects of the Gilmore execution are truly horrifying. I used to support the death penalty until I read about its practical implementation. I believed that individuals like Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, and Tiny Davis had committed truly evil acts and should permanently lose their freedom. However, as the anti-death penalty coalition in this book asks, do we have the right to kill them to show that killing is wrong? I don't know. Any answer other than a "yes, absolutely" is effectively a "no". This is too significant an issue to simply say "eh...go ahead". As for the justice served, I don't understand how killing someone (especially one, two, or multiple years after the crime) is supposed to alleviate anything for the victim's family.

The book itself is hopeless and deeply depressing, not only in Gary's death but also in the lives of its main characters. They marry and divorce at a very young age, are sexually violated, suffer from mental illness, and are chronically poor. For the first third of the book, Gary is released from prison on robbery charges and goes to live with relatives who have faith in his rehabilitation and try to set him up with jobs and a place to live. Then he meets Nicole, who is approximately 15 years younger than him. They have an obsessive, mostly sexual relationship, and then she leaves him. In an attempt to "keep from killing [her]", he kills a couple of people.

Later, when he is on trial, in prison, and waiting to die, she comes back and falls for him even harder. A large portion of the book consists of the sexy, misspelled, and uncannily teenage love letters they exchange. You can see why this is such a marketable story and why media outlets competed fiercely for the rights to it.

Oh yes, a significant part of the book is also about the media. It is the least interesting aspect of the book, unless you enjoy watching people with tragic lives being further exploited.

"The Executioner's Song" is a remarkable work. It is not pleasant, but it provides an insight into how some people's real lives unfold, whether by luck, decision, or both. Mailer's writing lacks the vivid and colorful sensation of fictionalized accounts of real people. It is like a long drive on a scenery-free road on an overcast day, with no neatly packaged endings and grand lessons learned, but rather a gradual fade away. There is some exasperation.

I do wonder what Nicole Baker is doing today and how often she still thinks of Gary. She intrigues me, just as she intrigued everyone else.

This book received such enthusiastic reviews that I had high expectations, comparable to those of Faulkner or Tolstoy. However, to be honest, it did not even come close to that level of literary achievement or genius.

Frankly, I found it overly academic, tiresome, and ordinary. With over 1000 pages, it seemed to say very little. The writing was dull, and every character appeared to have the same basic personality. There was no emotion, truly zero emotion, within any of the characters.

Although there was frequent mention of anger, rage, passion, love, kindness, grief, and so on, both in the characters' own words and in Mailer's descriptions, they all felt hollow. Whenever these qualities were mentioned, one never got the "feeling" of them in the characters.

I've heard this book praised for its nuanced portrayal of our flawed humanity and the basic goodness in all of us, from the murdering Gilmore to the sexually liberated Nicole Baker, from the stoic Vern Damico to the passionate anti-death penalty lawyer Julie Jacoby, and to the freewheeling and mercenary negotiating of Larry Schiller. Yet, despite these characteristics attributed to them, not one of them ever truly came across as a credible, living, breathing, and feeling reflection of those traits.

As I mentioned earlier, every character was essentially the same in terms of emotion. It confounds me that this novel was lauded for its nuance when, I swear to the literary gods, there is no such nuance. I actually believe that the basic story could have been told in 1000 words, and we would have known just as much about it, with the same level of character nuance, as Mailer achieved in 1000 pages.

So, do I think this book is worthy of a Pulitzer? Absolutely not. Would I recommend it? No. It's not worth the time it takes to struggle through it. Then you may ask, why did I give it a 2-star ranking instead of a 1-star ranking? Well, it's because it's not poorly written. Its direct, active voice writing style is, in a sense, unique. And I've read far worse. But unless you are on a mission to read all the Pulitzer winners, like I am, or unless you're reading it out of curiosity about what is considered an iconic piece of "creative non-fiction," I suggest just leaving it alone. You're not going to finish it thinking it's entertaining literature or even great, captivating storytelling. It simply isn't. At least that's my opinion. And so be it.

It is impossible to compare it with "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. And in this comparison, it emerges victorious mainly because it knew how to give it a good ending.

It is an extensive book, raw, but full of things to reflect on. The story unfolds with a certain intensity that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish.

The characters are well-developed, and their actions and decisions make the reader question various aspects of human nature and morality.

The author's writing style is vivid and descriptive, painting a clear picture in the reader's mind.

Overall, it is a remarkable work that stands out on its own merits and offers a unique reading experience.

What an ordeal of a book - thank God it's finally finished.

I was reading it for a book club, otherwise I would have stopped after reading Part 1. I cannot fathom how anyone could enjoy this book. How it won the Pulitzer Prize is beyond me. Is everyone crazy?

When I first started reading it - back in the stone age - I enjoyed it. The Dragnet style tone "Just the facts, ma'am" seemed fresh for a true crime story & Mailer can turn out a beautiful sentence. However, my enjoyment soon faded the more I read. The unemotional style became wearying and I felt no connection to anyone being written about. In fact, the more I read, the more disturbed & disgusted I was by everyone's behaviors. I kept thinking of that quote by Hobbes, about life being nasty, brutish & short. Everyone, especially Gary & Nicole, were gross. They made my skin crawl. Was that the reaction Mailer was aiming for? If so, it worked.

I also at first enjoyed getting the backstories of minor characters - "what a neat idea!" I foolishly thought to myself. But after the hundredth backstory of a person completely irrelevant to the story line, I changed my mind. Instead, the pointless filler became excruciating to wade through. It slowed down the story and diluted it. I felt like I was mired in quicksand, reading this book.

After 500 pages and the end of the first section - which covered Gary & Nicole's backgrounds, their relationship, the crimes, the arrest, the pre-trial, the trial, and the sentencing - I thought "OMG, why is there still another 500 pages to go?" So I put this book down & picked up Mikhal Gilmore's brilliant & beautiful memoir Shot in the Heart. What a difference! Mikhal's book is a million, billion times better than this turgid piece of crap. All the heart missing from this book is in his. Mikhal manages to convey the story without drowning it in pointless details. Seriously, don't read The Executioner's Song unless you are a masochist. Instead, go read Mikhal's book. You are welcome.

I forced myself to pick up Song again & slogged through Part II. I admit I skimmed a lot of it. Especially the 200 or so pages detailing the press fighting it out to buy Gilmore's story. Yuck! I could not figure out what was going on at first - I knew that the law forbids criminals from selling their story & profiting from their crimes. It turns out that this case happened PRIOR to that law being passed. It was incredibly disturbing reading about news organizations throwing money at Gilmore. That money should go to his victim's families!!! Not Gary's prison buddies & weaselly extended family. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Yet another huge problem with this book is the depiction of Gary & Nicole's relationship as something special and beautiful. No, no, no - a million times no. It was a brief & tawdry sexual affair by two deeply damaged & unattractive individuals. Gary is a classic narcissist who is unable to ever truly love anyone. The fact that he wants Nicole to kill herself so another man will never "have her" is so telling. He sees her as a possession, not another human being. His immediate hyperfocus on Nicole when he meets her, insisting that it is true love, is another classic warning sign. Controlling her & stalking her is creepy, not loving.

Nicole is drawn to his narcissistic ways because she herself is incredibly damaged by years of sexual abuse. Her comment that it was easier to let a man "have his way with you" rather than saying no is so depressing. She obviously felt her only means of self worth lay in her sexuality. She careened impulsively from relationship to relationship - starting with her marriage at 14. FOURTEEN. If Gary hadn't committed those murders, she'd have quickly moved on to the next wildly inappropriate man. (Just like she did after he died.) Nicole felt she was nothing without a man. She was a terrible, neglectful mother and a selfish sister & daughter. Yet, because she is considered sexy by Mailer & Schiller, her portrayal in this book is cleaned up & her egregious behaviors glossed over. No way would they have attempted to spin this relationship as something important and pure if they had found Nicole ugly.

I am so incredibly happy this book is no longer on my nightstand, weighing me down like an albatross. Truman Capote's comment about Kerouac applies equally to this book. "That's not writing, that's typing."

Overall, The Executioner's Song was a disappointment. It had its moments of interest, but the flaws far outweighed any redeeming qualities. The unemotional style, the excessive backstories, the glorification of a toxic relationship, and the disturbing portrayal of the media circus all contributed to my negative view of this book. I would not recommend it to anyone, unless they have a specific interest in the Gary Gilmore case or are masochists who enjoy reading long, tedious books. There are far better true crime books and memoirs out there that are more engaging, thought-provoking, and well-written.

The Executioner's Song is a comprehensive and captivating tome that delves into the murders of Max Jensen and Bennie Bushnell by Gary Gilmore. Despite being nonfiction, thanks to Norman Mailer's masterful editing, it reads with the engaging flow of a novel. Mailer skillfully weaves the story together using court transcripts, interviews, and news journals, and even includes numerous anecdotes from Gary's letters to his girlfriend, Nicole Baker.

At the core of this narrative is Gary Gilmore, a man who endured 20 years of incarceration within his 35-year lifespan. Sadly, discussions about the broken state of the prison system are all too common, and will likely continue for the foreseeable future. While it's true that Gilmore was a repeat offender with free will, the system must bear some of the blame. Many individuals enter prison as amateurs and emerge as hardened criminals.

Another significant topic explored is the morality of capital punishment. This age-old argument takes center stage in Gilmore's case, as he is sentenced to death and willingly waives his right to appeal. This action prompts entities like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to intervene with the best of intentions. There are multiple stays of execution, with the final one being overruled just hours before Gilmore's scheduled execution. Gilmore, having spent over half his life behind bars, desired to die. He knew that he would rather have the option to pay his debt and forfeit his life.

Ultimately, Gilmore sought to atone for his crimes and face his execution with dignity. In my view, he achieved this one desire he had in life. However, if only Max Jensen and Bennie Bushnell had been able to fulfill their desires, such as the right to live, perhaps society would have more empathy and understanding for individuals like Gary Gilmore.

"You were raised to know what was right, and then free to do wrong." –Bessie Gilmore

"You know I've spent about 18 years of my 35 locked up. I've hated every moment of it..." –Gary Gilmore

"I'm not saying it's right to break the law. I'm not talkin about that–but these prisons as they exist are wrong." –Gary Gilmore

"What fascinates me about this Gilmore case...is that it's an open commentary on the utter failure of our prison system to rehabilitate anybody. Why the guy's been in and out his whole damn life and he just keeps getting worse. It all escalated from car stealing up to armed robbery with a dangerous weapon. That's a devastating commentary..." –Stanley Greenberg

"...he didn't see where and criminal had the right to tell society what to do to him. By his lights, a criminal had no more right to demand capital punishment than to demand his immediate release. Society, after all, set the rules." –Stanley Greenberg

It has been years since I delved into Norman Mailer's {book:The Naked and The Dead}, an outstanding novel about World War II that set a high bar and was a difficult act to follow. I've dabbled in some of his other works but never truly immersed myself. He's had a couple of recent publications, {book:Harlot's Ghost} and {book:Oswald's Tale}, which have received quite generous reviews. So, I thought it might be the opportune time to give his work another chance.

In 1979, he released The Executioner's Song. That particular book piqued my interest as it ostensibly dealt with criminal motivations, human interactions, and the contentious issue of capital punishment.

Gary Gilmore was released from Marion Prison under the sponsorship of his cousin Brenda in Utah. Through her efforts, he managed to secure a job, a place to live, and an abundance of girlfriends. There seemed to be no reason why circumstances wouldn't work out for him. Granted, it was difficult, and he didn't have all the money he desired. However, if it hadn't been for the white truck that he simply had to possess and the beer he was constantly stealing, perhaps events would have unfolded differently. In any case, he calculatedly murdered two people during robberies in order to obtain the money for this truck. (Using the logic of library censors, we might be inclined to eliminate all white trucks.)

Gilmore had an IQ of 129, indicating superior intelligence. His defense team endeavored to find some way to classify his actions as insane. Yet, although he was clearly a psychopath, the label of psychotic didn't quite fit accurately. One psychiatrist attempted to explain the difference: "The psychotic believes he is in contact with spirits from another world. He feels himself to be the prey of the spirits of the dead. He lives in terror. According to his understanding, he inhabits a realm of evil forces. The psychopath occupies the same space. It's just that he perceives himself as stronger. The psychopath views himself as a potent force within that field of forces. Sometimes, he even believes he can engage in war against them and emerge victorious. So, if he truly loses, he is on the verge of collapse and can be as haunted as a psychotic."

Mailer has painstakingly reconstructed the conversations and events that led up to the murders, the trial, and the circumstances that followed the killings. All the participants were interviewed at great length, and he has crafted an extraordinary book. It is a riveting account that offers a window into the lives of Gilmore and those he influenced. It is extremely difficult to put this book down. However, it is also very discouraging in the questions it poses and the answers that are revealed.