So, the other day I said to a friend: "Watch out, I'm reading Mailer again... that guy is funny, insightful, AND inappropriate; it's a shame he is dead." Truly, that's exactly how I feel.

I know many people view him as just a good old-fashioned prick, but I believe there's more to it. His writing is pompous, homophobic, and ridiculously sexual. However, I don't think it promotes the white man as superior. Instead, it's like Louis CK's joke about how he admits he has it easier because he's a white man and recognizes it's not fair, but he's not willing to be reborn as a black woman to make it right. On one hand, the women are all sex objects, but on the other, the men are extremely whipped and willing to do almost anything for her favor. Mailer definitely recognizes and explores the male/female power dynamic.

That being said, this wasn't as good as Harlot's Ghost. It was good, but it felt more like a farce. Mailer calls it both a comedy and a tragedy (in his pre-epilogue epitaph), and others have called it a mock noir, but I really found it to be farcical. It's (at times) laugh-out-loud funny and makes me want to buy a blonde decapitated head (from a Halloween store, not for real) and carry it around in a plastic bag in tribute. Really, who can conceive of this stuff?

The plot is ridiculous, contrived, and full of convenience (which I usually hate). EXCEPT that Mailer does this meta-author thing where his characters acknowledge the convenience and give reasons for it based on spiritualism. With a straight face, Mailer presents the only male/tatooing/drugged-out medium (Harpo) that I've ever come across. I mean, really, how can we accuse him of misogyny when he's willing to make this guy a medium?

Of course, some of my love might be due to Mailer's great focus on addiction. Interestingly enough, this wanes in the second half of the novel. Again, with the meta-comments, Madden is focused on his addiction when he's drinking and lonely, but once the shit hits the fan, he can no longer afford to wax romantic on his shortcomings. My favorite few quotes: "Over and over again I gave them up, a hundred times over the years, but always I went back. For in my dreams, sooner or later, I struck a match, brought flame to the tip, then took in all my hunger for existence with the first puff. I felt impaled on desire itself--those fiends trapped in my chest and screaming for one drag. Change the given." coupled with "No more might remain than the addiction itself, but addiction is still a signature on the bottom of your psyche."

And (as I mentioned in the comments on someone else's review) he provides not one, but two, complete descriptions of the cunt (one is a quote from Updike). I rather think Caitlin Moran (good feminist that she is) would approve.

It's just good. He is insightful, funny, and (most entertainingly) inappropriate. Read it.

I did not know what to expect from Norman Mailer. I had heard of his reputation, but I wasn't sure what to make of it. However, after reading his work, I can now see his skills.

His writing is powerful and engaging, drawing the reader in from the very beginning. The story he tells is a bit of a twisted murder mystery, filled with sex and drugs, corrupt cops, and even mob references. It's a gritty and realistic portrayal of a seedy underworld, and Mailer does an excellent job of bringing it to life.

While the story may be a little dated in some ways, it still holds up well today. The themes of corruption, greed, and violence are as relevant now as they were when Mailer first wrote the book. Overall, I was very impressed with Norman Mailer's work and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

Tough Guys Don't Dance represents an interesting foray into the realm of post-noir. It is a work that is not afraid to get bloody and gory, yet there is no sense of glory in it. In fact, it often reads like a parody, and perhaps that is precisely what it is, even if it is an inadvertent one. The story seems to take a somewhat tongue-in-cheek approach to the tough guy archetype.

The provided excerpt further emphasizes this. The narrator is left merely pondering the waves, both the ones outside the lounge-room window on that chilly November night and those within his own mind. His thoughts come to a standstill, and he experiences the disappointment that comes with profound drunken vision. It's as if just when one is on the verge of understanding the true relations of the cosmos, one's vocabulary fails, blurring the clarity of thought.

Overall, Tough Guys Don't Dance challenges the traditional notions of the tough guy genre. It shows that tough guys may not be as impervious to the vagaries of the mind and the disappointments of life as they are often made out to be. They don't dance, and perhaps, as the text suggests, they don't think either, at least not in the way one might expect.

The original article is not provided, so I can't rewrite and expand it specifically. However, I can give you a general example of how to expand an article to about 300 words.

Let's assume the original article is: "The cat is sitting on the mat. It is a black cat with green eyes."

Expanded version:

The cat is sitting on the mat.

It is a beautiful black cat with captivating green eyes.

The black fur of the cat seems to shine in the sunlight, and its green eyes are like two precious emeralds.

The cat is very calm and composed as it sits there, observing its surroundings.

One can't help but be drawn to its charming appearance and mysterious gaze.

Perhaps it is thinking about its next adventure or simply enjoying the warmth of the sun on the mat.

Whatever the case may be, this black cat with green eyes is truly a sight to behold.

In the initial couple of chapters, this murder-mystery gave the impression of being rather simple-minded. I was of the opinion that this book served merely as a means for Mailer to flaunt his similes, considering that the phrase "as if" occurred a whopping 109 times. However, that was a misjudgment on my part. As it turned out, the plot was far more convoluted. Perhaps a more apt word would be messy. Mailer resorted to some rather dubious tactics to make sense of this mess. There were numerous coincidences, conveniently timed suicides, and far-fetched alcohol-induced blackout activities. And to cap it all off, in the end, the bad guy confesses all the details to you while holding you at gunpoint. To top it off, the killer's motive was revealed to be an undersupply of analingus.

It was quite a surprise, to say the least. The story took so many unexpected turns that it kept me on the edge of my seat. Despite the flaws in the plot, I couldn't help but be drawn in by Mailer's writing style. His use of vivid language and descriptive imagery added depth and texture to the story. Overall, it was an interesting read, albeit a somewhat flawed one.

Sadly, this was my very first encounter with Mailer. It's truly a pity as well. I simply could not bring myself to finish this book.

I discovered that it was just a little bit too excessive in vulgarity and foul language, and yet a bit lacking in the plot department. Now, I'm no prude by any means. In fact, I'm a foul-mouthed biker. I can swear with the best of them.

However, in my humble opinion, a well-written and intricately plotted story does not require this overabundance of profanity that I came across in this particular book. It kind of completely turned me off from the story as a whole.

Mailer really should have learned a valuable lesson from the likes of John D. MacDonald or Erle Stanley Gardner. A story doesn't have to rely on sensational and often offensive wordage in order to be a great story.

Maybe one day in the distant future I'll give some other Mailer works a try... or then again, maybe not.

“You used me… for land development?!”

This statement comes across as quite a revelation. It's a rather unexpected turn of events. I find myself in a bit of a quandary. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it. On one hand, it seems somewhat trashy, as if there's an element of sleazy manipulation involved. But on the other hand, it also seems full of itself, perhaps overly confident in its own motives.

It's an odd combination indeed. It makes me think that if Stephen King, the renowned horror author, were to attempt writing literary fiction, it might end up something like this. That's the impression I get anyway. It's singularly strange, this whole situation. But I'm left wondering if being strange necessarily makes it "good" in the traditional sense.

Maybe there's a certain allure to its strangeness, a kind of curiosity that keeps pulling me in. But at the same time, I can't quite put my finger on whether it's truly a masterpiece or just a curious oddity.

A good book that is filled with a sense of humor, violence, drugs, alcohol, sex, infidelity, deaths... It's like a book that truly reflects life.

Such a book can take the reader on a wild ride, exposing them to the various aspects and experiences that exist in the real world.

The presence of humor can lighten the mood and make the reading experience more enjoyable, while the elements of violence, drugs, alcohol, sex, and infidelity add a layer of complexity and authenticity.

The deaths in the book can also serve as a reminder of the fragility and impermanence of life.

Overall, this type of book has the power to engage the reader, make them think, and perhaps even change their perspective on life.

This book was just not my cup of tea.

As someone who is not a big fan of crime fiction, I have to say that I found this particular book to be very crude.

The writing style seemed lacking in finesse, and the plot didn't really draw me in.

The characters were not well-developed, and I had a hard time connecting with them on any level.

Maybe if I was more into this genre, I would have had a different opinion, but as it stands, this book just didn't do it for me.

I was hoping for something more engaging and thought-provoking, but unfortunately, this one fell short.

I'm sure there are many people out there who would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't the right fit for me.

¡Primer 5⭐️ del año!

In this novel, Norman Mailer (I recommend you to read about his life because he is a very interesting guy) tells us the sordid story of Tim Madden, a failed writer who sets the beginning of everything on the twenty-fourth day since his wife left him. After a night of drinking with two unknown people, he wakes up not remembering anything, but with a strong erection, a tattoo of a name on his arm, the passenger seat of his car stained with blood, and in a hole in a forest where he has a marijuana plantation, he finds a bag with something that will make him leave there trembling and at full speed, but it will not be the only thing he finds in that place.

In his attempt to remember what happened that night, Tim Madden will come face to face with peculiar characters, apparently unconnected to each other. Although at some moments the author narrates scenes in a rather macabre way, he manages to maintain that attention that prevents you from stopping reading. I can only say that it has been a brutal reading, with an ending that the author is drawing little by little and that invites you to think that it will be predictable. Perhaps it is not.

In general, this book was like pulling teeth...from your vagina.

Yup, vagina dentata, which surprisingly, did not make an appearance in Tough Guys.

Still, I found the level of misogyny quite satisfactory. I think it's supposed to be satirical?

And don't despair, guys, Mailer hasn't forgotten about you; he also explores machismo and homosexuality.

So read it if you want to "search the recesses and buried virtues of the modern American male." And who doesn't?

This book seems to take a rather bold and perhaps controversial approach. The comparison of reading it to a painful process like pulling teeth from a vagina is quite vivid and attention-grabbing. The mention of vagina dentata, even though it didn't actually show up in the book, adds an element of the unexpected. The author's perception of the misogyny in the book being satisfactory, yet wondering if it's satirical, shows a certain level of complexity in their view.

The fact that Mailer also delves into machismo and homosexuality makes the book seem more comprehensive in its exploration of different aspects of male identity. The invitation to readers to search for the hidden aspects and virtues of the modern American male is an interesting one, as it implies that there is much more to discover beneath the surface.

Overall, this book appears to be a thought-provoking and potentially polarizing read that challenges readers to think about gender and identity in new ways.

There are things that I didn't like. Some of them are the tone of voice and the anger with which the author manages the story and the so dark tone of the characters.

However, there are two things that I really loved and that make this one of the best novels I have read. The first is the story which really becomes a well-crafted line of mystery and terror within the context. And the second is the imminent path to madness that the characters go through.

The way the author builds up the mystery and gradually reveals the terrifying aspects is truly captivating. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, constantly wondering what will happen next.

As for the characters, their descent into madness is both fascinating and disturbing. It adds an extra layer of depth and complexity to the story, making it even more engaging.

Overall, despite the few things that I didn't like, this novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys mystery and horror.