The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
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Book Reviews of The Executioner's Song
Book Review: Worthy of the Pulitzer Prize
Summary: 5 Stars
Hands-down the finest piece of journalism I have ever read. The story of Gary Gilmore has a practically infinite number of issues and sub-issues and Mailer just nails them all with a towering, Pulitzer-worthy effort. Rather than ramrod his own personal opinions, Mailer allows the Legal system, the Penal system, and the Media to define themselves. Perhaps the most gripping theme of the book is its portrayal of ordinary people performing under extraordinary pressure, especially Gilmore himself, who combines a fascinating dichotomy of homicidal violence with deep and intelligent introspection, and under extreme duress shows himself to be a man of unwavering and unimpeachable principle.
Tirelessly researched and written in a reserved and simplistic manner, the book is simply astonishing.
Book Review: long, but worth your time
Summary: 5 Stars
Few authors could pull this off: to write a book about a crazed sociopath, his grim and pathetic life, his senseless crimes and the legal hassles they trigger and do it all while holding the reader's interest for more than a 1400 pages. Plus Mailer does it all using a clipped, jarring writing style that draws the reader in. It makes for an amazing book. One note: a previous poster made mention of Lawrence Schiller's small contribution to the book. Giving credit where it is due, my understanding is that Schiller did a large part of the homework, long before Mailer ever bought a plane ticket to Utah. Schiller spent months doing the legwork; Mailer contributed the awesome writing (and I'm not even a Mailer fan -- none of his other books even come close!)Book Review: The title tells the narrative line; the author brings it to life
Summary: 5 Stars
The title tells it all; it is a poetic rendering of the term attributed to Freud, "Death Wish." This wonderful book is an clear headed and hyperfocused rendering of the shadow side of the America personality, the side most of us are too fearful to reveal. Norman Mailer uses his talents to use Gilmore's narrative as a plain story about a man who hears his doom and walks toward it fearlessly. One can see it as a response to 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' or a fully-rounded version of the 'Misfit' in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". One hears many people casually say, "I was not meant for this world." Mailer explores how Gilmore understood this about his own soul, a troubled one that followed its destiny.Book Review: An American Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Norman Mailer proved himself to be one of the greatest of American writers with this book. In journalistic style, mailer forges into the mind of Gary Gilmore in such a way that we loathe and sympathize with this madman. As a conservative Republican, I found myself bending toward liberal views concerning capital punnishment. This is not the only quality that causes me to understand Mailer as a briliant writer. Seemingly unintentionaly, Mailers forced me to rethink my views about the prison and rehabilitation system here in America. I am not an avid reader, so it took me some time to get through this rather long book. But I never once thought of putting it away. A worthy read indeed.Book Review: An amazing journey
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone interested in the criminal mind (and although I think it's sick at times, I am), this is an incredible book. The author takes the reader on a journey from the release of Gary Gilmore from prison to the murders he committed, his trial, sentencing and fight for his sentence to be carried out. The author tries to walk through Gilmore's childhood and relationship with Nicole Baker to trace the makings of a murderer. This book reveals a murderer as a human being, albeit not a good one by his own admission. For me, it brought forth the complexities of the human mind and what it is capable of as well the the two-sidedness of the whole death penalty issue.