1956

From January to early May Mailer writes seventeen weekly "Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers" columns (56.1–56.17) for The Village Voice, then resigns over editorial differences with his partners — closing with a defense of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. In May the novella "The Man Who Studied Yoga" (56.25) appears. The Mailers summer in Europe (Spain, Germany — touring Buchenwald — Italy, and Paris, where Jean Malaquais introduces them to James Baldwin); in the fall they move to Bridgewater, Connecticut, near William Styron. Mailer takes up boxing under Al Morales and builds an orgone box on Wilhelm Reich's pattern.

January–May — the “Quickly” column

From 11 January to 2 May Mailer publishes seventeen weekly columns, “Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers” (56.1–56.17), in The Village Voice — the paper he had co-founded the previous October. Edwin Fancher introduces the column on 4 January. The run moves from media criticism and parody through a stretch on psychoanalysis, a mock campaign nominating Ernest Hemingway for President, a eulogy for Robert Lindner (56.9), and — in the final weeks — the first stirrings of “Hip” that will become “The White Negro.” Mailer then resigns from active participation over editorial differences with his partners, ending with a defense of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (56.17) and a follow-up paid notice (56.26).

May — “The Man Who Studied Yoga”

In early May Ballantine publishes “The Man Who Studied Yoga” (56.25) in New Short Novels 2 — a novella Mailer conceived as the preface to a projected cycle of eight interlocking novels, of which only The Deer Park was ever published.

Summer — Europe

The Mailers spend the summer in Europe, visiting Spain, Germany (where they tour Buchenwald), Italy, and Paris, where Jean Malaquais introduces them to James Baldwin.

Fall — Bridgewater, boxing, and the orgone box

In the fall the Mailers move to Bridgewater, Connecticut, near the home of William Styron; they also spend time with John W. Aldridge, who becomes one of Mailer’s most consistent critical supporters. Mailer begins learning to box from his father-in-law, Al Morales, a former professional boxer, and builds an orgone box on the pattern devised by Wilhelm Reich, whose theories influence him.

Related pages

• 1955 | 1957
• Quickly: A Column for Slow Readers | The Man Who Studied Yoga | A Public Notice by Norman Mailer
• The Village Voice | Bridgewater, Connecticut | James Baldwin | Al Morales | Robert Lindner | Ballantine Books
• Quickly (11 January 1956) (56.1) | Quickly (2 May 1956) (56.17) | Quickly (7 March 1956) (56.9)

Cite as: /days/1956
Last updated: 2026-06-01