Norman Mailer: Works and Days

TV Violence? It's a Sedative, Says Norman Mailer

An interview-as-monologue by David Griffiths in the London TV Times — Mailer's answers linked together in short paragraphs, without Griffiths's questions. Mailer assails television for being too 'sober' and 'serious.'

“TV Violence? It’s a Sedative, Says Norman Mailer.” Interview by David Griffiths. TV Times (London), 3 November 1961, 18. Interview.

The piece consists of Mailer’s answers linked together in short paragraphs, without Griffiths’s questions. Mailer assails television for being too “sober” and “serious.”

First published: 1961-11-03
Form: interview
Lennon & Lennon: 61.18
Cite as: /works/1961-11-03-tv-violence-sedative
Last updated: 2026-05-26