Ex Libris
Mailer's contribution to the Christian Century's regular 'Ex Libris' books-questionnaire feature: he was asked, 'What books did most to shape your vocational attitude and your philosophy of life?' and replied with an eight-title list — Das Kapital Vol. I (Marx), War and Peace (Tolstoy), The Red and the Black (Stendhal), The Function of the Orgasm (Reich), Lady Chatterley's Lover (Lawrence), Man's Fate (Malraux), Captain Blood (Sabatini), The Amateur Gentleman (Farnol). See 89.14, 99.10, 99.11, 07.44 for later Mailer book-influence lists.
“Ex Libris.” Christian Century, 11 July 1962, 865. Article.
Mailer was asked to answer this question: “What books did most to shape your vocational attitude and your philosophy of life?” He replied with the following list: Das Kapital, Vol. I, by Karl Marx; War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy; The Red and the Black, by Stendhal; The Function of the Orgasm, by Wilhelm Reich; Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D. H. Lawrence; Man’s Fate, by André Malraux; Captain Blood, by Rafael Sabatini; The Amateur Gentleman, by Jeffrey Farnol.
The list is a useful waypoint: Marx and Reich for politics and the body, Tolstoy and Stendhal for the realist novel, Lawrence for sexuality and the body, Malraux for the political novel, and Sabatini and Farnol for the boys’ historical-adventure romance of Mailer’s youth.
Related pages
- 1962
- Norman Mailer: Ten Favorite American Novels (89.14) | Norman Mailer (99.10) | [Symposium Response] (99.11) | Norman Mailer (in The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books) (07.44)