Mailer vs. Scully
Debate on modern architecture between Mailer and Vincent J. Scully Jr. (Yale Professor of Art History), in three parts: (1) excerpts from Mailer's August 1963 'Big Bite' column (63.9); (2) Scully's response, which appeared almost simultaneously in the Village Voice on 16 April; (3) Mailer's rebuttal, which appears here for the first time. The editors of Architectural Forum state that the first part of Mailer's contribution is a condensation of two of Mailer's Esquire columns. This is not the case; all of the first part is from the August 1963 column. A final note: Mailer has published one section of this column five times. Reprinted: rebuttal only, slightly revised, in 64.16 and 64.17; partial in Cannibals and Christians (66.11) and The Idol and the Octopus (68.11).
“Mailer vs. Scully.” Architectural Forum, April 1964, 96–97. Debate on modern architecture with Vincent J. Scully Jr., Professor of Art History at Yale, in three parts:
- Excerpts from Mailer’s August 1963 “Big Bite” column (63.9).
- Scully’s response, which appeared almost simultaneously in the Village Voice on 16 April 1964.
- Mailer’s rebuttal, which appears here for the first time.
The editors of Architectural Forum state that the first part of Mailer’s contribution is a condensation of two of Mailer’s Esquire columns; this is not the case — all of the first part is from the August 1963 column (63.9).
A final note: Mailer has published one section of this column five times. It represents his polemical style at its best:
“The essence of totalitarianism is that it beheads. It beheads individuality, variety, dissent, extreme possibility, romantic faith; it blinds vision, deadens instinct; it obliterates the past.”
Rpt: Rebuttal only, slightly revised, in 64.16 and 64.17; partial in Cannibals and Christians (66.11) and The Idol and the Octopus (68.11).
Related pages
- 1964 | Vincent Scully | The "Big Bite" | Architects: Blindness Is the Fruit of Your Design | Gargoyle, Guignol, False Closet
- Cannibals and Christians (66.11) | The Idol and the Octopus: Political Writings by Norman Mailer on the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations (68.11)