In the Red Light: A History of the Republican Convention in 1964
Mailer's nonfiction-narrative account of the 1964 Republican National Convention (Cow Palace, San Francisco, 13-16 July 1964) — the Goldwater nomination and the eclipse of Eastern Republican moderation. Mailer broke off from revising the An American Dream Esquire serial for the Dial Press book edition (per the AAD Expanded Timeline) to cover the convention; the resulting essay appears in November Esquire. The convention essay is a direct precursor to Mailer's later political-convention New Journalism in Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968, 68.10) on the 1968 conventions. Reprinted in 65.14 (partial), Cannibals and Christians (66.11), The Idol and the Octopus (68.11), and Some Honorable Men (76.5).
“In the Red Light: A History of the Republican Convention in 1964.” Esquire, November 1964, 83–89, 167–72, 174–77, 179. Nonfiction-narrative.
Mailer’s long account of the 1964 Republican National Convention — held at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, 13–16 July 1964 — the convention at which Barry Goldwater secured the Republican presidential nomination and the Rockefeller-led Eastern Republican moderate establishment was decisively eclipsed. (Goldwater would lose the 3 November general election to Lyndon Johnson in a landslide.)
Composition
Per the An American Dream Expanded Timeline (Lucas et al., Spring 2019): mid-July 1964 — “NM break[s] off work on the revision to the novel to cover the Republican Convention in San Francisco. His account, ‘In the Red Light,’ appears in the November Esquire.” Mailer was revising the Esquire serial of An American Dream for the Dial Press book edition (from Provincetown) when he interrupted to fly out for the convention.
Position in the political-convention New Journalism
“In the Red Light” is the direct precursor to Mailer’s later political-convention New Journalism:
- Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968, 68.10) — the 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions (Miami Beach, August 5–8; Chicago, August 26–29).
- St. George and the Godfather (1972) — the 1972 conventions.
Together with “Superman Comes to the Supermarket” (60.9, on the 1960 Democratic Convention), “In the Red Light” anchors the political-convention strand that runs through Mailer’s career.
Reprintings
Rpt: 65.14 (partial), Cannibals and Christians (66.11), The Idol and the Octopus (68.11), Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960–1972 (76.5).
Related pages
- 1964 | Esquire | Superman Comes to the Supermarket | Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968 | Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960-1972
- On the Steps of a Zeitgeist (68.10) | Norman Mailer on LBJ (65.14) | Cannibals and Christians (66.11) | The Idol and the Octopus: Political Writings by Norman Mailer on the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations (68.11)