Norman Mailer: Works and Days

Norman Mailer — Ego, Movies and the Moon

Part two of Digby Diehl's Los Angeles Times Calendar article-interview, containing Mailer's account of the epistemological problem of using his own persona as a narrative lens, with comment on Of a Fire on the Moon and moviemaking.

“Norman Mailer — Ego, Movies and the Moon,” part two of Digby Diehl’s article-interview in the Los Angeles Times Calendar (21 February 1971), contains Mailer’s explanation of the epistemological problem of using his own persona as a narrative lens: “In the most ghastly terms possible: how much of yourself should ‘go public,’ like a stock?” It also includes comment on Of a Fire on the Moon (71.1) and on his filmmaking. Continues “Norman Mailer Crosses Swords with Women’s Lib” (71.6).

First published: 1971-02-21
Form: article-interview
Lennon & Lennon: 71.7
Cite as: /works/1971-02-21-ego-movies-and-the-moon
Last updated: 2026-06-04