St. George and the Godfather

Mailer's narrative of the 1972 Republican and Democratic conventions, narrated again through the Aquarius persona; the pendant to Miami and the Siege of Chicago. New American Library, late October 1972; dedicated to his father, Isaac Barnett Mailer.

St. George and the Godfather is Mailer’s account of the 1972 Republican and Democratic national conventions — George McGovern as “St. George,” Richard Nixon as “the Godfather” — published in softcover by New American Library in late October 1972. The pendant to Miami and the Siege of Chicago (68.25), it again narrates through the Aquarius persona: “So Norman Mailer, who looked to rule himself by Voltaire’s catch-all precept, ‘Once a philosopher, twice a pervert’ … was still obliged to call himself Aquarius again for he had not been in Miami two days before he knew he would not write objectively about the Convention of ‘72.” The dedication reads: “To dad (alias Isaac Barnett Mailer).”

A September publication date on the copyright page is incorrect (see 72.12, 72.19); the book reached newsstands in late October. Advance excerpts appeared in Life (“The Evil in the Room,” 72.10) and the New York Review of Books (“The Genius,” 72.20). A later hardcover and simultaneous softcover carried an introduction by John Leonard (Arbor House, 83.49). Garry Wills (“Aquarius Returns to Miami”) and Christopher Lehmann-Haupt reviewed it warmly; portions reappear in The Time of Our Time (98.7).

Related pages

• Miami and the Siege of Chicago (68.25) | Aquarius
• “The Evil in the Room” (72.10) | “The Genius” (72.20)
• Isaac Barnett "Barney" Mailer | New American Library | 1972
• Norman Mailer Talks Politics at Towson (72.12) | Norman Mailer in Illinois (72.19) | St. George and the Godfather (83.49) | The Time of Our Time (98.7)

First published: 1972-10
Form: nonfiction-narrative
Lennon & Lennon: 72.17
Cite as: /works/1972-10-st-george-and-the-godfather
Last updated: 2026-06-04