Norman Mailer: Works and Days

Is He Writing the Big One?

Roger Ebert's wire-story interview discussing Mailer's plans for the long new novel (Ancient Evenings) and his views on journalism and deadlines.

“Is He Writing the Big One?,” an article-interview by Roger Ebert (Chicago Daily News-Sun Times wire) in the Peoria Journal-Star (18 May 1974), in which Ebert discusses Mailer’s plans for the long new novel — Ancient Evenings (83.18) — and quotes him on journalism and deadlines. A February 1974 New York Times report (“Mailer Getting $1-Million for Rights to Next Novel”) had circulated erroneous details of the book, which Mailer corrected repeatedly before its 1983 publication.

First published: 1974-05-18
Form: article-interview
Lennon & Lennon: 74.10
Cite as: /works/1974-05-18-is-he-writing-the-big-one
Last updated: 2026-06-04