Norman Mailer: Works and Days

Mailer Takes on the Heavyweight Novel

Herbert Mitgang's New York Times interview on Mailer's novel-in-progress, with his generous comment on Saul Bellow's Nobel, awarded the same day.

“Mailer Takes on the Heavyweight Novel,” an article-interview by Herbert Mitgang in the New York Times (10 December 1976), in which Mailer discusses his novel-in-progress (Ancient Evenings, 83.18) and comments on Henry Miller and on Saul Bellow, who received the Nobel Prize the same day: “To my surprise, I felt good about Saul getting it, because he deserved it. I sent him a telegram of congratulations.” Reprinted in Mitgang’s Words Still Count with Me (1995).

First published: 1976-12-10
Form: article-interview
Lennon & Lennon: 76.18
Cite as: /works/1976-12-10-mailer-takes-on-heavyweight-novel
Last updated: 2026-06-04