Norman Mailer: Works and Days

Bush and Terror: an Exchange

An exchange in the New York Review of Books (14 August 2003): Ronald Tiersky's comment on Mailer's 'The White Man Unburdened,' with Mailer's 1,200-word reply.

Read an excerpt (rights pending)

“Bush and Terror: an Exchange,” in the New York Review of Books (14 August 2003, 41–42) — Ronald Tiersky’s comment on Mailer’s essay “The White Man Unburdened” (the expanded NYRB version of 03.21), followed by Mailer’s 1,200-word reply, defending his account of the Iraq War’s psychological motives (see Why Are We at War?, 03.18).

A full transcription, held in the working archive pending rights clearance, is at full text.

First published: 2003-08-14
Form: essay
Lennon & Lennon: 03.27
Cite as: /works/2003-08-14-bush-and-terror-an-exchange
Last updated: 2026-06-06