American Author, Cultural Icon, Norman Mailer Dead at 84 (1/3)

Norman Mailer was just 25 years old when he burst on the literary scene with his first novel, The Naked And The Dead. The World War II tale is universally recognized as one of the best war novels to emerge from that conflict. Published in 1948, it is all the more remarkable because Mailer wrote realistically of combat" class="hjdict" word="combat" target=_blank>combat without ever actually having taken part in battle.

Many critics saw flashes of Ernest Hemingway in the young Mailer's novel. A recurring theme in his writing, as in Hemingway's, was man testing his masculinity. Even as an author, Norman Mailer considered himself a battler, a fighter. He closely identified himself with boxing champions such as Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, just as Hemingway identified himself with hunters and bullfighters.

Mailer publicly acknowledged that he modeled himself after Hemingway that he tried to become the all-around male symbol. But Hemingway observed that becoming a public figure clouds a writer's sharpness, and Mailer agreed.

With the publication of The Naked and the Dead, Mailer became a celebrity" class="hjdict" word="celebrity" target=_blank>celebrity, and he basked in the attendant publicity. His second novel, Barbary Shore, was a critical and financial failure.

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诺曼·梅勒尔25岁时就凭着自己的小说处女作《裸者和死者》登上了文学舞台。人们普遍认为这部描述二战的小说是描述那场战争的小说中最好的作品之一。这部小说1948年发行。小说引人瞩目的最主要原因就是梅勒尔虽然没真正参加过战争，但是对战斗场面的描绘却异常真实。

许多评论家在年轻的梅勒尔的小说中看到了欧内斯特·海明威的影子。和海明威一样，在他的作品中一再出现的主题就是男人检验自己的刚毅和男子汉气概。即使作为书的作者，梅勒尔却把自己看作一名战士、斗士。他把自己比作拳王穆罕默德·阿里和乔·弗雷泽，就像是海明威把自己比作猎人和斗牛士一样。
梅勒尔曾经公开宣称他希望自己成为海明威那样的，全方位的男人的典范。然而，海明威发现成为一个公众人物会使得影响自己作为作家的洞察力，对此梅勒尔也表示同意。

随着《裸者和死者》的出版，梅勒尔成了一个名人，成了公众人物。他的第二部作品，《巴巴里海岸》却成了一部在评论界和商业上全面失败的作品。