{"product_id":"a-mysterious-country-the-grace-and-fragility-of-american-democracy-hardcover","title":"A Mysterious Country: The Grace and Fragility of American Democracy - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNorman Mailer\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eJ. Michael Lennon\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor), \u003cb\u003eJohn Buffalo Mailer\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished on the centenary of Norman Mailer's birth, a timely and urgent call to preserve our democracy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From his bestselling first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Naked and the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e, to his last work, American democracy was a lifelong project for Norman Mailer. It was his grand theme. Nearly all of his books touched on the pros and cons, the strengths and weaknesses, the grace (to use his word) and fragility of the American experiment as well as the threats to it--from autocratic leaders and a complacent citizenry, from violent protest and radical conservative assaults on it, from \"soft fascism\" and the ills of racism and poverty. In the sharp and impassioned language of a political Cassandra and with the eye of a novelist and journalist, he explored the underlying psychological, social, and economic causes of the country's fragile polity and offered urgent prescriptions for its reinvigoration. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Mysterious Country\u003c\/i\u003e is a carefully selected collection of Mailer's most incisive--and sometimes remarkably prophetic--commentary on American democracy and what must be done to safeguard it. The anthology draws on both published and unpublished sources, from Mailer's great works of narrative nonfiction and novels as well as essays, interviews, letters, speeches, and talk show appearances. It includes pungent remarks on every president from FDR through George W. Bush, as well as correspondence with several. Throughout, what shines through is Mailer's passion for our democratic project--as well as the freedom that comes with it--and a keen awareness of its potential for failure, its virtues, and what is required \u003ci\u003eof us\u003c\/i\u003e to keep it intact.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNorman Mailer\u003c\/b\u003e was a giant of American letters and one of our most consequential public intellectuals of the postwar period. A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the National Book Award, he was an originator of new journalism and cofounder of the \u003ci\u003eVillage Voice\u003c\/i\u003e. He was the author of twelve novels, among them \u003ci\u003eThe Naked and the Dead\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHarlot's Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e, and numerous works of nonfiction, many probing American politics and society, including \u003ci\u003eThe Armies of the Night\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMiami and the Siege of Chicago\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eExecutioner's Song\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as several plays and screenplays. He was also a lifelong activist who ran for mayor of New York City in 1969. He died in 2007. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJ. Michael Lennon\u003c\/b\u003e, emeritus professor of English at Wilkes University and chair of the editorial board of the \u003ci\u003eMailer Review, \u003c\/i\u003eis the author or editor of several books about Norman Mailer, including his monumental authorized biography, \u003ci\u003eNorman Mailer: A Double Life\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eSelected Letters of Norman Mailer\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eOn God: An Uncommon \u003c\/i\u003eConversation, coauthored with Mailer. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, \u003c\/i\u003ethe \u003ci\u003eParis Review, New York Review of Books, New York, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Times Literary Supplement, Provincetown Arts, Hippocampus, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eMailer Review. \u003c\/i\u003eHe teaches in the Maslow Family Graduate Creative Writing Program at Wilkes University, which he cofounded in 2005. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Buffalo Mailer\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning screenwriter, journalist, playwright, actor, and producer. He is currently creative director for the development and production company Mailer Tuchman Media and is executive-producing a feature \u003ci\u003eShowtime \u003c\/i\u003edocumentary about the life of his father, directed by Emmy Award-winner Jeff Zimbalist. He is also creating a dramatic scripted series of his father's life directed by James Gray and based on J. Michael Lennon's \u003ci\u003eNorman Mailer: A Double Life.\u003c\/i\u003e He has appeared on \u003ci\u003eFox News, Air America, Democracy Now, WNYC, TheBigThink.com, CSPAN's Book TV, WPIX New York, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHuffPost Live\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eamong others\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eAs a journalist, he has freelanced for \u003ci\u003ePlayboy, New York Magazine, ESPN Books, The Norman Mailer Review, The American Conservative, Vector, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eInked Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. He lives with his wife, actress Claudia Maree Mailer, in Brooklyn, New York.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.19 x 9.27 x 6.27 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 31, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51765442674976,"sku":"9781956763379","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/08624adce338e97e31daa3952534e14e.webp?v=1780269867","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/a-mysterious-country-the-grace-and-fragility-of-american-democracy-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}