This major biography captures the full range of Mailer's extraordinary career and presents him in all his complexity and brilliance. Manso weaves together the recollections of Mailer's mother, sister, wives, lovers, and of his colleagues, admirers and detractors, and of Mailer himself. The volume relates the story of Mailer's childhood and years at Harvard, his experience as a foot soldier, the hectic years of the 1950s in Greenwich village, the drinking bouts with James Jones and James Baldwin, the antiwar movements, the relationship with the Kennedys, and the stabbing of his second wife. Manso also describes the founding of The Village Voice, the triumphant publication of The Armies of the Night, The Executioner's Song, and Ancient Evenings. Contributors include: William Buckley, Lillian Hellman, Allen Ginsberg, Alfred Kazin, Norman Podhoretz, Arthur Schlesinger, Andy Warhol, and Shelly Winters. ISBN 0-671-44264-3 :