Norman Mailer. JFK. Superman Comes to the Supermarket - Hardcover

Mailer, Norman; Lennon, J. Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3836550334 ISBN 13: 9783836550338

Publisher: Taschen America, 2014

Synopsis

A time for greatness

Norman Mailer’s game-changing coverage of John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign
With his Hollywood good looks, boundless enthusiasm, and mesmeric media presence, John F. Kennedy was destined to capture the imaginations of the more than 70 million Americans who watched the nation’s first televised presidential debate. Just days after beating out Richard Nixon by the narrowest margin in history, Kennedy himself said, “It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide.”

But one man begged to differ: writer Norman Mailer, who bragged that his pro-Kennedy treatise, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket,” had “won the election for Kennedy.” Whether or not that was the case, the article, published in Esquire magazine just weeks before polls opened, did redefine political reporting and New Journalism with Mailer's frank, first-person voice identifying Kennedy as the “existential hero” who could awaken the nation from its postwar slumber and conformist Eisenhower years.

Now, TASCHEN reimagines this no-holds-barred portrait of one of America’s most revered presidents on his path to the White House, publishing Mailer’s essay in book form with over 300 photographs that bring the campaign and the candidate’s family to life. These images were captured by some of the great photojournalists of the day—Cornell Capa, Jacques Lowe, Paul Schutzer, Stanley Tretick, Hank Walker—and appear in this volume alongside many never-before-published photos by Garry Winogrand and Burton Berinsky, providing a fascinating look at the man who declared the ’60s “a time for greatness.”

About this title

About the Author

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) fut l’un des plus grands écrivains, l’un des plus marquants du XXe siècle et l’une des figures littéraires les plus célèbres et les plus controversées des États-Unis. L’auteur à succès d’une douzaine de romans et de 20 œuvres journalistiques a également composé des pièces de théâtre, des scénarios, des mini-feuilletons pour la télévision, des centaines d’essais, deux recueils de poésie et un de nouvelles. Cet écrivain qui a remporté deux fois le Prix Pulitzer a vécu à Brooklyn, New York et Provincetown, Massachusetts.

J. Michael Lennon is Emeritus Professor of English at Wilkes University and the late Norman Mailer’s archivist and authorized biographer. He is the author of the authorized biography Norman Mailer: A Double Life and editor of Selected Letters of Norman Mailer.

Nina Wiener is Managing Editor at TASCHEN, where she edits the publisher’s literary series―including works by James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, Gay Talese, and Tom Wolfe – and oversees collaborations with artists and organizations including The New York Times, NASA, Walton Ford, and Peter Beard.

Review

“Mailer got Kennedy better than anyone...”

“Norman Mailer. JFK. Superman Comes to the Supermarket provides a striking perspective on American politics. We experience the momentum of the campaign...We feel like we are there.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Taschen America
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 3836550334
• ISBN 13: 9783836550338
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 370
• Editor: Wiener Nina