To Deliver the Metaphor

Intent and Rhetoric in Norman Mailer

Authors

  • Susan Oommen Author

Keywords:

metaphor and rhetoric, existential romanticism, violence and alterity, dialectical consciousness, political metaphors, The Armies of the Night

Abstract

Norman Mailer was the iconic writer-performer who sought to deliver, at least notionally, directions in alternate reality. He remained unabashed in his role as a game changer, consumed by reality curves he believed he was scripting; in his words, “to bend reality like a curve in a field of space” (Presidential Papers).

Author Biography

  • Susan Oommen

    Susan Oommen is a consultant with Orient BlackSwan and Chennai. She was introduced to Norman Mailer in the late 1960s and wrote her dissertation on the work of Mailer on Mailer.

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Published

2026-10-09

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2012): Why Mailer Matters

Section

Articles