LIANE HANSEN, Host:

Critic Bill Marx has this appreciation.

BILL MARX: At his best, Mailer was not driven by ego alone. His generation assumed that what novel said had the power to make a difference. Norman Mailer may have abused the privilege, but his career is a valuable reminder of that now anachronistic belief.

HANSEN: Critic Bill Marx teaches contemporary fiction in the writing program at Boston University. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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