"From one end of his life to the other he sat in solemn thought and left so much to read, so many pages with ideas that come at you like sparks spitting from a fire."--Jimmy Breslin in the Australian.
Although
media attention over the weekend initially focused on Mailer's death
with a flurry of news reports and obituaries, these were soon followed
by essays reflecting upon his influential work and larger-than-life
life:
- "Why Norman Mailer Mattered" by Richard Lacayo in Time
- "A Novelist's Nonfiction Captured the American Spirit" by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times
- "Last round for Norman Mailer: the wife stabbing, critic punching bruiser of books" by Anthony Haden-Guest in the Daily Mail
- "Author Norman Mailer dies at 84" by Paul Harris in the Guardian
- "Last post for Norman Mailer" by Tony Allen-Mills in the Sunday Times
- "Remembering Mailer" by David L. Ulin in the Los Angeles Times
- "Remembrances of Norman Mailer," compiled by Dana Cook for Salon
- "He could be flawless. And he could also fail on an epic scale" by Alexander Linklater in the Observer
- "Norman Mailer: Remembering the pint-size Jewish fireplug" by Christopher Hitchens in Slate