Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

New Jersey

SIGNED — Tough Guys Don’t Dance 

af4f6c00-d27e-4a94-a741-1631ba06159a-1

Norman Mailer

First edition copy of this Pulitzer Prize winning nonfiction novel about Gary Gilmore who was executed by firing squad. Book and jacket have wear otherwise clean. Stated first edition copy. 

Massachusetts

The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning story of the crimes and punishment of a 20th-century murderer and thief, is what the author calls a "true-life novel." It is a horrifying, sad, scrupulously detailed look at the events leading up to the moment Gary Gilmore was killed by a firing squad in Utah State Prison on January 17, 1977. Based on interviews, records of court proceedings, newspaper stories, and various other documents, it covers the nine months between Gilmore's parole from prison, his final crime, and his execution. The blurring of the distinction between fiction and nonfiction was one of the central developments of postwar American literature, and Mailer's imaginative use of the facts is an extension of his earlier forays into the "new journalism." He re-creates Gillmore's tormented psyche, recounts his crimes, takes in the story of Mormonism and the history of Utah, introduces Uncle Vern, Aunt Ida, victims, cops, cons, guards, lovers, and lawyers. The "Western Voices" of small-town America and the "Eastern Voices" of the journalists and show-biz types who descend on the Gilmore story are fused into a remarkable chorus, amplifying the presence of Gilmore himself, a smart, funny, doomed man - one of the most complex characters in modern letters.

The Executioner's Song

Norman Mailer's Pulitzer Prize-winning and unforgettable classic about convicted killer Gary Gilmore now in a brand-new edition. Arguably the greatest book from America's most heroically ambitious writer, THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG follows the short, blighted life of Gary Gilmore who became famous after he robbed two men in 1976 and killed them in cold blood. After being tried and convicted, he immediately insisted on being executed for his crime. To do so, he fought a system that seemed intent on keeping him alive long after it had sentenced him to death. And that fight for the right to die is what made him famous. Mailer tells not only Gilmore's story, but those of the men and women caught in the web of his life and drawn into his procession toward the firing squad. All with implacable authority, steely compassion, and a restraint that evokes the parched landscape and stern theology of Gilmore's Utah. THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks to the deepest source of American loneliness and violence. It is a towering achievement-impossible to put down, impossible to forget.

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Category - Fiction / Mystery & Detective

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Excellent

Listed - 2 years ago

Views - 68

Wishes - 2

Ships From - New Jersey

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SIGNED — Tough Guys Don’t Dance

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More copies of this book

This copy is sold, but you can find more here!

Category - Fiction / Mystery & Detective

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Excellent

Listed - 2 years ago

Views - 68

Wishes - 2

Ships From - New Jersey

Additional Information

SIGNED — Tough Guys Don’t Dance

Publisher Description

Tags

SIGNED — Tough Guys Don’t Dance

By:

$75.00 $100.00

Meet the seller

Discover more

The Executioner's Song

By: Norman Mailer

More from this seller

Additional titles by Norman Mailer

'The Executioner's Song' readers also enjoyed:

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