The Deer Park
by Norman Mailer
published
1997
(first published 1955)
by Abacus
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binding
Paperback, 398 pages
isbn
0349109974
(isbn13: 9780349109978)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 156)
Read in June, 2008
In The Deer Park, Mailer satirizes post-WWII hollywood which by his account was an immoral, selfish, venal, and generally corrupt society. The story in mostly set in a desert town east of LA (Palm Springs?), where the studio owners, producers, directors, writers, and actors go to lounge around and drink, party, and sleep around. The characters are fickle and unfaithful, cheating on one another and trying to build themselves up by cutting others down, usually in a dramatic fashion befitting Hol...more
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I picked up this book not knowing what to expect-- it was one of those impulse buys, the kind where you're walking through the bookstore and say to yourself "You know what, I need to read some Norman Mailer."
There were moments of greatness in it, but overall it left me flat. The premise of an ex-pilot leaving the service and moving to a Hollywood retreat where he finds himself in with a colony of scandalous show-biz folks is pretty good, but for me it didn't go the distance.
Co...more
There were moments of greatness in it, but overall it left me flat. The premise of an ex-pilot leaving the service and moving to a Hollywood retreat where he finds himself in with a colony of scandalous show-biz folks is pretty good, but for me it didn't go the distance.
Co...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
People who can read about swearing and partying and not have it bother them.
For some reason I thought this book was going to be about humans using guns to hunt other humans, not sure why.
It obviously wasn't.
This book is definitely crass and not one I'd recommend to my mom, but it is a fascinating look into relationships and what fame, fortune and life choices do to them.
I thought it was pretty good, but dark. It is far from my favorite Mailer book though.
It didn't compare to The Naked and the Dead or The Executioner's Song.
It obviously wasn't.
This book is definitely crass and not one I'd recommend to my mom, but it is a fascinating look into relationships and what fame, fortune and life choices do to them.
I thought it was pretty good, but dark. It is far from my favorite Mailer book though.
It didn't compare to The Naked and the Dead or The Executioner's Song.
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
would-be artists, lovers, fighters, cheaters, drinkers
An exquisite portrait of the relations between pride and desire. Also a great commentary on the artist's condition and a reference point for the jaded, the morally corrupt, the promiscuous and the unsure.
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Read in December, 2007
My first time reading Norman Mailer. It started out well, but his view of humanity is so low it was not pleasant to read.
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Read in July, 2004
This reminds me a little of Play it as it Lays. Yesteryear Hollywood types alternating between binge and depression.
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While I very much enjoyed many parts of what I read, I can't stand to read any more. It's like an annoying friend.
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Read in January, 1985
Wrote a paper about it in college. I should reread it since I don't remember much.
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Read in January, 1994
This is the first book I read when I moved to Los Angeles after college.
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bought this at a thrift store. I hear it's one of his best.
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I decided to dive into the world of Norman Mailer.
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