Norman Mailer

Best known for his highly successful novel "The Naked and the Dead," he invented a style of journalism that captures all the color and complexity of a novel.

Mailer has been better admired for his journalism than for his fiction writing.

Both critics and readers regard him as belligerent and egotistical. Mailer was actually jailed and fined during Washington peace demonstrations in October 1967. He wrote about the demonstrations with "The Armies of the Night."

Pub Date: 10/11/98