Norman Mailer is Dead

Norman Mailer died on Saturday. I'm not really interested in Mailer's work. However, an idea I heard in an interview he gave haunts me. He expressed concern that the novel might experience the same fate as poetry in the twentieth century- becoming more-or-less a fringe art form that doesn't have much relevance daily life.

Though I read novels all the time, as the years go by, I find that I challenge myself less and less with my choices. Reading has become pure Vegas for my psyche. "What happens between the pages, stays between the pages." Be that as it may- the short, hedonistic trips I take between the pages do bring life joy and I will continue to bring a book with me into the twenty first century. Let's hope the power of Oprah will trump Mailer's premonition and the novel will remain relevant to our lives.