Joyce Carol Oates Goes to the Rack for Norman Mailer

Since I don’t want to learn what Wordle is, I am here to talk about Norman Mailer. No not that news, the other news—where Book & Film Globe veteran Joyce Carol Oates confusingly tweets out a defense of the man who stabbed his second wife as surely not a “bad husband.” (In 1960, Mailer stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, after a party and while very drunk. He punctured her cardiac sac, and Morales almost died. He reportedly told shocked party guests, “Don’t touch her. Let the bitch die.” Great dude.)

Our fearless leader Neal Pollack chronicled the Mailer drama last week, including Oates’ vehement defense of the author “The White Negro.” Since then, she has continued to tweet daily about Mailer, including comparing him to Senator Ted Kennedy. I do not have the words here to rebut Oates point-by-point—it is challenging enough to pull out her Mailer opinions from among the near-constant tweets about favorite paintings, cats, Sidney Poitier, and more cats (which, honestly, Joyce, same). 

But she caught the literary world’s attention on January 5 by tweeting, “‘bad husband’ to whom? like many oft-married men Norman Mailer wound up finally with a much younger, adoring, & altogether quite wonderful wife (Norris Church) whom everyone liked. womanizers all eventually wear out, it just takes time & if you’re lucky, you are the last wife.”

Oates continues to double-down on this opinion:

(Mailer lived a long time. the older Mailer was very unlike the young, hard-drinking Mailer. that is just a fact, & his presence in the literary world also evolved over the decades. a revered older citizen in his late 80's–quite unlike the young brawler in his 20's.) https://t.co/oxyLKnxfQj

— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) January 6, 2022

controversy about Norman Mailer calls to mind a similar controversy about Senator Ted Kennedy who'd behaved very badly at the time of notorious Chappaquiddick. yet he went on to a distinguished Senate career & was much revered, at least among a majority of voters in Massachusetts

— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) January 8, 2022

back to this subject? it's just a fact that Norman Mailer lived for more than 50 years after he committed an assault, & at one point he was elected president of PEN. I am hardly the sole person who was a friend of his in his later years; he was a revered literary "elder" in NYC. https://t.co/BR3p3I3XHC

— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) January 8, 2022

The audacity of “back to this subject?” is really inspiring. Say what you will about Mailer and cancellation in general, but relentlessly defending him as a good husband is truly a chaotic take. And I, um, cannot find anyone who agrees with her. I know this is technically news, and news writing requires balance, but I cannot report what does not exist!

Instead, here are a couple of my favorite responses to Joyce Carol Oates:

“if you’re lucky, you are the last wife” feels like a statement that should be accompanied by thunder and lightning

— jourdain searles (@judysquirrels) January 7, 2022

I too dream of one day finding the man who’s stabbed all the wives he’s gonna stab https://t.co/awfeGKXFNr

— Jess Zimmerman (@j_zimms) January 6, 2022