Norman Mailer

Norman Mailer, 84, Nov. 10: The American literary titan shot to stardom with his first novel, 1948's "The Naked and the Dead," which Modern Library has dubbed "one of the hundred best works in the English language." Mailer the talent and Mailer the person were both larger ... morethan life, as the author created screenplays, experimental fiction and thunderous nonfiction, including "The Executioner's Song," which won Mailer one of his two Pulitzers. Charles McGrath of The New York Times summed him up: "Mr. Mailer belonged to the old literary school that regarded novel writing as a heroic enterprise undertaken by heroic characters with egos to match." (Camera Press/Retna Ltd.)