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Bibliography

  • Bufithis, H. Philip (1978). Norman Mailer. NewYork: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. pp. 1–147.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Daily News, New York (2015). "Norman Mailer stabs his wife Adele in 1960". news. New York.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Cornwell, Rupert (2015). "Adele Mailer". article. UK.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Background

The Mailers had been married six years. Mailer was waiting on a hearing of a charge of disorderly conduct. He had gotten into a hassle over a tab of $7.60 a week before at Birdland. Adele told the arresting detectives the night of November 20 that he had been displaying "homicidal tendencies". Their family had been attempting to get him to see a psychiatrist. They hosted a party on November 19, 1960.

The Incident

In the early hours of the morning, the more people at the party that drank, the more quarrels that broke out. Mailer and his sister got into a fight about her campaign that he did not like. He started hitting her, then the Mailer couple themselves got into an argument when Adele tried to help. Some say that Adele taunted his literary talents. He stabbed her in the upper abdomen, by the heart, and in the back, all by a penknife. She was not taken to the hospital until three hours after he hurt her. She told the hospital, though they were skeptical, that she had fallen on a broken bottle. She told police the truth in the afternoon after her surgery.

The Aftermath

Mailer was arrested at the hospital around 10 pm. He was booked at the W. 100th St. Station at 11:35 pm. He was charged with felonious assault, but would not tell the police anything until he had a lawyer. Adele did not press charges against him to protect her daughters. He plead guilty to 3rd degree assault and received a suspended sentence. They divorced a year later, but "the stabbing embittered her permanently. She accepted a modest settlement from Mailer, whose career then was in the doldrums, and that support fell further after their daughters had completed college." (Rupert Cornwell article)





Background

During this time Norman Mailer would often partake in many types of drugs and alcohol, Such as marijuana and whiskey. Mailer also had a short temper and would happily engage in head-butting, arm-wrestling, and random punch-throwing. For much of the '50s, he drifted, frequently drunk or stoned or both.[1] The Mailers had been married for six years. Norman was waiting on a hearing of a charge of disorderly conduct. He had gotten into a hassle over a tab of $7.60 a week before at Birdland. Adele told the arresting detectives the night of November 20th that he had been displaying "homicidal tendencies". Their family had been attempting to get him to see a psychiatrist.[2] Mailer's life had been publicly marred by several incidents which raised doubts about his emotional stability.[3]

The Incident

Mailer had decided to run for Mayor of New York. On November 19th, 1960, in an effort to boost the campaign a party was hosted. The attendees of this event however would be a clear insight into Mailer's mental status at the time, as it was reported that alongside the formal guests, many individuals had come straight from the streets. As the hours passed, many of the guests including Mailer had become heavily intoxicated, and quarrels broke out. An argument between Mailer and his sister regarding the campaign came up, resulting in him hitting her. The Mailer couple themselves thenargued when Adele tried to defend her. Mailer had begun physically fighting off his guests and had then left to fight those who were not involved with the party. When he had returned at around 4:30 a.m., witnesses say that Adele taunted his masculinity and literary talents during their tiff. Angered, he stabbed her in the heart, in her upper abdomen, and then in the back, both with a penknife. As she lay there, hemorrhaging, a man at the party came to assist her and Mailer snapped, saying "Get away from her. Let the bitch die."[4] She was not taken to the hospital until three hours after the altercation. When arrived at the hospital, she said that she was at a party and fell onto glass, though doctors were skeptical. She told the police after that "He didn't say anything. He just looked at me. He didn't say a word. He just stabbed me". Morales never made a full recovery. She developed pleurisy and found herself coughing up black phlegm several times throughout the day. Several years later, she fell into poverty and became an alcoholic.

The Aftermath

Mailer was arrested at the hospital around 10 pm. Initially, Mailer pleaded “not guilty,” but later changed his plea to “guilty” to avoid harmful publicity for his family.[5] "He was charged with felonious assault and placed under psychiatric observation. Anxious above all, however, to protect her two young daughters, she declined to press charges. In the end Mailer pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and received only a suspended sentence. A year later, they divorced."[6] After the stabbing, Mailer was committed to Bellevue Mental Hospital. "I was very upset because my feeling was I committed a crime." His criminal lawyer had suggested he go to the hospital. "He was thinking like a criminal lawyer" Mailer spoke. They used the mental hospital as a way to save him if his wife did end up dying from the injuries inflicted upon her. Mailer hated this, he felt he would go crazy if he'd be there any longer.[7]

Not wanting to separate a father from his children and with some hopes their marriage could be reconciled, Adele pressed no charges.[8] Instead, He was confined to the Bellevue Mental Hospital for seventeen days as a result.[9]

This incident wasn't well received in the public eye. They weren't amused by Mailer's published poem in 1962 indirectly poking at the stabbing. "So long as you use a knife, there's some love left."[10]

Critical Response

Susan Mailer, when interviewed, spoke briefly about her father. She said that in her memoir, she wrote the chapter "Silent Spaces" which was about the unavoidable angst that the traumatic event caused for their family. Susan studied psychoanalysis for many years. When she wrote her memoir, it was her "second analysis." She admits she was afraid of him, but she also understood her fears of him. "He had stabbed his wife, my stepmother, Adele." Susan Mailer added, "We had to deal with the shame of having a father who had almost killed his wife. A father who was famous enough so that no one ever let you forget what he had done."[11]

Personal Response

After being remanded to Bellevue, Mailer confessed to the judge: “I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing.”[12] In an interview, Mailer was asked if he drank a lot (he was drunk when he stabbed her). Mailer went on to say the only time he ever drank heavily was when a marriage was breaking up.[13] When asked why Mailer stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, Mailer opts out of talking about it saying that he'd maybe write about it later. He was then asked if he hated women to which he responds that he doesn't hate them, however, he does get irritated with them differently than he does with men.[14] Mailer said he considers himself "apart of the generation, who considers fucking up an interesting way to express yourself, a way to do things."[15] When asked how he considers himself one, he mentions how he'd lost some books that could've been written, but he was too absorbed in himself and his problems. He thinks he's one because he went into debt. Nowhere does he mention his crimes against Adele.

In her 1997 memoir titled "The Last Party"[16], Adele Morales gave a written recollection of the stabbing. She recalled seeing Norman punching people in the street during the night of the stabbing. He apparently was in a delirious state where he couldn't "remember who he was, or what his name was." She vividly remembered Norman Mailer bursting into her apartment, also recalling that she couldn't see the knife in his hand while he was rushing towards her. Morales noted that Mailer had a jarring indifference while she laid on the floor bleeding.[17]

Citations

  1. ↑ McGrath 2007, p. 3. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMcGrath2007 (help)
  2. ↑ Daily News 2015. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFDaily_News2015 (help)
  3. ↑ Mills 1982, p. 215.
  4. ↑ The Ind. 2007.
  5. ↑ Lennon 2013, p. 269. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFLennon2013 (help)
  6. ↑ Cornwell 2015. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFCornwell2015 (help)
  7. ↑ Legs 2020, p. 51.
  8. ↑ Mailer 2019, p. 80.
  9. ↑ Merill 1978, p. 23. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMerill1978 (help)
  10. ↑ Mailer 1962. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMailer1962 (help)
  11. ↑ Lennon 2019, p. 114.
  12. ↑ McKinley 2021, p. 3. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMcKinley2021 (help)
  13. ↑ Legs 2020, p. 50.
  14. ↑ Lennon 2020, p. 52.
  15. ↑ Lennon 2020, p. 50.
  16. ↑ Mailer 1997.
  17. ↑ LA Obit 2015. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFLA_Obit2015 (help)

Bibliography

In The Incident, I corrected capitalization and punctuation mistakes, and broke up a run on sentence. I added two citations, one to Background, and the other to The Aftermath. Daily News and Cornwell. I added a quote/sentences to The Aftermath to go along with m Cornwell citation. I corrected a mismatched present and past tense worded sentence in Personal Response.






Background

During this time, Norman Mailer would often partake in many types of drugs and alcohol.[1] He had a short temper and would frequently engage in head-butting, arm-wrestling, and random punch-throwing.[1] For much of the '50s, he drifted, frequently drunk or stoned or both.[1] Mailer and Morales had been married for six years. Norman was waiting on a hearing of a charge of disorderly conduct.[2] He had gotten into a fight over a tab of $7.60 a week before at Birdland.[2] Adele told the arresting detectives the night of November 20th that he had been displaying "homicidal tendencies".[2] Their family had been attempting to get him to see a psychiatrist.[2] Time after time, his wife saw how toxic, pugnacious, and depressed Norman could be.[3] Everyone and everything become targets.[3] Their marriage was no exception.[3]

The Incident

Mailer had decided to run for Mayor of New York.[citation needed] On November 19th, 1960, in an effort to boost the campaign, a party was hosted.[citation needed][needs copy edit] The attendees of this event however would be given a clear insight into Mailer's irregular mental state at the time, as it was reported that alongside the formal guests, many individuals had come straight from the streets.[citation needed] As the hours passed, many of the guests including Mailer had become heavily intoxicated, and quarrels broke out. [4] An argument between Mailer and his sister regarding the campaign came up, resulting in Mailer assaulting her.[citation needed] The Mailer couple themselves began arguing when Adele Morales tried to defend her. Mailer had begun physically attacking the other guests and then proceeded to leave and fight those who were not involved with the party.[citation needed] When he had returned at around 4:30 a.m., witnesses say that Morales taunted Mailer's masculinity and literary talents during their argument.[citation needed]

Angered, he grabbed a penknife and then proceeded to stab Morales once in the back and once in the upper abdomen, narrowly avoiding her heart.[citation needed] As she lay there, hemorrhaging, a man at the party came to assist her and Mailer snapped, saying "Get away from her. Let the bitch die."[5]. Before being stabbed in the back and the breast, she yelled “Toro! Toro!” to further ridicule Mailer’s bullfighter fetish, their routine of making public displays of their distress hit bottom. In a blind rage, Mailer thrust with a penknife and in two striking blows. [3]

She was not taken to the hospital until three hours after the altercation.[citation needed] After arriving at the hospital, she said that she was at a party and fell onto glass, though doctors were skeptical.[citation needed] She told the police after that "He didn't say anything, he just looked at me. He didn't say a word. He just stabbed me".[verify] Morales never made a full recovery.[citation needed] She developed pleurisy and found herself coughing up black phlegm several times throughout the day.[citation needed] Several years later, she fell into poverty and became an alcoholic.[citation needed]

The Aftermath

Mailer was arrested at the hospital around 10 pm.[2] Adele did not press charges to protect her daughters. Mailer was charged with felonious assault and his psych was watched closely.[6] Initially, Mailer pleaded “not guilty,” but later changed his plea to “guilty” to avoid harmful publicity for his family.[7] Yet in an aftermath dominated by friends, family members, colleagues, and other enablers rallying to Norman, it became clear that he’d be “protected” and Adele, for all intent and purposes, was left to recover from her wounds and resume her life.[citation needed] Mailer briefly sat in jail, before being court-ordered to Bellevue for 17 days.[citation needed] In less than one month, he was back home. After plea bargaining was agreed to, Mailer’s reduced charges led to a suspended sentence and probation.[3] After the stabbing, Mailer was committed to Bellevue Mental Hospital.[citation needed] "I was very upset because my feeling was I committed a crime."[citation needed][verify] His criminal lawyer had suggested he go to the hospital. "He was thinking like a criminal lawyer" Mailer spoke.[citation needed][verify] They used the mental hospital as a way to save him had his wife did end up dying from the injuries inflicted upon her.[citation needed] Mailer hated this, he felt he would go crazy if he'd be there any longer.[8]

Not wanting to separate a father from his children and with some hopes their marriage could be reconciled, Adele pressed no charges.[9] Instead, He was confined to the Bellevue Mental Hospital for seventeen days as a result.[10]

Personal Response

After being remanded to Bellevue, Mailer confessed to the judge: “I feel I did a lousy, dirty, cowardly thing.”[11] In an interview, Mailer was asked if he drank often. Mailer went on to say the only time he ever drank heavily was when a marriage was breaking up.[12] When asked why Mailer stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, Mailer opts out of talking about it saying that he'd maybe write about it later.[citation needed] He was then asked if he hated women to which he responds that he doesn't hate them, however, he does get irritated with them differently than he does with men.[13] Mailer said he considers himself "apart of the generation, who considers fucking up an interesting way to express yourself, a way to do things."[12] When asked how he considers himself one, he mentions how he'd lost some books that could've been written, but he was too absorbed in himself and his problems.[citation needed] He thinks he's one because he went into debt. Nowhere does he mention his crimes against Adele.[citation needed]

Critical Response

This incident wasn't well received in the public eye.[citation needed] They weren't amused by Mailer's published poem in 1962 indirectly poking at the stabbing. "So long as you use a knife, there's some love left."[14]

Susan Mailer, in her 2019 memoir, admits she was afraid of her father, but she also understood her fears of him: "He had stabbed his wife, my stepmother, Adele."[15] Mailer adds, "We had to deal with the shame of having a father who had almost killed his wife. A father who was famous enough so that no one ever let you forget what he had done."[15]

In her 1997 memoir The Last Party, Adele Morales, writing as Adele Mailer, recollects of the stabbing. She recalls seeing Mailer punching people in the street. She suggests that he was delirious and couldn't "remember who he was, or what his name was."[16] She remembers Mailer bursting into their apartment, but did not notice the knife in his hand when he rushed toward her. Morales notes that Mailer seemed indifferent while she lay on the floor bleeding.[16]

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 McGrath 2007. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMcGrath2007 (help)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Moberley 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Moore 2020. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMoore2020 (help)
  4. ↑ Mills 1982, p. 221.
  5. ↑ Hari 2007. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHari2007 (help)
  6. ↑ Cornwell 2015. sfn error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFCornwell2015 (help)
  7. ↑ Lennon 2013, p. 269. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFLennon2013 (help)
  8. ↑ McNeil 2020, p. 51.
  9. ↑ Mailer 2019, p. 80.
  10. ↑ Merill 1978, p. 23. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMerill1978 (help)
  11. ↑ McKinley 2021, p. 3. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMcKinley2021 (help)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 McNeil 2020, p. 50.
  13. ↑ McNeil 2020, p. 52.
  14. ↑ Mailer 1962. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMailer1962 (help)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Mailer 2019, p. 114.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 LA Obit 2015. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFLA_Obit2015 (help)

Bibliography


paraphrased and fixed a long quote in aftermath. added citation to aftermath, background flow added.

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