The Last Party

Adele (nee Morales) was the writer's second wife, the one he stabbed and left for dead after a disastrous party one night in 1962. That night, according to this plain-spoken and highly readable memoir, meant a huge change in both their lives. He, still recovering from the disastrous reception of his second and third novels and his ludicrous campaign for mayor of New York, went on from strength to strength as one of the most lionized writers of his time. Adele, who had been a lively adjunct to his life for 11 years, a talented painter and would-be actress in her own right, faded completely from sight. It's hard to see quite what she means to do with this book, other than to set the record straight from her point of view. The portrait Adele paints here of Norman is of a highly talented but obsessively narcissistic, controlling man reduced to abysmal rages brought on by an exorbitant consumption of alcohol and dope over many years, a driven womanizer who is infuriated by the thought of faithlessness in a mate, and one whose only real fondness seems to be for his highly idealized mother. There was constant partying in the Mailers' life of the 1950s and early '60s, and all sorts of people make brief appearances here, from Jack Kerouac to Montgomery Clift, William Styron to James Baldwin. There are some sharp comic scenes, as of Mailer's first meeting with Adele's feisty family, of a bumbling sex show seen in Mexico and of a disastrous attempt at mate-swapping with another couple. But mostly it's bacchanals and endless physical and emotional hangovers, and most readers will become impatient that Adele, with two small daughters to protect, did not get out sooner. Photos not seen by PW. (June) FYI: Mailer's new novel, The Gospel According to the Son, is reviewed in this issue.