My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury USA for an advanced copy of this biography and study of the works by the author known more for his actions than his works , Norman Mailer.

As a reader there are some authors that at one point in my life I would have done anything to collect. In the day before Internet shopping books meant going the city to the Strand, haunting book sales reading articles in the New York Times about authors, seeing what they read and doing the same. Authors that I would once brawl to defend their reputation, or to get copies of change as a person gets older. That story of putting away childish things. Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs don't seem the same later in life as they did in youth. Norman Mailer is also another one, thought it was more his nonfiction I enjoyed. The Fight still holds up, Fire on the Moon and Armies of the Night I like still, I think. And as a recovering conspiracy buff I did enjoy Oswald's Tale, mainly for the build up of great revelations, that petered out. Though as I got older is was harder to remove the man from the art. Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer by Richard Bradford is a warts, bruises and liver bursting look at the life of Mailer, his works, legacy and the many people he left damaged in his wake, while making his own path in the world of literature.

The book begins with Mailer's parents, their upbringing and his father's coming to America after the First World War. Norman was a smart kid, testing highest in his school, but lazy in other ways, sure that he was right, and that what he decided to do was the only true path, and god forbid anyone get in his way. Mailer was accepted to Harvard, but was not accepted by the people going, as soon Jewish admissions would be cut, and Jews were hardly invited to the clubs where serious social connections were made. However, even dressed in colors that stood out, Mailer did well, getting started in writing, and making contacts that would help later. The Second World War came and Mailer joined with the idea of making a book of his experiences after the war. Mailer kept notes on his fellow soldiers and experiences using this to create his first novel The Naked and the Dead. The book hit the bestseller's list, giving Mailer fame, fortune and the opportunity to share any idea, no matter how dumb or ill informed with the world. Which continued for most of his life.

A book that covers both Mailer's life, his many works, and his role in literature up until the end of the 20th century and beyond. Bradford has a real gift for both research and for discussing Mailer's actions and possibly why he did so many, many odd things. The style is very good, and even when Bradford is panning a book, or an event the writing is never nasty, more why would anyone write this, and what could the author be thinking. Bradford is able to draw on examples, using the author's or critics or even friends to back up comments, or criticism of Mailer's writing or antics. Familiarity with both Mailer and his contemporaries would be helpful, but Bradford does a good job of introducing this world to readers.

For fans of Mailer, and for fans of literature or his time. A very well rounded look at the man and his writings, and how much of a difficult person he could be. Separating the artist from the person is kind of difficult after reading this, but I still enjoyed this book.

Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer offers the reader an in-depth and meticulously researched portrait of a controversial writer. In some ways, it may prove to be too much detail and too much information for the casual reader. Rather than idolize Mailer as so many biographers due to their subjects, Bradford presents Mailer as he was, warts and all. Best known for his seminal works, the Naked and the Dead, the Armies of the Night, and the Executioner’s Song, Mailer wrote countless magazine pieces, often on current topics AB’s events, campaigned to New York City’s mayor, married six times, stabbed his wife nearly killing her, and engaged in all manner of drunken brawls. He was an American original, machismo and all.