Norman Mailer Reading Order
5 series · 88 books · Born 31 January 1923
Norman Mailer was a prolific American author known for his diverse contributions to literature, including novels, non-fiction works, and essays. With 88 books spanning five series and various formats, he played a pivotal role in shaping modern narrative nonfiction, earning accolades such as two Pulitzer Prizes. His most renowned work, "The Naked and the Dead," remains a significant piece in American literature.
Anthologies Series
Complete10 books (1957–2015)
Start with Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews, the first of 10 books in the Anthologies series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews 1957Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | This Was Your War 1960Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | We Accuse 1965Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction 1971Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 |  The Cosmos Reader 1971Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Unknown California 1985Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers 1994Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Writing Los Angeles 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  UNION: 50 Years of Writing from Singapore and 15 Years of Drunken Boat 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
Nation Series
Complete22 books (1991–2009)
Start with Los Gusanos(By: John Sayles), the first of 22 books in the Nation series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Los Gusanos(By: John Sayles) 1991Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  The Best of The Nation(By: Victor Navasky,vanden Heuvel, Katrina) 2000Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | The Betrayal of America(By: Vincent Bugliosi) 2001Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Dreaming War(By: Gore Vidal) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | A Prayer for America(By: Dennis Kucinich) 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Napoleon's Glance(By: William Duggan) 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | Shaking the Foundations(By: Pete Hamill,Bruce Shapiro) 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  The Red and the Blacklist(By: Norma Barzman) 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | Unsustainable(By: Eamonn Fingleton) 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | A Hole in the World(By: Jonathan Schell) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | Imperial America(By: Gore Vidal) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 | Killed(By: David Wallis) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | Love, Poverty, and War(By: Christopher Hitchens) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 |  Murdered by Capitalism(By: John Ross) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 |  Silver City and Other Screenplays(By: John Sayles) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 | Taking Back America(By: Katrina Vanden Heuvel,Robert L. Borosage) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 | The Good, the Bad and the Dolce Vita(With: Mickey Knox) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 | The High Times Reader(By: Ann Nocenti,Paul Krassner,Ruth Baldwin) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 19 | The Truth About Camp David(By: Clayton E. Swisher) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 20 | Deserter from Death(By: Howard Zinn,Daniel Singer) 2005Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 21 | Blood, Class and Empire(By: Christopher Hitchens) 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 22 | Genocide of the Mind(By: Vine Deloria Jr.) 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
Non-Fiction Series
Complete28 books (1959–2016)
Start with The White Negro, the first of 28 books in the Non-Fiction series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The White Negro 1959Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  Miami and the Siege of Chicago 1968Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  The Armies of the Night 1968Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  Why Are We at War? 1968Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 |  A Fire on the Moon 1970Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Prisoner of Sex 1971Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  Marilyn 1973Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  The Faith of Graffiti 1974Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  The Fight 1975Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  Genius & Lust 1976Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 |  Some Honorable Men: Political Conventions, 1960-1972 1976Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  A Transit To Narcissus: A Facsimile of the Original Typescript 1978Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | The Executioner's Song 1979Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 |  Of Women and Their Elegance 1980Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 |  Huckleberry Finn: Alive at 100 1985Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 |  Language of Men 1989Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 |  How the Wimp Won the War 1992Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 |  Oswald's Tale 1995Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 19 |  Portrait of Picasso As a Young Man 1995Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 20 |  Muhammad Ali: Ringside(With: Joyce Carol Oates,Alex Haley) 1999Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 21 |  Into the Mirror: The Life of Robert P. Hanssen 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 22 |  The Spooky Art 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 23 |  The Big Empty 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 24 |  On God: An Uncommon Conversation 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 25 |  Mind of an Outlaw 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 26 |  Vidal vs. Mailer(With: Gore Vidal) 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 27 |  Selected Letters of Norman Mailer 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 28 | Ten Thousand Words a Minute 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
Short Story Collections Series
Complete10 books (1959–2003)
Start with Advertisements for Myself, the first of 10 books in the Short Story Collections series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Advertisements for Myself 1959Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | Deaths for the Ladies 1962Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  Existential Errands 1973Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer 1980Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 |  Essential Mailer 1982Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Pieces 1982Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  Pontifications 1982Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Pieces and Pontifications 1983Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  The Time Of Our Time 1998Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  Modest Gifts 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
Standalone Novels Series
Complete18 books (1948–2007)
Start with The Naked and the Dead, the first of 18 books in the Standalone Novels series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The Naked and the Dead 1948Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  Barbary Shore 1952Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  The Deer Park 1955Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  The Presidential Papers 1963Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | An American Dream 1966Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Cannibals and Christians 1966Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | Bull Fight: A Photographic Narrative 1967Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 | Why Are We in Vietnam? 1968Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  Maidstone 1971Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | St. George and the Godfather 1972Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 |  Watching My Name Go By 1974Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 | Of a Small and Modest Malignancy, Wicked and Bristling with Dots 1980Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | After the White Negro 1982Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 |  Ancient Evenings 1983Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 |  Tough Guys Don't Dance 1984Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 |  Harlot's Ghost 1991Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 |  The Gospel According to the Son 1997Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 |  The Castle in the Forest 2007Buy 🇺🇸 |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many books has Norman Mailer written?
- Norman Mailer has written 88 books across 5 series. Their published works span from 1948 to 2016.
- What is the first book in each Norman Mailer series?
- Here are the first books in Norman Mailer's series: Anthologies: Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews; Nation: Los Gusanos(By: John Sayles); Non-Fiction: The White Negro; Short Story Collections: Advertisements for Myself.
- What order should I read Norman Mailer's books?
- We recommend reading Norman Mailer's series in publication order. Each series can be read independently.
- Are Norman Mailer's series complete?
- Norman Mailer has 5 completed series.