Perspective

The Big Empty is a series of discussions between Norman Mailer and John Buffalo Mailer, father and son. As such, Norman and John each are speaking from their own perspective. Norman is a famous writer and John is a budding playwright and actor. Norman is fifty-five years older than his son. John takes on the posture of interviewer during most of the account. It is obvious that he enjoys gaining the wisdom of Norman's long life and experiences.

The book is categorized into different topics and within each of the topics are exchanges between John and Norman. It is no surprise that the famous author and advocate of progressive thought and ideology is outspoken, serious and funny and has the ability to provide a mixture of responses that are, at times, charming, blunt and wistful. The discussions contained in this book, take place over a period of a...