ΓÇ£Writing is spooky,ΓÇ¥ according to Norman Mailer. ΓÇ£There is no routine of an office to keep you going, only the blank page each morning, and you never know where your words are coming from, those divine words.ΓÇ¥ In The Spooky Art, Mailer discusses with signature candor the rewards and trials of the writing life, and recommends the tools to navigate it. Addressing the reader in a conversational tone, he draws on the best of more than fifty years of his own criticism, advice, and detailed observations about the writerΓÇÖs craft.

Praise for The Spooky Art

ΓÇ£The Spooky Art shows MailerΓÇÖs brave willingness to take on demanding forms and daunting issues. . . . He has been a thoughtful and stylish witness to the best and worst of the American century.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Boston Globe

ΓÇ£At his bestΓÇöas artists should be judgedΓÇöMailer is indispensable, an American treasure. There is enough of his best in this book for it to be welcomed with gratitude.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Washington Post

ΓÇ£The richest book ever written about the writerΓÇÖs subconscious.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Philadelphia Inquirer

ΓÇ£Striking . . . entrancingly frank.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöEntertainment Weekly

Praise for Norman Mailer

ΓÇ£[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe New York Times

ΓÇ£A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe New Yorker

ΓÇ£Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Washington Post

ΓÇ£A devastatingly alive and original creative mind.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöLife

ΓÇ£Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe New York Review of Books

ΓÇ£The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöChicago Tribune

ΓÇ£Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Cincinnati Post