Synopses & Reviews
Had Upton Sinclair not written a single book after The Jungle, he would still be famous. But Sinclair was a mere twenty-five years old when he wrote The Jungle, and over the next sixty-five years he wrote nearly eighty more books and won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He was also a filmmaker, labor activist, womenand#8217;s rights advocate, and health pioneer on a grand scale. This new biography of Sinclair underscores his place in the American story as a social, political, and cultural force, a man who more than any other disrupted and documented his era in the name of social justice.
Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual shows us Sinclair engaged in one cause after another, some surprisingly relevant todayand#8212;the Sacco-Vanzetti trial, the depredations of the oil industry, the wrongful imprisonment of the Wobblies, and the perils of unchecked capitalism and concentrated media. Throughout, Lauren Coodley provides a new perspective for looking at Sinclairand#8217;s prodigiously productive life. Coodleyand#8217;s book reveals a consistent streak of feminism, both in Sinclairand#8217;s relationships with womenand#8212;wives, friends, and activistsand#8212;and in his interest in issues of housework and childcare, temperance and diet. This biography will forever alter our picture of this complicated, unconventional, often controversial man whose whole life was dedicated to helping people understand how society was run, by whom, and for whom.
Review
“A frank and tender account...Enlightening, rooted in the accumulation of everyday detail, from which a meticulous, deeply sympathetic portrait of Mailer emerges. Out Magazine
Review
“Dwayne Raymond adds another dimension to our appreciation of a great mans genius, the paradoxes of his genial belligerence, his obstinacy at once maddening and endearing, and his unaffected originality. This is a fascinating touching memoir, and often funny too.” Harry Evans, New York Times bestselling author of They Made America
Review
“Tender...An illuminating look at the mind and methods of a Pulitzer Prize winner.” Boston Globe
Review
“In this moving memoir, Dwayne Raymond provides an intimate look at the daily routine of a great writer in the last years of his life. Raymond poignantly describes how Mailer fought like a lion to continue writing even as age and illness slowed him down.” Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Team of Rivals
Review
“Mornings With Mailer is a tender and affectionate view of the protean author at the end of the Big Novel that was his life. Dwayne Raymonds book offers a uniquely intimate perspective on one of our literary giants. Applause.” Tom Piazza, author of City of Refuge
Review
“So tender and funny that you dont even have to be a Norman Mailer fan to be moved by it...You just have to be a fan of great men, valiantly facing the decline of their powers until they become, against their will, examples to us all.” Esquire
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“Charming and poignant....From a firsthand observer like Raymond, you get a view of a writer you simply dont from a more formal biography.” San Diego Union-Tribune
Review
“Refreshingly, critically candid...The book is a quick 340 pages that could be read in a hurry or just as easily savored, digested, and considered.” Cape Cod Life
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“Mornings with Mailer is an affectionate recollection of Raymonds time with Mailer…Of course, Raymond spent more than just mornings with Mailer, and the book describes the small moments with great warmth.” Cape Cod Times
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"Coodley's biography should renew interest in the works of this passionate writer."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
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"Thoroughly engaging."and#8212;Kirkus
Review
"An invaluable look at Sinclair's full life and influential work."and#8212;Carl Hays, Booklist
Review
andquot;A rounded, insightful sense of Sinclair and his times.andquot;andmdash;
Historical Novel SocietyReview
and#8220;Lauren Coodleyand#8217;s perceptive account should awaken fresh interest in one of the twentieth centuryand#8217;s more fascinating cultural figures and his extraordinaryand#8212;sadly, mostly forgottenand#8212;body of work.and#8221;and#8212;Julie Salamon, author of Wendy and the Lost Boys
Review
andldquo;Upton Sinclair traversed the first half of the twentieth century like a rogue star. His prodigious writing and activism in the service of social justice perturbed the status quo, awakening millions to everything from appalling working conditions, poisoned food, and media bias to the rise of fascism and environmental decline. Yet his determination to lead a balanced and healthy life led some biographers to disparage him as less than a full man. Lauren Coodley rescues Sinclair from such critical condescension and reminds us of the many lives that he packed into one even as he moved the lives of both the common and the great.andrdquo;andmdash;Gray Brechin, author of Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin
Review
"This new biography goes beyond the usual focus on Sinclair's literary prowess to examine the extent of his entire life and his influence on California and American civil and social rights, and fills in gaps narrower focuses have created in the past."and#8212;James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review
Review
"Upton Sinclair is an asset for those beginning to impose order on the real-life and imagined women who help constitute Sinclair's legacy."and#8212;Laura Hapke, Working USA:The Journal of Labor and Society
Synopsis
In the spring of 2003, Norman Mailer, who was then eighty years old, invited an improbable companion into his life: Dwayne Raymond, a young writer who was waiting tables at a restaurant in Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, where Mailer spent most of his final years. Raymond became Mailer's aide in all matters professional and private, assisting the Pulitzer Prize-winning author on the four books he published during this time, including his last novel,
The Castle in the Forest. As Raymond's responsibilities grew, so too did his closeness to Mailer, who in turn taught him how to navigate his own personal challenges.
In this touching memoir, Dwayne Raymond presents a loving portrait of Norman Mailer in his twilight years, depicting a quirky and complex but achingly human man so unlike the Mailer of disquieting legend. Beautifully written and honestly portrayed, Mornings with Mailer is a personal and revealing story of a great writer, his man Friday, and their unlikely but enduring friendship.
Synopsis
“
Mornings with Mailer is a tender and affectionate view of the protean author at the end of the Big Novel that was his life. Dwayne Raymonds book offers a uniquely intimate perspective on one of our literary giants. Applause.” — Tom Piazza, author of
City of Refuge “In this moving memoir, Dwayne Raymond provides an intimate look at the daily routine of a great writer in the last years of his life.” — Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Team of Rivals
Mornings with Mailer is the revealing memoir by Dwayne Raymond, the man who worked as Norman Mailers personal assistant during the last five years of the iconic authors life. Recasting the legendary writer of such classics as The Naked and the Dead and The Executioners Song in a new light, Mornings with Mailer describes the powerful bond that formed between him and Raymond from April 2003 until Mailers death in November 2007.
About the Author
Dwayne Raymond worked with Norman Mailer from April 2003 until Mailer's death in November 2007. Raymond contributes regularly to the Huffington Post, and has written for The New York Times Brief Guide to Essential Knowledge, The Mirror, In Newsweekly, and The Boston Reader. He lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.