The Deer Park

This is by far the best Mailer novel I have read. I appreciate that it is not for everyone - the characters are not particularly likeable and the plot rambles forwards without any real structure. But this is a work of verisimilitude and the writing is superb. I have read several Mailer novels now and I consider him to be one of the most talented American writers of the twentieth century even if he did not quite live up to his potential. This book is probably his masterpiece and I believe he considered it himself to be his best work for many years. I encourage anyone interested in Mailer or American literature to have another, closer look at this one.

'The Deer Park' should become compulsary reading for the human race - forget school reading lists. It is an absolute masterpiece and Mailer's way words could knock Donna Tartt (author of Secret History) for six any day of the week. If you want to read a real masterpiece - sink your teeth into Mailer's 'Deer Park.' James P. Robinson