Literary Feud: The Infamous Feud Between Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal

Rivalries and feud are pretty well-known not only in sport, political life, and business but also in literature. Indeed, there have been quite a number of feuds in history related to literature. One of the oldest dating from the early 19th century which involved two outstanding Romantics, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. What started as collaboration soon came out as competitive rivalry as the creative visions conflicted.

A more modern literary feud was between Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Weiner, who over the past near decade have been involved in a very publicized argument. Weiner criticized Franzen over what she saw as the tendency of the literary
world to favor men, believing that most women’s fiction was being marginalized and trivialized as “chick lit.” That comment made Franzen, one of today’s best-selling novelists, the target of her comments, and public exchange between the two highlighted residual gender biases endemic in publishing.

But for the purpose of this article, we will be dealing with one of the most infamous ones gone physical: Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal. The feud between both had long been in the running, where personal disagreement mixed with professional competition.

Source of Image : https://ar.inspiredpencil.com/pictures-2023/wordsworth-and-coleridge

Norman Mailer, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, at times provocative, volumes on masculinity, war and American society. His successful novels included The Naked and the Dead and The Executioner’s Song. Equally, Gore Vidal was a very successful novelist and playwright much noted for his work on themes relating to history, politics, and American culture: such novels as Burr and Myra Breckinridge securing his place in American literature. Yet, despite such high standing, there developed between them a hatred that grew into a very public and acrimonious feud which fascinated not only the literary world but also the mainstream media.

Source of image : https://lithub.com/25-legendary-literary-feuds-ranked/

That tension between the two really came to a head in 1971 during an episode of The Dick Cavett Show, where Mailer and Vidal got into a heated fight. Confrontational by nature, Mailer took offense with Vidal’s highly critical writings, particularly when Vidal compared him to Charles Manson in an essay. This led to a dramatic confrontation on the talk show and marked one of the most discussed literary brawls on record. No physical blows were exchanged that day, but six years later at a party, Mailer punched Vidal in the face, sending him to the ground. And as Vidal got up,
he quipped famously, “Once again, words fail Norman Mailer.”

Source of Image : https://www.salon.com/2015/02/13/jonathan_franzen_on_jennifer_weiner_she%E2%80%99s_freeloading_on_the_legitimate_problem_of_gender_bias/

The final outcome in this dispute between Mailer and Vidal outlines how strong characters and different opinions can develop an adversary. Both men had become celebrities in literature; however, their altercations serve as a lesson regarding how hazardous it is to let discrepancies in opinion build into personal hostility. Where there are two individuals with ideas of a different kind, Norman Mailer & Gore Vidal Feud on The Dick Cavett Show debates can quickly deteriorate into aggression, as opposed to constructive debate. This competition makes one realize that if respect and openness can be used when acknowledging different points of view, that can bring rich lessons in these instances. Rather than ideological divide, what we need is to interact civilly in a manner that should promote understanding and cooperation. After all, while healthy debate is integral for progress, civility in discussion is important if the literary community is to be more inclusive and productive.