An Interview with Norman Mailer

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Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, written when he was 25, propelled him to literary fame. AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/Getty Images

Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, written when he was 25, propelled him to literary fame.

AFP/Getty Images

Norman Mailer once wrote that before he was 17, he'd formed the desire to be a major writer. That wish certainly came true. One political campaign, two Pulitzer Prizes and an unprecedented level of controversy later, he became a literary grandee unlike any other. This interview originally aired on Oct. 8, 1991.