Norman and the Mad Grad Student
Carol Holmes Alpern's "Norman and the Mad Grad Student" in Reflections: Norman Mailer at 100 (2023) recalls the friendship that began in 1970 with her letters to Mailer from graduate school, and a lesson in taking a compliment.
Carol Holmes Alpern’s “Norman and the Mad Grad Student” (Reflections: Norman Mailer at 100, p. 3) recalls meeting Mailer in May 1970 after “a relentless barrage of letters from graduate school,” in years when she “pretty much cracked up.” Mailer treated her with respect and became a friend. In a Brooklyn Heights coffee shop he told her, “You’ll never get anywhere until you can learn to take a compliment without ducking your head.”
Full text: Norman and the Mad Grad Student. Other contributions are listed in the book’s contents.