6.6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date 1955 OCLC 21623916 Genre Hollywood novel Followed by An American Dream | 3.3/5 Goodreads Language English ISBN 978-0375700408 Originally published 1955 Publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons Preceded by Barbary Shore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Barbary Shore, An American Dream, Advertisements for Myself, Why Are We in Vietnam?, Tough Guys Don't Dance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The deer park at nara japan in 1997
The Deer Park is a Hollywood novel written by Norman Mailer and published in 1955 by G.P. Putnam's Sons after it was rejected by Mailer's publisher, Rinehart & Company, for obscenity. Despite having already typeset the book, Rinehart claimed that the manuscript's obscenity voided its contract with Mailer. Mailer retained his cousin, the attorney Charles Rembar, who became a noted defense attorney for publishers involved in censorship trials.
Contents
Rembar disagreed with Rinehart's characterization of the manuscript as obscene, and threatened to take the publisher to court. Rinehart settled with Mailer, allowing him to keep his advance.
A roman à clef, the metaphorical "Deer Park" is Desert D'Or, California (a fictionalized Palm Springs). A fashionable desert resort, Hollywood's elite converge there for fun and games and relaxation. The novel's protagonist, Sergius O'Shaughnessy (a recently discharged Air Force officer), is a would-be novelist who experiences the moral depravity of the Hollywood community first hand.
The title refers to the Parc-aux-Cerfs ("Deer Park"), a resort Louis XV of France kept stocked with young women for his personal pleasure.
Stage version
Norman Mailer adapted his novel into a play. It opened Off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theatre) on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village on January 31, 1967. The play closed on May 21, 1967, after 128 performances. "The Deer Park" was directed by Leo Garen and starred Rip Torn, Marsha Mason, Mailer's former brother-in-law Mickey Knox, and Mailer's third wife, Beverley Bentley. Torn won an Obie Award for his performance.