- Mailer, Norman.
Miami and the Siege of Chicago.
New York: New York Review Books, [1968] 2008.
ISBN 978-1-59017-296-4.
-
In the midst of the societal, political, and cultural chaos
which was 1968 in the United States, Harper's
magazine sent Norman Mailer to report upon the presidential
nominating conventions in August of that year: first the
Republicans in Miami Beach and then the Democrats in
Chicago. With the prospect, forty years later, of two
U.S. political conventions in which protest and street
theatre may play a role not seen since 1968 (although
probably nowhere near as massive or violent, especially
since the political establishments of both parties appear
bent upon presenting the appearance of unity), and
a watershed election which may change the direction
of the United States, New York Review
Books have reissued this long out-of-print classic of
“new journalism” reportage of the
1968 conventions. As with the comparable, but edgier,
account of
the 1972 campaign by Hunter S. Thompson, a
good deal of this book is not about the events but
rather “the reporter”, who identifies himself
as such in the narrative.
If you're looking for detailed documentation of what
transpired at the conventions, this is not the book
to read. Much of Mailer's reporting took place in
bars, in the streets, in front of the television, and
on two occasions, in custody. This is an impressionistic
account of events which leaves you with the feeling
of what it was like to be there (at least if you were
there and Norman Mailer), not what actually happened.
But, God, that man could write! As reportage
(the work was completed shortly after the conventions
and long before the 1968 election) and not history, there
is no sense of perspective, just immersion in the events.
If you're old enough to recall them, as I am, you'll probably
agree that he got it right, and that this recounting both
stands the test of time and summons memories of
the passions of that epoch.
On the last page, there are two phrases which have a
particular poignancy four decades hence. Mailer, encountering
Eugene McCarthy's daughter just before leaving Chicago
thinks of telling her “Dear Miss, we will be fighting
for forty years.” And then he concludes the book by
observing, “We yet may win, the others are so stupid.
Heaven help us when we do.” Wise words for the partisans
of hope and change in the 2008 campaign!
August 2008 