Tough Guys Don't Dance: A Novel

Amidst the esteemed literary output of Norman Mailer, Tough Guys Don't Dance, published in 1984, sticks out like a sore thumb. Here the renowned author tries his hand at the genre of crime fiction, in effect saying, "I may have won two Pulitzers, but I can still write like a tough guy." The result is something akin to if Hemingway wrote porn. The narrator, Tim Madden, distraught over the recent departure of his wife, meets a couple of out-of-towners at a bar and gets loaded. He wakes up the next morning with a new tattoo, a car seat covered in blood, and no memory of what happened. As he tries to piece together the events of that night, he finds himself investigating a murder he himself may have committed.The novel is set in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a tourist destination at the very tip of Cape Cod. The story takes place in the off-season, when P-town is reduced to a sort of ghost town populated by hardcore lifers and the spirits of the dead. Mailer does a great job of describing the quirky, disturbing characters that lurk in the creepy underbelly of any small town, but he takes it so far to extremes that he approaches surrealism. Every character in the book is hooked on hard drugs and booze, sex-addicted to the point of having a juvenile obsession with genitalia, and firmly convinced of the existence of spirits, ghosts, and other supernatural forces. And above all, every character in the book is capable of murder. If you're willing to suspend enough disbelief to exist in this world, then you're in for a pretty good ride.While reading Tough Guys Don't Dance, one gets the feeling that Mailer dashed the book off in one fell swoop, with no self-editing. The prose is brisk and addictive. Once you start reading, it's difficult to stop. The rapid fire dialogue carries you along like a swift current, even though what you're reading may be totally ridiculous. The book is a noir thriller like Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane used to write, but updated for the 1980s. Where it fails is when Mailer forgets he's having fun and feels the need to remind us of his literary laurels with passages that are far too lofty to fit the book. Even the low-life druggies and thugs in the book occasionally lapse into the voice of a Harvard-educated poet. As a narrator, Madden is far too sensitive for this book. Mailer wants us to know he's a tough guy--an ex-boxer and bartender with a prison record--but can't help reminding us that he's also a writer. Thus, on his way to his marijuana patch, Tim regales us with an ode to fall colors. If Mailer wanted to write a dirty shocker of a crime novel, he should have immersed himself completely in that atmosphere and stopped shooting for another Pulitzer. There's a lot of graphic sex in the book, or at least graphic sex talk. Mailer seems to particularly enjoy ribald depictions of homosexuality, as if revelling in his own naughtiness, but thirty years after publication homosexuality isn't as taboo as it used to be, and 21st century readers are likely to find such passages more silly than shocking.The actual mystery story is confusing as hell, and the resolution doesn't particularly satisfy. Memory loss is an old chestnut of the genre that can't help but feel like a cliché; likewise, the way that killers engage in lengthy confessions of their sins before killing, rather than just pull the trigger and get it over with. Without such confessions there would be no resolution, because Madden's a lousy detective. Nevertheless, there are some really suspenseful moments here and a cast of delightfully creepy characters that keep you interested enough to want to see what's around the next turn. Tough Guys Don't Dance isn't an exceptionally good book, but it is entertaining. It straddles the line between a disturbing cult classic and a bit of kitsch that's "so bad it's good." The less you take it seriously, the more you'll enjoy it.

At turns a serious monster of a mystery and a rough and ready exploration of sexual psychologies. No nuance. In your face. Superbly descriptive. Muscular.

I've never read any Mailer before this book, so I didn't have any preconceived notions about it. Although I thought that the book had an amazingly good idea behind it, it fell flat for me by the end.CharactersThe book follows Tim Madden, a freelance writer whose wife recently left him. He isn't a terribly successful writer, but he also hasn't been writing much since his wife left him. He is not a very likable character as he spends a large portion of the book drunk and another large portion of the book talking about his sexual encounters (and there are plenty of them in the book). The book also shows many of the people that he interacts with in his small town.SettingThe story is set in Provincetown near Cape Cod. The town is a tourist attraction as it is one of the original locations that the Pilgrims landed. However, since the book occurs in November, there are no tourists in the book and the town is mostly deserted.PlotThe plot of this book was brilliantly conceived. The book is a murder-mystery not unlike others that we've all read before. The main difference here is that instead of the viewpoint characters being a Holmes or Watson, brought in from the outside to solve the case, Tim is not only intricately involved with all of the people in the story, but is also a suspect in the crimes as he doesn't recall everything that happened the night of the murder. He was drunk and doesn't recall most of the night in question. We follow Tim as he tries to figure out what happened that night.EnjoymentThe book had a beautiful premise and an interesting set-up, but was horribly executed. At least 25-30% of this book is either completely unnecessary or simply profane for no reason other than being profane. If I wasn't reading this for a class I wouldn't have gotten past the first 3 chapters. Combine this with a horrible Deus Ex Machina towards the end of the book and I was left with a horrible taste from the book.Overall GradeIf you're a writer and you want to see an interesting way to look at telling a classic mystery story, you could do with reading this book (and hopefully you could tell a better story using a similar premise). If you aren't a writer looking for a different way to tell a familiar story, stay away from this book.3/10For this and all of my other reviews, check out my blog listed in my profile.

Much of Norman Mailer's political stuff can be unreadable, however he is truly a great novelist. This book is an example of his abilities. It's dark, gory, and fascinating. This is not a light fluffy murder mystery. This one will leave a mark on you that you'll remember for a long time. Read it.

A little wordy but the characters are well conceived

It took me some patience to get used to style and language and at times vocabulary. But there is a very intelligent author behind the story, which gets better and better as the story develops.

I ordered this after reading Hell Town, an interesting story and I love Provincetown. I'd never read anything by Norman Mailer and it seemed a good segue since he was a prominent figure in Hell Town. It is very rare for me to put down a book without giving it a solid chance, but this was both overwritten and the paragraphs were very dense, it was a chore to read and I had to put it down.

It is Norman Mailer at his absolute best. The atmosphere set throughout this book makes you believe you are actually there. There are very few books I have re bought in electronic format and this is one such book.

Mailer at his uncompromising best. A true American great. He brings wit and intelligence to noir thriller than contains wit and grit in equal measure. Very few living US authors can match this literary titan.

Starts with some brilliant prose and is quite enthralling and intriguing for a while. Unfortunately, towards the end there is the sense Mailer runs out of steam and does not know how to finish the book. As a result it seems to tail off very suddenly and improbably with an end that does not match the power of the opening ( as with The Naked and the Dead) Made more enjoyable for me having been to Provincetown so I could visualise where he was talking about. Enjoyable.

Good storytelling. Good charactersEventually dialogue so often missing in his booksI,m working my way through N.M.Good luck

delivered on time. . .product as advertised. . .a fine product

So, you wake up with a bitch of a hangover, but realise your arm throbs worse than your head. You take a look and see a new tattoo - bearing the name of a female you don't know - still weeping blood. Your jalopy - a Porche, bought by your rich, but estranged, wife - is covered in blood also. Blood that aint yours.What's your first move on such a morning?All the good stuff is in here: murder, broads, drugs, violence, sex, booze, more sex (including talk of an inter-racial bi-sexual threesome), financial double-dealing, cheating, doping, tripping and more sex and violence.It's a shame the damn book isn't twice the size!Fantastic. Buy it now.