The Executioner’s Song (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Norman Mailer
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: New journalism
- Time of Work: April, 1976-January, 1977
- Setting: Utah, Oregon, and California
- Genres: Long fiction, New Journalism
- Subjects: 1970’s, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Prisoners, Murder or homicide, Capital punishment, California, West, U.S., Robbery or robbers, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, Biography
- Locales: California, Oregon, Utah
Characters Discussed
Gary Gilmore, the protagonist, a convicted murderer executed at the age of thirty-five for two brutal, unprovoked murders. Gilmore is a rough-featured criminal who has spent most of his life in prison. He is highly intelligent, with an artistic bent. He also has quasi-religious convictions. A complicated person, he shows little remorse for his crimes but insists that the state of Utah execute him for the murders he committed, even though he clearly is afraid to die. Gilmore’s steadfast request that his death sentence be carried out makes him the focus of...
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See Also:
Norman Mailer (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Norman Mailer (Long Fiction)Norman Mailer (Dictionary of World Biography)Norman Mailer (Identities and Issues)Norman Mailer (Sixties in America)
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