Book Review - "The Executioner's Song" by Norman Mailer

There is not much that needs to be said about this book that its' Award winning Pulitzer Prize does not already say. Norman Mailer's account of Gary Gilmore and the events that happened between the summer of 1976 and January, 1977 are one of the great pieces of American literature that has even been printed. Mailer brings to life the stories of an American culture, the Utah Mormon culture, and the struggle of criminal rehabilitation that has plagued this country. Mailer brings us the backgrounds and characteristics of these ordinary people and makes an extraordinary novel.

In the summer of 1976 Gary Gilmore killed two innocent civilians. He was sentenced to death and forgave his right to appeal. Gary Gilmore wanted to the court to fulfill its verdict. Gilmore's lawyers petitioned an appeal, against Gilmore's wishes, and Gary was fighting a battle to die instead of live. Gilmore became an symbol of morality in this country and which line a citizen stood on. Mailer chronicles every step along the way, from Gilmore being released from prison, to him being on Death Row dealing with his instant celebrity, to his eventual execution.