First published 1969
D.J. Jethroe narrates his wild hunting expedition to Alaska with his best friend Tex Hyde and their fathers. The eighteen-year-old from Dallas takes readers through two days in the Brooks Range, where corporate executive fathers push their sons toward manhood through ritualized killing. D.J. spins his tale in manic, profane monologue that jumps between hunting adventures and sexual awakening. The Alaskan wilderness becomes a testing ground where violence mingles with coming-of-age confusion. As D.J. and Tex face grizzly bears and their own fathers' expectations, the boundary between civilization and savagery dissolves. The novel builds toward D.J.'s announcement that he and Tex will enlist to fight in Vietnam, connecting their Alaskan bloodlust to America's war fever. Mailer captures the raw energy of youth caught between rebellion and conformity in 1960s America.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, coming-of-age
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Alaska, Brooks Range
Period: 1960s
208 pages · Hardcover · Littlehampton Book Services Ltd
Content warnings: violence