| "The Armies of the Night" is Norman Mailer's first hand account of the events surrounding the march on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. in the fall of 1967. He begins by quoting a news story from "Time" which speaks of his drunken behavior at an event the night before, and then goes on to say that he wants to tell what really happened. Essentially he explains his actions during that weekend as an attempt to wake people out of their lethargy about the war. He felt that even by antagonizing people, he would be helping to energize support for the anti-war movement. Other people involved in the march were Noam Chmosky, the linguist, Robert Lowell, the poet and Dwight MacDonald, the literary critic. The book, according to Mailer, applies the techniques of the novelist to the recounting of history.
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Plot & Themes Political/social rights fight Yes Plotlet: Period of greatest activity? - 1950+ Subject of Biography Gender - Male Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - American Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Century: - 1960's-1970's Writing Style Book makes you feel? - challenged If this is a kid's book: - Age 16-Adult Pictures/Illustrations? - None How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 0-25% of book |
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