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  • The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer book cover
  • The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer book cover
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The Executioner's Song

by Norman Mailer

A death-penalty case shaped by conflict between sentence and system

Pulitzer Prize Winner
$22.45 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Pulitzer Prize winner

    The source describes the book as Pulitzer Prize-winning.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A death-penalty case shaped by conflict between sentence and system

Norman Mailer’s account centers on Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who insisted that his death sentence be carried out. The book brings together the crime and trial with the legal struggle that followed, as authorities sought to keep him alive after sentencing him to death. That clash gives the narrative a broader frame: an individual case set against questions of punishment, state power, and the violence and isolation described in the source. Presented as a true story, it connects Gilmore’s insistence with the institutions charged with carrying out—and contesting—the sentence.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in true-crime accounts focused on both a defendant and the legal process around a case.
  • Readers exploring capital punishment and the relationship between individual choice and state authority.
  • Readers interested in American accounts of violence and social isolation.

Themes

Capital punishmentLegal institutions and state powerViolenceLoneliness

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a convicted killer becomes the first prisoner to be executed in the United States.

The Executioner's Song follows the true story of cold-blooded murderer Gary Gilmore, who, after being tried and convicted, insisted on being executed for his crimes. To do so, he fought a system intent on keeping him alive long after it sentenced him to death.

Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story with impressive authority and compassion. The Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks, right into the heart of American loneliness and violence-it is impossible to put down and difficult to forget.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Great service and fast service

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Ella

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

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