The Executioner's Song

The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

Mailer brings the life of Gary Gilmore to the page. Gilmore became infamous after killing 2 men in 1976 and then demanding to be killed by the government, instead of serving time in prison. He felt he had a right to request a speedy death and his fight for this right is what makes his crime notable.

I picked up this book and wow…is it LONG. Apparently it won a Pulitzer Prize, so I thought I would be intrigued by this story…but not so much. I can appreciate Mailer’s talent, but I was bored from the beginning. I felt like I was reading a 1,000+ page newspaper article, so I had to do a lot of skimming.

Reading the wikipedia article would have sufficed. The guy killed people, didn’t want to live the rest of his life in prison, asked for his death sentence to be carried out immediately, was denied that right, fought it, and ended up dying by firing squad ten years later. I didn’t find the book particularly thought provoking on the right to die issue. Either you think he should be able to request immediate death or he should not. It isn’t terribly controversial. And I just saved you over 1,000 pages of reading!