William Buckley Interviews Norman Mailer on Firing Line (1968) Part 2

[4455matthew]

what's with mailers slight, fake irish accent? does he realize he's doing this as he talks about the irish again and again? does anybody else pick up on this? it just rubs me the wrong way, for some reason, because my family is from ireland, haha

[RedChilliGod]

@4455matthew Doesn't sound irish at all...drinking too much as usual huh? Mailer sounds like an intellectual jew of the arts which is what he was. Hurried, sweaty, brittle.

[FungusMossGnosis]

5:36 -- that's interesting, the Firing Line audience doesn't get chairs. What hippie ethos Buckley had here.

[beeroosterm]

It is far better to read Mailer than to see and hear him made real. My guess is that while he may have considered himself a tough guy, his ass was kicked regularly. You can see the insecurity oozing from him...

[chimphater]

Compare this sustained intellectual discussion with all the garbage reality tv shows, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, etc., etc., etc., that we're bombarded with today. Our culture has gone straight down the toilet.

[JTHSanDiego]

@chimphater

Concur. The cable and broadcast networks should fire all of their "talk show" hosts and just do reruns of Firing Line and The Dick Cavett Show. The issues haven't changed...just the presentation (and intellect).

BTW, why did Mailer effect the Irish accent?

[OKandNOWwhat]

Learned a new word! Gobbet- quantity of liquid or excerpt of writing, but, as used, a slimy turd ball.

Learned another! Micturation, that is, urination.

[borjon23]

Hey, you know what else is psychotic?! Stabbing your wife with a pen knife at a party and almost killing her, resulting in your being committed for psychiatric evaluation.

[lanser87]

@borjon23 I'm sure he had a good reason.

[Myndir]

1:31 . Pure lust.

[beradification]

mailer is humor

[Lisavieta]

Buckley's face after Mailer called Time magazine psychotic was priceless!

[RogerFedTennis]

Yeah, Mailer is a very disappointing guest. After seen this, I am amazed that his writing is as good as it is...

[pvisserandorra]

@RogerFedTennis Buckley is not exactly Mister Excitement.

[countertreason]

This is a battle of pretention so far...

[jas778]

ppl sitting on the floor

[zachromero]

damn mailer loves to use a lot of words to say only a few things.

[matthewmercury1]

I'm sorry, someone wake me up when Mailer gets done heating up the room and finally closes his mouth....

[pryan37bb]

I wonder if Mailer can pick up FM stations with those dinner plates on the sides of his head.

[gneerowblack]

Intellectualism is dead. This was totally pointless.

Someone should have informed Buckley that he is not British.

[WilliamHollender]

@gneerowblack

Buckley's first language was not English and he learned English in London.

[alexlee7773]

gore vidal wipes the floor with both

[Charybdys]

@alexlee7773 Do you wipe the floor with both? If not, why take your comment seriously?

[HumanStrategy]

Mailer is the kind of man who enjoys hearing the sound of his own voice; he also prides himself in this. I find it terribly nauseating despite his intellectual nature.

[Hapworth1924]

no denying mailer was very intelligent, too bad his ego soaked through nearly everything he did

[CARDUELIS999]

@HumanStrategy Yes, but at least he was worth talking to. Buckley is toying with him, but, as has been pointed out, we should miss this type of discussion between left and right. Cheers.

[genxtargetmarket]

@HumanStrategy

Agreed. I often find Buckley to be much the same. Plus, he interrupts others far too often.

[CametaCameras]

@HumanStrategy I was going to say this but you said it 7 months before I did.

[jerryhello100]

@HumanStrategy It seem to be the plague of many intellectuals. Especially writers, or anyone who gathers pleasure from letters.

[MetrazolElectricity]

@HumanStrategy I think every orator or public figure should enjoy hearing the sound of his own voice. If one doesn't then, a dose of self-help books should be in order. That's totally normal, anyone who thinks otherwise is speaking from a partisan point of view. Now... being serious, the trouble with Mailer here is he allows himself to be thoroughly vulnerable as evidenced by the unfortified digressions. Easy bait for the serpentine host of Firing Line.

[spiritualED]

Buckley has that "snooty" thing goin on in a bigway throughout this interview(imo).

[jerryhello100]

Oh He always does. You see him interview Noam Chomsky. He's an entertaining character, however.

[frankgrimes17]

He had that going throughout his life, but part of it is his rare accent and fucked up smile.

[septip123]

Um....why does a doorbell go off during the interview?

Avon calling!

[machinekid]

Probably to indicate that it's time for a commercial. But you're right, it's funny anyway.

[TheMJtheGOD]

Holy Shit!!!!!! These guys are morons!!!! They go on and on and on and on about shit!!!!!!!!

[MassiveJungle]

lol