348:: Charles Eitel was a once rich and famous Hollywood director that was eventually blacklisted when he was linked to communist organizations. After Eitel did not cooperate with the Subversive Committee, Supreme Pictures blacklisted him. Once he lost his job, Eitel moved from the capital to his property in Desert D’Or. Throughout the novel, Eitel struggles with his confidence and desperately wants to write a meaningful script, but lacks the motivation. His relationship with Esposito serves as a spark for his creative writing, and he then cuts a deal with Collie Munshin to sell his script. However, Eitel pities Esposito and believes that the only way to break up with her is by formal marriage and divorce. However, they split before they get married. At the end of the novel, he is reunited with Esposito, and they eventually marry – though he remains unfaithful. Once Eitel cooperates with the committee, his glory is restored, and he becomes a successful Hollywood director once again.
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claiming that he was the son of a wealthy businessman. During the novel, O'Shaugnessy falls in love with the glamorous
Hollywood actress, Lulu Meyers. The couple dates for an extended time before moves back to the capital to work on another film. Charles Eitel, the once-famous but blacklisted director, is O'Shaugnessy's closest and most trusted friend throughout the novel until Eitel moves back to the capital after clearing his name from the Subversive Committee. O'Shaugnessy desperately wants to become a writer, and even turns down lucrative acting and movie deals about his life. He claims that he does not want to sell his life story to turn into another “slob movie.” Secretly, O'Shaugnessy wants to be a writer. After he runs out of money, O'Shaugnessy wanders from Mexico to New York, taking odd jobs along the way and eventually opening a bullfighting class in New York City.
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regarding his alleged communist ties. Like O'Shaugnessy, Eitel is at a crossroads in his life. He is in the process of writing a new script but is unconfident of his abilities to produce meaningful work. In addition to Eitel and O'Shaugnessy, the other main characters range from movie star Lulu Meyers and pimp Marion Faye to the up-and-coming producer Collie
Munshin and studio mogul Herman Teppis. Sex, alcohol, and adultery is widespread throughout Desert D’Or, and O'Shaugnessy and Eitel both find themselves in multiple flings throughout the novel.
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he ultimately runs out of money and loses his girlfriend, Lulu Meyers. Eventually, Eitel is presented with another opportunity to get back into the film business after he partners with
Munshin and cooperates with the committee. While everyone else heads back to the capital for their movie careers, O'Shaugnessy wanders to Mexico City, where he becomes a smalltime bullfighter. The book ends with O'Shaugnessy opening a bullfighting studio in New York, while Eitel marries Elena but continues to have an affair with Lulu Meyers.
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salesman, newspaperman, radio announcer, press-relations consultant, and an actor's agent. Although
Munshin is married to Teppis's daughter, he is introduced in the story in the middle of a break-up with another woman, Elena Esposito, the girl whom Eitel then falls in love with and marries. Munshin eventually helps Eitel get back into directing after offering him a contract for his new script. At the end of the story, Eitel regards Munshin as a true friend – Munshin plays the best man at Eitel and Elena's wedding.
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uncooperative. He urges Lulu to marry Teddy Pope, even though Teppis knows that Teddy is a homosexual. Despite that fact, Teppis cares more about making his actors famous and pressures them to consider marriage. In addition to bullying his renowned movie stars, he also takes advantage of the aspiring actresses. Towards the end of the novel, Teppis has sexual relations with a young aspiring actress and alludes to a promotion if she does what he wants.
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Esposito is admired and pitied by many of the men in Desert D’Or. Eitel thinks that the only way he can break up with
Esposito without ruining her is to marry her and then file divorce shortly after. In addition to Eitel and Munshin, Marion Faye also is in love with Esposito, and the pair lives together for a short time after Esposito leaves Eitel. After a car wreck with Faye, Esposito and Eitel reunite and eventually get married.
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where movie stars, producers, and other
Hollywood moguls flock to the small desert town to escape the bustle of the city. Compared to Hollywood celebrities, O'Shaugnessy comes from modest roots. Raised an orphan, O'Shaugnessy never had a stable life until he became a fighter pilot in the Air Force. His career as a pilot was short-lived, as they medically discharged him for psychological reasons.
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notorious for having been “everywhere and done everything, and knew everything there was to know.” At an early age, O’Faye had an affair with a
European prince and gave birth to his illegitimate son, Marion. Dorothea plays a significant role at the start of the novel, but her presence diminishes as the story progresses.
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Herman Teppis, head of
Supreme Studios, is described as a “tall heavy man with silver hair and a red complexion.” Teppis is the stereotypical big-time Hollywood studio bully who has his actors and actresses on a leash. He alone can make or break a career, as Teppis quickly shunned Eitel after he was
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Once Teppis meets O'Shaugnessy, he is immediately struck by the former pilot's story and urges
Munshin to offer O'Shaugnessy twenty thousand dollars for the rights to it. O'Shaugnessy declines the offer because he does not want to sell his life story to be made into a cheap Hollywood flick. However,
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O'Shaugnessy narrates the story, and the plot revolves around his experiences and encounters in the secluded desert city. He befriends former
Hollywood director Charles Eitel and other celebrities. Supreme Studios blacklisted Eitel after he was uncooperative in front of a Senate Subversive Committee
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most popular actress in America. Her relationship with O'Shaugnessy lasts for the majority of the novel, but she quickly moves on once she is back in the capital. She marries Tony Tanner, another Hollywood star, though she is unhappy with her marriage and ultimately has a steady affair with Eitel.
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Standing at six-feet one with blonde hair and blue eyes, O'Shaugnessy is the novel's protagonist and narrator. As an orphan, O'Shaugnessy's past is relatively uneventful until he joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot. In Desert D’Or, O'Shaugnessy can initially fool his Hollywood friends,
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The most famous movie star in the novel, Lulu Meyers is sought out by many men in Desert D’Or, but falls in love with O'Shaugnessy. Years ago, Meyers and Eitel were married before they ultimately divorced. The actress is blonde and beautiful, and although already famous, is aspiring to become the
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A former personality who had been an actress, night club-singer, and gossip columnist, Dorothea O’Faye hosted many parties at her home, The Hangover, where O'Shaugnessy first met friends in Desert D’Or. Dorothea is described as generous and “handsome with a full body and exciting black hair” and
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With fourteen thousand dollars of winnings from a poker game in his pocket, Sergius O'Shaugnessy wanders to Desert D’Or to find a sense of purpose after recently being discharged from the Air Force. Desert D’Or, a fictionalized Palm Springs, is only hours outside of “the capital” (Los Angeles),
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Elena Esposito finds herself in Desert D’Or after being taken there by Munshin during their break-up. Almost immediately after, she starts dating Eitel. Their relationship helps bring fire back into Eitel's work, and the two live together for an extended period. A former cheap flamenco dancer,
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Son of Dorothea O’Faye, Marion Faye dropped the “O” from his last name at a young age. At twenty-four years old, Marion is described as “very special” with a high level of intelligence and “light wavy hair and clear gray eyes.” After not finding a job that interested him, Faye started his own
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The son-in-law of Herman Teppis, Collie Munshin is one of the most talented producers in the capital. Eitel describes Munshin as “clever,” “tenacious,” and “scheming, ” with “short turned-up features” that made him look like a clown. Before becoming a movie producer, Munshin was previously a
302:). A fashionable desert resort, Hollywood's elite converge there for fun and games and relaxation. The novel's protagonist, Sergius O'Shaughnessy (a recently discharged Air Force officer), is a would-be novelist who experiences the moral depravity of the Hollywood community first hand.
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small-time escort service. Faye is well-connected with people of all types in Desert D’Or – everyone from businessmen and entertainers, to gamblers and golfers from the capital. Faye eventually dates Elena after Eitel, but they get into a severe car accident that put him into a coma.
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Rembar disagreed with Rinehart's characterization of the manuscript as obscene, and threatened to take the publisher to court. Rinehart settled with Mailer, allowing him to keep his advance.
406:) on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village on January 31, 1967. The play closed on May 21, 1967, after 128 performances. "The Deer Park" was directed by Leo Garen and starred
280:. Despite having already typeset the book, Rinehart claimed that the manuscript's obscenity voided its contract with Mailer. Mailer retained his cousin, the attorney
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Trilling, Diana (1972). "The Radical Moralism of Norman Mailer". In Braudy, Leo (ed.).
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Of a Small and Modest Malignancy, Wicked and Bristling with Dots
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University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
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kept stocked with young women for his personal pleasure.
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Guide to Norman Mailer. Manuscript of The Deer Park 1955
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Norman Mailer adapted the novel into a play. It opened
526:. Lortel Archives - The Internet Off-Broadway Database
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601:. Tucson, AZ: Estate of Peter Wild. p. 281.
599:Paradise of Desire: Eleven Palm Springs Novels
575:Norman Mailer: A Collection of Critical Essays
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272:after it was rejected by Mailer's publisher,
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1081:Deaths for the Ladies (and Other Disasters)
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116:Learn how and when to remove this message
502:"The Deer Park: Production Information"
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1373:Novels set in Palm Springs, California
973:The Selected Letters of Norman Mailer
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1050:Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story
54:adding citations to reliable sources
1353:American novels adapted into plays
923:Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man
688:The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer
453:Holland, Steve (28 October 2000).
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480:"The Deer Park: Book Information"
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742:The Gospel According to the Son
402:at the Theatre de Lys (now the
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824:Miami and the Siege of Chicago
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1253:New York City: the 51st State
1119:Lipton’s: A Marijuana Journal
854:St. George and The Godfather
964:Norman Mailer's Letters on
714:Of Women and Their Elegance
16:1955 novel by Norman Mailer
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1278:Norman Mailer bibliography
455:"Obituary: Charles Rembar"
140:Cover of the first edition
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1358:G. P. Putnam's Sons books
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1273:The Norman Mailer Society
1259:In the Belly of the Beast
1153:Marilyn: The Untold Story
883:Pieces and Pontifications
774:Advertisements for Myself
436:"Books Published Today".
268:and published in 1955 by
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947:The Man Who Studied Yoga
818:The Idol and the Octopus
801:Cannibals and Christians
749:The Castle in the Forest
309:("Deer Park"), a resort
305:The title refers to the
1368:Novels by Norman Mailer
812:The Armies of the Night
795:The Presidential Papers
546:"1966–1967 Obie Awards"
442:: 25. October 14, 1955.
1139:The Naked and the Dead
1036:The Executioner's Song
1018:Tough Guys Don't Dance
728:Tough Guys Don't Dance
707:The Executioner's Song
701:A Transit to Narcissus
695:Why Are We in Vietnam?
660:The Naked and the Dead
482:. Randomhousebooks.com
404:Lucille Lortel Theatre
274:Rinehart & Company
1194:Norris Church Mailer
860:The Faith of Graffiti
831:Of a Fire on the Moon
346:Charles Frances Eitel
339:Sergius O'Shaugnessy:
1343:1955 American novels
1226:John Buffalo Mailer
1103:(poems and drawings)
1094:The Time of Our Time
940:The Time of Her Time
910:Marilyn: A Biography
50:improve this article
19:For other uses, see
1234:Norman Mailer Prize
849:Existential Errands
843:The Prisoner of Sex
504:. Broadwayworld.com
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1291:River of Fundament
1087:Some Honorable Men
893:Why Are We At War?
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311:Louis XV of France
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1180:(third wife)
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1131:adaptations
1097:(anthology)
1089:(anthology)
968:, 1963-1969
759:Non-fiction
595:Wild, Peter
552:12 February
530:26 December
508:12 February
464:12 February
264:written by
1348:1967 plays
1337:Categories
1204:(daughter)
586:0135455332
418:References
286:censorship
76:newspapers
1121:(journal)
1068:Strawhead
1028:Teleplays
1004:Maidstone
902:Biography
867:The Fight
607:748584112
423:Citations
278:obscenity
174:Publisher
21:Deer Park
1308:Category
1083:(poetry)
597:(2011).
486:26 April
408:Rip Torn
288:trials.
222:21623916
156:Language
1326:at the
1163:Related
997:Wild 90
957:Letters
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652:Fiction
159:English
90:scholar
1196:(wife)
1113:On God
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97:JSTOR
83:books
982:Film
603:OCLC
581:ISBN
554:2015
532:2017
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216:OCLC
203:ISBN
69:news
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