1
of
1
An American Dream
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 4,081 ratings, 338 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY
Found a better price? Request a price match
An American Dream
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
One of the best American novels ever written - a rollicking, controversial New York fable.
As Stephen Rojack, a decorated war hero and former congressman who murders his wife in a fashionable New York City high-rise, runs amok through the city in which he was once a privileged citizen, Mailer peels away the layers of our social norms to reveal a world of pure appetite and relentless cruelty.
One part Nietzsche, one part de Sade, and one part Charlie Parker, An American Dream grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go.
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
View all-
East of Eden
Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two familiesβthe Trasks and the Hamiltonsβacross multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips early August -
The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt is a seminal examination of the rise of totalitarianism in the 20th century. Through a profound and thorough analysis, Arendt explores the complex mechanisms and underpinnings that facilitated the emergence of totalitarian regimes, specifically delving into the horrors of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union. Arendt masterfully dissects the various elements that contribute...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a profound and evocative tale that captures the journey of the Joad family as they traverse the harsh landscapes of America during the Great Depression. As drought and economic hardship ravage their farming homeland in Oklahoma, the resilient Joads are driven from their beloved home and journey westward in a desperate bid...Paperback$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
A Month in the Country
A sensitive portrayal of the healing process that took place in the aftermath of the First World War, J.L. Carr's A Month in the Country includes an introduction by Penelope Fitzgerald, author of Offshore, in Penguin Modern Classics. A damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is...Paperback$1900Elsewhere:$2299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Trouble With Being Born
The Trouble With Being Born by E. M. Cioran is a deeply introspective and profoundly philosophical exploration of the human condition. The book navigates the bleak and often darkly comic territories of existence, examining fundamental questions such as birth, death, the concept of God, the relentless passage of time, the complexity of human relationships, and the daily struggle to find...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is a gripping narrative that revolves around the unwavering and fiercely independent architect, Howard Roark. Roarkβs vision and uncompromising integrity lead him to clash with a conformist society that resists innovation and creativity. The novel intricately explores Roark's journey as he battles against traditional norms, challenges mediocrity, and strives to preserve his unique artistic vision...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
On the Road
"The most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as 'beat.'" - The New York Times On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns, and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is an unparalleled classic in the genre of horror literature, weaving an atmosphere of dread and suspense that continues to captivate readers. The story follows four distinct characters brought together by a shared curiosity about the supernatural phenomena reported at the infamous Hill House. Dr. Montague, a determined and scholarly investigator of...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Myth of Sisyphus
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus explores one of the most profound philosophical questions: Is life worth living? Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Second World War, Camus delves into the existential crisis faced by humanity, particularly the struggle to find meaning in a world devoid of higher purpose. Through a captivating blend of philosophical discourse and literary...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Fire Next Time
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin is a seminal work that offers a profound and personal exploration of race relations in America. Structured as two poignant letters, Baldwin addresses his 14-year-old nephew on the one hand, and on the other, an open letter to his fellow countrymen. Through these missives, Baldwin intimately reflects on his experiences growing up in...Paperback$2299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Steppenwolf
A new translation of this counterculture classic by David Horrocks. At first sight, Harry Haller seems like a respectable, educated man. In reality, he is the Steppenwolfβwild, strange, alienated from society, and repulsed by the modern age. But as he is drawn into a series of dreamlike and sometimes savage encountersβaccompanied by, among others, Mozart, Goethe, and the bewitching Hermioneβthe...Paperback$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le CarrΓ© was Le Carre's breakthrough work of 1963; an award-winning number one global bestseller that brought him international renown. It redefined the spy story as a gritty and terrible tale of men who are caught up in politics beyond their imagining. Alex Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, and...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780241340516
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 November 2018
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 16.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 195.0mm
Weight: 192g
Pages: 256
About the Author
Norman Mailer (1923-2007) was one of the great post-War American writers, both as a novelist and as one of the key inventors of the New Journalism. His books include the novels The Naked and the Dead, The Deer Park, Why Are We in Vietnam?, The Executioner's Song and Harlot's Ghost and the non-fiction works The Armies of the Night, A Fire on the Moon (published in the USA as Of a Fire on the Moon) and The Fight. He won the National Book Award and twice won the Pulitzer Prize.
Also by Norman Mailer
View all-
The Fight
From the visionary mind of one of New Journalism's pioneering figures, Norman Mailer, The Fight provides an unfiltered, riveting account of the 1974 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship held in Kinshasa, Zaire. This historic bout brought together two of the most formidable boxers on the planet - Muhammad Ali and George Foreman - who clashed not just with their fists, but...Paperback$2600Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips early August -
The Executioner's Song
The Executioner's Song is a Pulitzer Prize-winning account of murderer Gary Gilmore's desire to die. In the summer of 1976, Gilmore robbed two men and then shot them in cold blood. No one had been executed in America for ten years, but Gilmore, rather than have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, wanted to die. His ensuing battle with the...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Armies of the Night
Mailer's classic account of the 1967 anti-Vietnam War rally in Washington D.C., and one of the best 'nonfiction novels' ever written. October 21, 1967, Washington, D.C. 20,000 to 200,000 protesters are marching to end the war in Vietnam, while helicopters hover overhead and federal marshals and soldiers with fixed bayonets await them on the Pentagon steps. Among the marchers is...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Naked and the Dead
One of the finest American novels ever written, Norman Mailer's classic account of the Philippines campaign of WW2. Based on Mailer's own experience of military service in the Philippines during World War Two, The Naked and the Dead is a graphically truthful and shattering portrayal of ordinary men in battle. First published in 1949, as America was still basking in...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Norman Mailer. Neil Leifer. Howard L. Bingham. The Fight
On October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire, at the virtual centre of Africa, two boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to confront each other in an epic match. One was Muhammad Ali, who vowed to reclaim the championship he had lost. The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble and who kept his hands...Hardback$23500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Norman Mailer
This book is really two books. It is a biography, and it is also a pictorial retrospective of an actress whose greatest love affair was conceivably with the camera, wrote Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography, Marilyn. TASCHEN has paired Mailer's original text with Bert Stern's photographs from the legendary Last Sittingβwidely considered the most intimate photographs of Monroe ever...Hardback$23500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Advertisements for Myself
An essential guide to the life and work of one of America's most controversial writers. Advertisements for Myself is a comprehensive collection of the best of Norman Mailer's essays, stories, interviews, and journalism from the Forties and Fifties, linked by anarchic and riotous autobiographical commentary. Laying bare the heart of a witty, belligerent, and vigorous writer, this manifesto of Mailer's...PaperbackSold Out -
A Fire on the Moon
Mailer's superb account, written as it was happening, of the first attempt to land men on the moon. 'Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.' A Fire on the Moon tells the scarcely credible story of the Apollo 11 mission. It is suffused with Mailer's obsession both with the astronauts themselves and with his own anxieties and terrors about...PaperbackSold Out
More from General Fiction
View all-
The Wedding People
'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
New Release
Land
Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, theΒ new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, TomΓ‘s and his reluctant son,Β Liam, are working for the great...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set
The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson is a landmark fantasy series that has captivated readers worldwide. Renowned for its innovative magic system, intricate world-building, and compelling characters, this trilogy is a must-have for any fantasy enthusiast. Immerse yourself in a world shrouded in ash, where a once-hopeful land is ruled by the tyrannical Dark Lord, known as the...Set$6800Elsewhere:$7500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
The Deal
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Deal now for the perfect fake-dating romance! She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy . . . Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Signed BookplateNew ReleaseLight Wielder
THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* βThe BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindleβ βββββ βThe author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!β βββββ...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Project Hail Mary
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL A BARACK OBAMA READING PICK A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined. 'The most enjoyable hard SF I have read in years' GUARDIAN 'Weir's finest work to date... This is the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know...Paperback$2099Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
There Is No Antimemetics Division
Mind-bending science fiction about antimemes: ideas that attack memory, identity, and the fabric of reality itself. An antimeme is an entity with self-censoring properties. Some are benign, but others, less so... These entities can feed on your most cherished memories, the things that make you youβand you'll never even know anything changed. And they aren't just feeding on us. They're...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...Set$12400Elsewhere:$15500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Crescent City Paperback Box Set
A beautiful box set containing all three paperback instalments of the Crescent City series from #1 bestselling global phenomenon Sarah J. Maas. BOUND BY BLOOD. TEMPTED BY DESIRE. UNLEASHED BY DESTINY. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think Game of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a drizzle of E.L. James β Telegraph Spiced...Set$5499Elsewhere:$7000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
Dungeon Crawler Carl
The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday -
20% off
The Wrath of the Fallen
SAMKIEL AND DIANNA WILL RETURN in the next sizzling, dark romantasy series from Amber V. Nicole. EPIC. SPICY. ADDICTIVE. Embrace the darkness . . . 'If you like romantasy, read this!' RAVEN KENNEDY 'A wicked ride from beginning to heart-shattering end. Leaving me literally screaming for more' HANNAH NICOLE MAERHER 'This is perfection. Amber Nicole's Dianna is the FMC of...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips Monday
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
General Fiction lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listGeneral Fiction
Gothic Reads for Dark Nights
With the advent of movie adaptations like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, it looks like pop culture is seeing a revival of the...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Top 10 Most Recommended Books
These are my Top 10 books that I always recommend to my friends and whΔnau when they ask for recommendations for getting...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Books to Escape a Reading Slump
A reading slump can be a frustrating feeling and hard to break out of, but we've gathered together a list of crowd...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Star Shipped]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Pride Fiction Picks!
June marks Global Pride Month so in case you're looking for your next great fiction read, here's a list of some of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Readersβ Top 100 Novels of All Time - from The Guardian
There was some controversy when The Guardian released their critics and authors list of the top 100 novels of all time, but...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Favourite Books of 2026
The first half of 2026 has been packed with brilliant books, making it hard to choose favourites but here are a few...View the list
