Abstract
Hindsight points to the possibility (made stronger with each new piece of non-fiction) that Why Are We In Vietnam? will sound the end of Norman Mailer as novelist. The Armies of the Night, Miami and The Siege of Chicago, Of A Fire On The Moon, or so-called non-fiction novels, indicate that for the first time in his literary career Mailer is repeating himself. As the celebrated reporter of History or the journalist of belle-lettres, Mailer (of the middle years) now makes language the handmaiden of History, American-style. History makes its move, while Mailer's language now marks time. His twenty year experiment with language comes full cycle in Why Are We In Vietnam?, where he pushes the limits of language too far, until the Word boomerangs and marks him as another convert to the current distrust of language as a possible source of answers.
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