Tough Guys Don't Dance: A Novel

Great. What a piece of noir novel! The title caught my attention (by the way, a phrase I fully endorse) and I came across a gem. (Translated from Spanish)

The title of the novel comes from an anecdote attributed to Frank Costello, the godfather of the mafia, who on one occasion was invited to dance by some subordinates and his girlfriend, hence the anecdote. On the other hand, the novel is brutal, politically incorrect but powerful, talking about sex without hesitation or barriers, and features quite charismatic and colorful characters, including the town's police chief and the protagonist's father (he deserves a book of his own). The intrigue and the unhealthy atmosphere are very well described. It has a film adaptation made by the same writer, which, by the way, does not do it justice, to be honest. (Translated from Spanish)

A novel that, when I read it, seemed amazing to me. The blend of the detective and comedy genres is overwhelming. Mailer's pen is very sharp and with a mastery on par with the greats. (Translated from Spanish)

A black novel that I started and intrigued me from beginning to end. Tim, the central character, meets a couple of strangers at a bar, becomes friends with them, but after drinking too much, he doesn't remember anything the next day. Very worried, he discovers a pool of blood in his car and the head of a blonde woman in a marijuana field on his property, and he begins to doubt himself. From there on, the corpses will appear in the novel like grapes in a bunch. The author expertly manages the web of manipulations, intrigue, entanglements, misunderstandings, sex, drugs, very sordid situations, and all kinds of cruelty among the characters. (Translated from Spanish)

It’s good, narratively intense, I don’t identify with any character. The atmosphere of alcohol is well crafted, everything is saturated with alcohol. And it’s shaded with drugs. Clearly, that’s what the author wants to achieve, but at times it smells of such decay and amorality that I opt for a breath. I might be wrong, but that’s the feeling I had as soon as I finished. (Translated from Spanish)

BLACK NOVEL, THRILLER. Yes, in capital letters because "Tough Guys Don't Dance" is magnificent as such. Written by Norman Mailer and published in 1984, it is narrated in the first person with a rapid pace. The protagonist is a frustrated writer with a mind that flies between forgetfulness and spirits, and suddenly finds himself caught up in a series of murders where he himself doesn't know if he is the hunter or the next hunted. The novel, filled with sex, drugs, and corpses everywhere, features very macho men who revolve around homosexuality with suspicion and attraction. Page by page it captures you, enticing you, surprising you, and there is no chapter that leaves you indifferent.

"My father was terribly impressed by having married a woman like her. Unfortunately, they were not happy. In my father's words, neither of them was able to change the other or the position of a hair on his ass." (Translated from Spanish)

One of the books I liked the most by this author, a funny story. (Translated from Spanish)

This suspense novel seemed too "masculine" to me, just as its title suggests, but I never imagined it would overflow with lust, which made it something repugnant and even difficult for me. Paradoxically, it has three things in common with my previous read, "The House of the Spirits": 1 a room of depravity, 2 séance sessions, and 3 a head in the basement, which made its reading even stranger for me. (Translated from Spanish)

Set in 1984 in a New England seaside resort once the tourist season has finished,The main character is Tim Madden he wakes up covered in blood after a very heavy drunken night..
A woman's head is discovered where he grows his hash, then another head.
He doesn't think he committed these murders.
There are a few dodgy characters and the chief of Police is actually the murderer.
Very confusing book, I didn't like the characters and was glad to finish it.

Tim Madden awakens from a night of drunken excess, still groggy and unable to recall anything of last night.
As the hangover clears he finds his car's passenger seat sticky with blood, a new tattoo with an old flame's name and the discovery of not one but two severed heads in the nearby woods, next to his secret marijuana stash.
Was he responsible for the murder of two women, or was the crooked police chief setting him up? Madden, a failed writer, has the story of a life time to write if he can sleuth his way through it and live. A couple of ex-cons and a pissed off homosexual, his own former cell-mate, all want him dead.
In Tough Guys Don't Dance, Mailer gives us many colorful characters, in his usual descriptive style, but don't be fooled. Through all the hard-nosed Irish and Portuguese on the streets of Cape Cod this book is worht the read for the flowing narrative language alone, and besides Madden is a tough guy, so why not give him the last dance.

Norman Mailer was quite a gifted writer. I say that having actually only read in full one of his books, this one. I have read excerpts of several of his other books and writings, and having also read in its entirety his recently published collected letters. The man had talent with the written word. He also had imagination, being able to craft a complex story and tell it from the perspective of a narrator who is fully immersed in that story.

The problem, the singular problem with this book, is it's completely amoral position in regard to all of action of the story, action which has a decidedly moral aspect to it. The story is full of sex and violence yet not a one of the characters, form the narrator on down, ever seem to have a second thought about it. It happened. They did it. And then they proceed to whatever happens next.

This book was written 31 years ago, so it is unlikely that a review written at this late date will carry any weight. In a sense this book is totally post-modern in its outlook on life. There is no sense of right or wrong, of good or bad, according to any standards outside those of the character at the moment. I usually pass along books I have read to a person or place where they may find another reading. Not this one. My copy has been removed from circulation, so to speak. Save yourself from wasting your time. If you want to read Mailer then pick something else. Myself, I haven't given up. I'm going to try to find a copy of the Executioner's Song.

A murder mystery that had the potential to be well done but failed in the end. Set in Provincetown, RI where Tim Madden is in a bit of depression from his wife having left him recently. He begins his night in a bar where he begins talking with a couple only to discover that in the morning they are both missing. Unable to remember the previous nights happenings he discovers the seat of his car is covered in blood and his arm stings from a tattoo with the name of a previous lover. He begins to piece together events of the night but he is still in a fog as to what occurred. The plot becomes entangled with corrupt police, criminals, and past lovers, all of which have a role to play. The book began out very intense but by the end I thought this was too unbelievable and was sadly disappointed. Plus it is very sexually explicit with many details I don't care to read about (skipped over those parts) and were in no real relevance to the story except to say that certain characters were sex addicts.

Not much fun and not much of a mystery. I can't for the life of me think of why Mailer would have taken what must have been at least a certain amount of time to write this book. For money is the only answer I can come up with. Did he make any? I guess so, since they made a movie out of it and that must have put something into his pocket.