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Overview
Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since become part of the American canon. This fiftieth anniversary edition features a new introduction created especially doe the occasion by Norman Mailer.
Written in gritty, journalistic detail, the story follows an army platoon of foot soldiers who are fighting for the possession of the Japanese-held island of Anopopei. Composed in 1948, The Naked and the Dead is representative of the best in twentieth-century American writing.
The author's first and most famous novel.
Synopsis
Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since enjoyed a long and well-deserved tenure in the American canon. This fiftieth anniversary edition features a new introduction created especially for the occasion by Norman Mailer.
Written in gritty, journalistic detail, the story follows a platoon of Marines who are stationed on the Japanese-held island of Anopopei. Composed in 1948 with the wisdom of a man twice Mailer's age and the raw courage of the young man he was, The Naked and the Dead is representative of the best in twentieth-century American writing.
New York Times
Many consider The Naked and the Dead to be the greatest combat novel ever written by an American. In it, the reader engages with Lieut. Robert Hearn, fighting in the Pacific in World War II. As the story progresses, the reader goes inside his thoughs, experiencing both his real and his imagined fears.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"The best novel to come out of the . . . war, perhaps the best book to come out of any war."—San Francisco Chronicle"Best novel yet about World War II."—Time
"Brutal, agonizing, astonishingly thoughtful."—Newsweek
"Nightmarish masterpiece of realism."—Cleveland News
"Vibrant with life, abundant with real people, full of memorable scenes. To call it merely a great book about the war would be to minimize its total achievement."—The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The most important American novel since Moby-Dick."—Providence Journal
New York Times
Many consider The Naked and the Dead to be the greatest combat novel ever written by an American. In it, the reader engages with Lieut. Robert Hearn, fighting in the Pacific in World War II. As the story progresses, the reader goes inside his thoughs, experiencing both his real and his imagined fears.Time
Best novel yet about Waorl War II.Philadelphia Inquirer
Vibrant with life, abundant with real people, full of memorable scenes. To call it merely a great book about the war would be to minimize its total achivement.Newsweek
Brutal, agonizing, astonishingly thoughtful.San Francisco Chronicle
The best novel to come out of the... war, perhaps the best book to come out of any war.Cleveland News
Nightmarish masterpiece of realism.Providence Journal
The most important American novel since Moby DickNew York Times Book Review
Many consider The Naked and the Dead to be the greatest combat novel ever written by an American. In it, the reader engages with Lieut. Robert Hearn, fighting in the Pacific in World War II. As the story progresses, the reader goes inside his thoughs, experiencing both his real and his imagined fears.... [The vignettes of war depicted] are a triumph of realism, but without the compassion which gives final authority in the realm of human conduct.— The New York Times