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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Graphic hunting scenes including bear kills and descriptions of animal death; the violence is presented with visceral relish as allegory
Language
Very heavy
Mailer deploys an unrelenting torrent of obscenity throughout; widely considered one of the most profane novels in the American literary canon
Sexual Content
Some
Crude sexual boasting and references; locker-room machismo permeates the narrator's voice
Substance Use
Barely any
Alcohol consumption during the hunting trip
Emotional Intensity
Some
Psychological exploration of American masculine violence, corporate cruelty, and the mindset that produces war; deliberately confrontational
What this book is about
D.J. Jethroe, an eighteen-year-old from Dallas, narrates a recent bear-hunting expedition in Alaska with his father and their corporate cronies. Mailer deploys the most extravagantly obscene language in American literary fiction as D.J. riffs, boasts, and philosophizes about masculine violence, corporate America, and the killing urge that sends young men to Vietnam. The novel barely mentions the war directly — it's all allegory, saturated in blood and profanity.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extreme and sustained profanity throughout
Graphic animal violence
Allegory for Vietnam-era American militarism
Reader Verification
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