GREATEST NEWS OF THE DECADE

From the New York Times:

Mailer’s Next Novel

Norman Mailer has written his first novel in a decade, and Random House will publish it next January. “The Castle in the Forest,” Mr. Mailer’s first work of fiction since “The Gospel According to the Son” in 1997, is an account of Hitler and his family. Mr. Mailer has won two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1969 for “The Armies of the Night” and one in 1980 for “The Executioner’s Song.” Since his last novel, he has also published two works of nonfiction, both in 2003: “The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing” and “Why Are We at War?” A spokeswoman for Random House said the new novel would run just under 500 pages. She confirmed a summary, posted on Media Bistro’s Galleycat Web site (mediabistro.com/galleycat), that said Mr. Mailer’s tale would be told through a mysterious narrator and explore three generations of Hitler’s family, including incestuous relationships and family estrangements, while meditating on Hitler’s evil. Mr. Mailer’s book will come out just a month after Penguin Press publishes Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in nine years, “Against the Day,” set at the turn of the 20th century.

Whoa.