He symbolized the USA - the dream and the nightmare. As a debuting writer, Norman Mailer was the “angry young man,” but he died as an angry old man and an icon of America. In between, life was like a roller coaster ride, marked by brilliant success and dark moments. Born in 1923 to Jewish immigrants, Mailer grew up in Brooklyn. The dominant figure in the family was his mother, whose father was a grocer and hotelier in the seaside town of Long Branch, New Jersey. Norman actually wanted to become an aircraft engineer, but took writing courses at Harvard College while studying.