Norman Mailer’s Short Fiction

A chronological bibliography of Norman Mailer’s short fiction. Composition dates are shown in brackets; Unpublished stories will have just one date, and some of these compositions dates are speculative. Links are for Works and Days entries.

• Mailer, Norman (April 1941) [1940]. "The Greatest Thing in the World". The Harvard Advocate. pp. 3–6, 24–28.
  • — (November–December 1941). "The Greatest Thing in the World". Story. Vol. 19. pp. 17–26.
  • Mailer, Norman K. (1947). "The Greatest Thing in the World". In Hitchcock, Alfred. Hold Your Breath: Suspense Stories. New York: Dell.
  • Mailer, Norman (1949). "The Greatest Thing in the World". Story: The Fiction of the Forties.
  • — (1959). "The Greatest Thing in the World". Advertisements for Myself. New York: Putnum. pp. 70–84.

• — (Fall 1941), "A Clean Well-Ordered Life", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–5.
• — (Fall 1941), "The Worms that Tear at Me", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–4.
• — (5 December 1941), "The Schedule Breaker", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–4.
• — (May 1942) [1941]. "Right Shoe on Left Foot". The Harvard Advocate. Vol. CXXVIII no. 5. pp. 12–18, 30–32.
• — (June 1942) [1941]. "Maybe Next Year". The Harvard Advocate. Vol. CXXVIII no. 6. pp. 25–27.
  • — (1959). "Maybe Next Year". Advertisements for Myself. New York: Putnum. pp. 84–88.

• — (8 February 1942), "Three Fingers of Friendship", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–5.
• — (18 February 1942), "Retreat", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–13.
• — (5 March 1942), "Charde and Dana", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–17.
• — (1 April 1942), "Land Lashed", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–10.
• — (3 April 1942), "Small Fry", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–3.
• — (May 1942), "Music Teachers I Have Known and Loved", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–3.
• — (17 July 1942), "The Lock", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–2. Experimental fragment.
• — (26 February 1943), "[Yiddish on the Train]", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–5.
• — (1943), "Tough Test", Unpublished, Harvard, pp. 1–4. Handwritten fragment.
• — (January–February 1945), "Nostalgia", Unpublished, Luzon, pp. 1–11.