The Last Party

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The Last Party is a 1997 memoir by Adele Morales, Norman Mailer’s second wife whom she married in 1954. The book tells the story of their marriage and life together, including a famous incident at a party in 1960 when Mailer stabbed Morales with a penknife. The attack left a deep wound in her chest and another in her back; a bystander helped her as Mailer reportedly told him to let her die. Mailer was hospitalized for 17 days, and he later pleaded guilty to a reduced assault charge and received a suspended sentence. Morales and Mailer divorced in 1962. The stabbing has been a central point in feminist critiques of Mailer and is discussed in relation to themes of sexual violence in his work.