An American Dream Author:Norman Mailer Stephen Rojack, a decorated war-hero and former congressman, is now a sensationalist talk-show host. In an alcoholic rage, Rojack murders his estranged wife, a high society woman, and descends into a lurid underworld of jazz clubs, bars, and mob intrigue after meeting Cherry Melanie, a night-club singer and the girlfriend of a highly placed mobs... more »ter. Rojack feels liberated by the violence and imagines himself receiving messages from the moon, perceiving voices that command him to deny his guilt. He makes the death appear as a suicide, and maintains his innocence no matter how intense the scrutiny or severe the consequences. During the next 24 hours, Rojack sets his will against the New York City Police Department and the political clout of his dead wife's father, Barney Oswald Kelly.« less