Philosophical Literature; Psychological Thriller; Suspense
An American Dream is one part existentialist literature and one part crime thriller. Basically, it's what would happen if Albert Camus guest-wrote the latest episode of Law and Order: SVU. Eek, we know.
In many ways, the novel is simply a vessel for Norman Mailer's existential philosophy. Mailer was a hipster before hipsters were cool, seeing the very idea of "hip" as a form of existentialism. Existentialist ideas pop up throughout the novel, such as Rojack's rejection of the idea "that death was zero" (1.10) because he has witnessed its existential horror firsthand.
Despite this heady subject matter, however, An American Dream is a classic crime thriller at heart. After all, the plot follows the murderer of a wealthy heiress as he desperately tries to convince the world of his innocence. It features femme fatales, jealous ex-boyfriends, and vengeful Mafiosos; there are fistfights and duels to the death. If it not for the deep philosophical ideas that lie beneath its rather lurid plot, An American Dream could very well have become one of those dime-a-dozen thriller novels you see in the checkout line at the grocery store.
Instead, through combining elements from psychological thrillers and suspense novels with philosophy, An American Dream is much darker than anything you'll ever flip through while waiting to pay for your milk.