''The Last Party: Scenes From My Life with Norman Mailer'' is a 1997 book by

Adele Morales Adele Carolyn Morales (June 12, 1925 – November 22, 2015) was an American painter and memoirist. Early life Morales was born in New York City, to a family of Peruvian origin. She grew up in Bensonhurst but moved to Manhattan, where she stud ...

, second wife of Norman Mailer, whom she married in 1954. It was published in the US by

Barricade Books Barricade Books is an independent publishing company specializing in non-fiction titles and featuring biography, memoir, including holocaust memoirs, and true crime and Mafia titles. History The genesis for Barricade Books was Lyle Stuart Inc. ...

. The book is a memoir of Morales' and Mailer's marriage; among other things, it outlines an incident Saturday, November 19, 1960, when Mailer stabbed her with a

penknife Penknife, or pen knife, is a British English term for a small folding knife. Today the word ''penknife'' is the common British English term for both a pocketknife, which can have single or multiple blades, and for multi-tools, with additional too ...

at a party. He cut through her breast, only just missing her heart. Then he stabbed her in the back. As she lay there, hemorrhaging, one man reached down to help her. He snapped: "Get away from her. Let the bitch die." He was involuntarily committed to Bellevue Hospital for 17 days; his wife would not press charges, and he later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault, and was given a suspended sentence. Morales was admitted to

University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following i ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

for treatment of her injuries. In the short term, Morales made a partial physical recovery. She divorced Mailer in 1962 as a result of the incident. The stabbing incident has been a focal point for feminist critics of Mailer, who point to themes of

sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

in his work.Millet, Kate. ''Sexual Politics'' Virago, 1991. pp. 314–5.

References

External links

''New York Times'' review
American memoirs 1997 non-fiction books Domestic violence in the United States Feminist books {{memoir-stub