I bumped into Normal Mailer briefly in the late 70’s. I was attending a conference in Miami, waiting for an elevator in my hotel standing next to a large fellow with a walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkie squawked and seemed to say “Mr. Mailer is on his way”. The elevator arrived and out stepped Norman Mailer. What I presumed was a hotel tart – with a hard face and stunning figure – flounced up, took his arm and disappeared with him into a waiting limousine. Mailer liked to take a contrarian view of many things; among them, masturbation – he didn’t approve:

“I wouldn’t say all people who masturbate are evil, probably I would even say that some of the best people in the world masturbate. But I am saying it’s a miserable activity.”

Mailer was cool, of course, so those who adopted the conceit of thinking they were too, forgave him for criticising their favourite pastime. Not so for Christine O’Donnell – winner of Republican Senate Primary in Delaware – who said much the same thing and is being roundly mocked for it by the usual twerps on the left.

I’m looking forward to the next Democratic Party slogan: Democrats, masturbating for you.