The Deer Park

by Norman Mailer

With fourteen thousand dollars of winnings from a poker game in his pocket, Sergius O'Shaugnessy wanders to Desert D’Or to find a sense of purpose after recently being discharged from the Air Force. Desert D’Or, a fictionalized Palm Springs, is only hours outside of “the capital” (Los Angeles), where movie stars, producers, and other Hollywood moguls flock to the small desert town to escape the bustle of the city. Compared to Hollywood celebrities, O'Shaugnessy comes from modest roots. Raised an orphan, O'Shaugnessy never had a stable life until he became a fighter pilot in the Air Force. His career as a  pilot was short-lived, as they medically discharged him for psychological reasons.

O'Shaugnessy narrates the story, and the plot revolves around his experiences and encounters in the secluded desert city. He befriends former Hollywood director Charles Eitel and other celebrities. Supreme Studios blacklisted Eitel after he was uncooperative in front of a Senate Subversive Committee regarding his alleged communist ties. Like O'Shaugnessy, Eitel is at a crossroads in his life. He is in the process of writing a new script but is unconfident of his abilities to produce meaningful work. In addition to Eitel and O'Shaugnessy, the other main characters range from movie star Lulu Meyers and pimp Marion Faye to the up-and-coming producer Collie Munshin and studio mogul Herman Teppis. Sex, alcohol, and adultery is widespread throughout Desert D’Or, and O'Shaugnessy and Eitel both find themselves in multiple flings throughout the novel. Once Teppis meets O'Shaugnessy, he is immediately struck by the former pilot’s story and urges Munshin to offer O'Shaugnessy twenty thousand dollars for the rights to it. O'Shaugnessy declines the offer because he does not want to sell his life story to be made into a cheap Hollywood flick. However, he ultimately runs out of money and loses his girlfriend, Lulu Meyers. Eventually, Eitel is presented with another opportunity to get back into the film business after he partners with Munshin and cooperates with the Committee. While everyone else heads back to the capital for their movie careers, O'Shaugnessy wanders to Mexico City, where he becomes a smalltime bullfighter. The book ends with O'Shaugnessy opening a  bullfighting studio in New York, while Eitel marries Elena but continues to have an affair with Lulu Meyers.