Literary icon Norman Mailer is in the hospital again, battling respiratory problems, reports the Post. His children are holding "daily vigils" by his bedside at Mount Sinai, and his ex-wife Carol Mailer says "he's not in very good shape." Mailer was hospitalized over Labor Day for asthma-related problems but insisted upon being let out to go to his daughter Maggie's wedding. Later, his lung collapsed, and he had to return to medical care. Though a relative assured the paper that, "Everything's fine, he's recovering," we have to wonder how much Mailer is thinking of his God theory these days. Particularly, when faced with his own mortality, how strongly he believes that "our childlike notion of Heaven has to be relinquished," as he recently told New York. The 84-year-old is instead a believer in reincarnation. "Why sit around forever in an elevated version of Club Med?" he asked. Um, because that sounds awesome? Man, the guy's got lung problems and is over half a century older than we are, and he's still got more enthusiasm. Yipes.

Norman Mailer Back in Hospital [NYP]
Related: The Rise of Mailerism [NYM]