Norman Mailer By Norman Mailer And Other Author Self-Portraits

One night in the mid-1960s, while working as a bartender at the Village Vanguard, the storied New York City jazz club, Burt Britton found himself all alone with Norman Mailer at last call.

“What do you want from me, Kid,” Mailer inquired.

Screwing up his courage, Britton blurted out, “draw me your self-portrait.”
Mailer

Now, over forty years later, that self-portrait by Mailer is one of 213 self-portraits of writers, photographers, musicians, and athletes that Britton solicited. His collection is now being offered at auction by
Bloomsbury – New York on September 24, 2009: Arthur Miller
Portrait of the Artist: The Burt Britton Collection

Britton was in a great position to meet a who’s who of writers. After his stint at the Village Vanguard, in 1968 he began to work at the Strand book store in New York, and in 1978 moved to New York’s famed literary institution, Books & Company, now, alas, defunct.