Generation Gap

One of the themes that is visible throughout The Big Empty is the generation gap between the two authors, John Buffalo Mailer and Norman Mailer. The former is a young and aspiring playwright and actor while the latter is the famous award-winning author and liberal advocate. John is part of the GenY generation. He wistfully tells his father that his will be the last generation to know what it means to be a young person and go out into a world that technology has not yet completely taken over.

Though the two men are obviously close and like-minded in many ways, the gap of multiple generations between them is stark; however, they deal with it with lightness and tolerance. Norman readily admits that at fifty-five, he is old enough to be John's father. John was around twenty-five when this book was written. While John and his peers...