Norman Mailer Back in Hospital

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Norman Mailer was hospitalized yesterday in New York for respiratory ailments; his ex-wife said surgery had succeeded in removing scar tissue after a lung collapse—but she worried that he’s “not in very good shape.” It's the second recent scare for the 84-year-old literary lion, hospitalized for asthma over Labor Day, the New York Post reports.

The Post reports that the children of the author of "The Naked and the Dead" are holding "daily vigils" at his bedside in the critical-care unit. "Norman still has a huge spirit and is making jokes," Carol Mailer said. "He's an extraordinary man. He's a fighter." Mailer's in-laws, however, contradicted his ex-wife’s prognosis, asserting “Everything’s fine. He’s recovering.” (More Norman Mailer stories.)