Hands-down the finest piece of journalism I have ever read. The story of Gary Gilmore has a practically infinite number of issues and sub-issues and Mailer just nails them all with a towering, Pulitzer-worthy effort. Rather than ramrod his own personal opinions, Mailer allows the Legal system, the Penal system, and the Media to define themselves.Perhaps the most gripping theme of the book is its portrayal of ordinary people performing under extraordinary pressure, especially Gilmore himself, who combines a fascinating dichotomy of homicidal violence with deep and intelligent introspection, and under extreme duress shows himself to be a man of unwavering and unimpeachable principle.Tirelessly researched and written in a reserved and simplistic manner, the book is simply astonishing.