Of a Fire on the Moon

Of a Fire on the Moon (, OCLC 101602) is a work of non-fiction by Norman Mailer which was serialised in Life magazine in 1969 and 1970, and published in 1970 as a book. It is a documentary and reflection on the Apollo 11 moon landing from Mailer's point of view.

After spending time at the space center and mission control in Houston, and witnessing the launch of the Saturn V at Cape Kennedy in Florida, Mailer began writing his account of the historic voyage at his home in Provincetown, Massachusetts during marathon writing sessions to meet his deadlines for the magazine. His account, which ran to 115,000 words, was published between August 1969 and January 1970 in three long installments—A Fire on the Moon,The Psychology of Astronauts, and A Dream of the Future's Face.

In a foreword to Mailer's first installment, Life Managing Editor Ralph Graves introduced "some 26,000 words—the longest non-fiction piece Life has ever published in one issue."

On February 26, 1970, after the magazine series had concluded, Mailer wrote to Apollo 11 commander, Neil Armstrong, "I've worked as assiduously as any writer I know to portray the space program in its largest, not its smallest, dimension".

His account was published as a book called Of a Fire on the Moon in 1970. In the UK, it was published with its original article title, A Fire on the Moon.

Of a Fire on the Moon, published in three installments by Life magazine, later becoming a full book, chronicles the U.S. moon launch of 1969 through the eyes of Norman Mailer’s third-person view of himself. Through this third-person view, Mailer describes the space launches from his point of view as seasoned reporter who has seen America ‘come of age’ since the end of the Second World War. Additionally, Mailer strings in short "time machines" (as made popular in his literary debut, The Naked and the Dead) which provide insight from fictional American families as they view the news coverage and actual moon launch. By providing the reader with multiple illustrations of the moon launch, the reader is able to see what the monumental moment means to different Americans. For some of the depicted characters, it is as simple as the epitome of American ingenuity and superiority in the context of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Mailer’s third-person depiction illustrates an amalgamation of emotions that combines the awe of the scientific feat with the fear of the ever-increasing power of the human race. To Mailer, the moon launch is much more than an accomplishment of the United States, nor is it a move to conquer the Space Race with the Soviet Union. He sees it as a triumph for all humankind, a bold statement in the face of the "creator". By landing men on a celestial object such as the moon, humans are seen as rejecting the omniscient power of a higher entity, almost saying, “Look how far we have come.”

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