The Time of Her Time

"The Time of Her Time" is a 1959 short story written by Norman Mailer, first appearing in his collection of short works, Advertisements for Myself. The story depicts macho Irish Catholic bullfighting instructor Sergius O'Shaugnessy and his sexual conquest of a young, middle-class Jewish college girl, Denise Gondelman. The short story was adapted to film in 2000 by Francis Delia. On multiple occasions, Mailer has toted the "The Time of Her Time" as "the godfather of Lolita."

"The Time of Her Time" was first published in 1959 in the collection, Advertisements for Myself, then later in The Short Fiction of Norman Mailer. Mailer said that his publisher, Walter Minton of G. P. Putnam's Sons publishing, was brave for publishing the short story, despite its status as "a salacious object in its time." When Minton published it, "a great many of us, not only writers, but critics as well, novelists collaborated to a degree, in the sense that we were fighting the Philistines who wanted to hold literature back." The story collection, Advertisements for Myself, was published without any censorship, though "The Time of Her Time" was absent from the English publication. Mailer has maintained that "The Time of Her Time" has acted as the godfather of Lolita. "Later, Minton used to love to say one of the reasons he published Lolita was he saw he could get away with it... he realized that for all the brouhaha over the dangers of publishing 'The Time of Her Time,' nothing had happened."

The story follows Sergius O'Shaugnessy after he has adjusted to life in Greenwich Village and his sexual exploration and conquests there. O'Shaugnessy, having recently departed from Mexico and his career as an amateur bullfighter, sets up a bullfighting school in his flat. Rumor of his sexual prowess and stamina spreads quickly through the Village until he is "scoring three and four times a week, literally combing the pussy out of my hair." Sergius, the "messiah of the one-night stand," then meets a collegiate New York girl, Denise Gondelman, Jewish and middle-class. The first night together, they "made love like two club fighters in an open exchange." Sergius is unable to produce an orgasm in Denise; she confides that she has never orgasmed, and Sergius takes this as a challenge to his masculinity. The pair begin an affair – for Denise has been dating a passive Jewish college mate, Arthur, all the while. On the third night, Denise arrives at O'Shaugnessy's place after, she reveals, having spent the evening with Arthur. O'Shaugnessy finds himself lacking on their first try, but he quickly rallies and, by sodomizing her and calling her "a dirty little Jew," produces her orgasm. The morning after, Denise, upset by the Sergius' violation of her, tells him, "... your whole life is a lie, and you do nothing but run away from the homosexual that is you," and leaves before Sergius can respond that "she was a hero fit for [him]."

...
Wikipedia