The University of Texas-Austin has agreed to buy author Norman Mailer's papers for $2.5 million. Years ago, Stanford University balked at hosting Ronald Reagan's presidential papers. The asking price? Free. Perhaps had a drunken Reagan stabbed his wife with a penknife, universities would not have been so resistant to the idea of housing his papers.

Hook'em!

Spoken like a true Texan Brad!

I don't recall hearing that Stanford declined to house Reagan's papers. That is really unbelievable. I can't fathom how any serious research institution would refuse a gift of the personal papers of any major historical figure irregardless of the moral assessment of that person. If Stanford refused to house the papers of Joseph Goebbels or Stalin, for example, I would be just as puzzled. Let alone refusing to house the papers of an American president, wow!

D@mn 2.5 mill? Thats some awfully expensive toilet paper! Give it to the Army so their guys in the desert can wipe their @ss...anything is better than that John Wayne TP they issue you!

This guy has ten TONS of paper to sell? Talk about pack rats...

$2.5 million? A bad bet. Mailer will be a rightfully consigned to the trash heap of writers within 50 years. When you pull him out of the politics of the 50s-70s you are left holding a p.c. wimp with a John Wayne complex. The man's attempts to appear a tough guy are painful to behold, and he has, at long last, nothing to say.