Growing up, Mailer successfully graduated from Harvard with a degree in engineering, and a great writer until he made a huge mistake by stabbing his second wife injuring her, “In 1960, after a night of drinking and partying, he stabbed his second wife, Adele Morales, with a penknife, seriously wounding her.” This tragic incident occured in 1960 and it happened because Adele said to Mailer, “he wasn’t as good at dancing as Dostoevsky. Since Mailer was charged with this awful crime, Mailer was arrested, but his wife declined to press charges, and he was eventually released after being sent to Bellevue Hospital for observation. The marriage did not last the incident. He used this experience to help write about his character Gary gilmore because he was arrested and knows what it is liked be portrayed as a dangerous and pitiful man. The Executioner 's Song is written from an authentic perspective regarding the sanity in a convict such as Gary Gilmore. The Executioner 's’ song was a thematic study from the perspectives of his attitude toward the death Penalty and Gary Gilmore as a death convict,” says a critique analyzing Mailer’s book. The 1000 page book is broken into two parts, the first part is all about Gary Gilmore’s crimes. According to a review by Keith he explains, “we begin with Gilmore’s parole, and get an almost daily look into his struggle to assimilate himself into normal life outside of prison, especially in relations with women and family members concerned