NORMAN MAILER'S last major public interview has been made available online by the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The legendary American novelist, journalist and filmmaker passed away on Saturday, after a long battle with illness.

His last major interview came when he "appeared" at the Edinburgh International Book Festival earlier this year - speaking to fans in the Capital and even signing books from his home in Provincetown, USA, using the new LongPen communication invention.

During the fiery interview, Mailer lambasted US President George W Bush, spoke of the deep connection between prize-fighters and novelists and explained his enduring fascination with Hitler.

He explained that with his poor health preventing a personal appearance at the festival - where he appeared regularly, including a show with William Burroughs and Hugh MacDiarmid in the 1960s - his only alternative had been "a system I detest - technology".

Catherine Lockerbie, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said today: "After I invited him, Norman Mailer initially accepted but then said however much he longed to come to our 'luminous grey city', his ailing health prevented it.

"I was determined to have his presence as one of the world's greatest living writers and worked out how that might be possible."

The extraordinary interview can be listened to free, via www.edbookfest.co.uk.