How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I could go into more detail about the […] steps which left me a young Congressman […] but that would merely describe the adventures of the part which I as a young actor was playing. (1.10)
It turns out that Rojack was a prodigious liar well before the misadventures chronicled in An American Dream. On one hand, this passage is a pretty sick burn against politicians in general and how they lie for self-serving purposes. But Mailer is also making a point about the lies that we all tell (to others and to ourselves) in order to fulfill other peoples' expectations.
Quote #2
I howled then in a simulation of woe, but the woe was real—for the first time I knew she was gone—and it was an animal howl. (2.87)
Although Rojack is straight-up lying about the circumstances behind Deborah's death, he can't help but feel real grief. Ultimately, this probably works to his benefit: His lies must seem a lot more realistic coming from a place of raw emotion.
Quote #3
"Listen, pet, I have something awful to tell you. She had a sniff of you on me. And then she jumped." (3.22)
That is cold-hearted, dude—you're not only lying about the fact that you murdered your wife, but you're placing all of the blame on a poor, innocent woman. Although the real lying has only just begun, we can already tell that Rojack is playing for keeps.
Quote #4
And now I realized that the detective had seen me chatting with nothing less than a blonde. (3.68)
Rojack has the romantic self-control (and the subtlety) of Pepe Le Pew. While this looks like it'll put a dent in his story, the truth is that Rojack would probably be doing the same exact thing even if Deborah had committed suicide.
Quote #5
"And then she said, 'I didn't have cancer before. But in that hour I stood by the window, it began in me. I didn't jump and so my cells jumped.'" (3.209)
This is an example of Rojack blending his own experiences with his lies to make them seem more real. Remember: Rojack has these exact same thoughts himself when he is contemplating suicide at the start of the novel.
Quote #6
I began to shudder; the picture I had given was real to me. (3.219)
At this point, Rojack has told so many lies that he can't tell what's real anymore. In fact, this makes us wonder how real any of this is… Could he be lying to us, too?
Quote #7
There would be the funeral […] and the first in a new thousand to twenty-two thousand lies. But I was like a wrecked mariner in the lull between two storms. (4.1)
Rojack has started a chain reaction and the only way to survive is to keep telling more and more lies. There's only one thing that could really stop this domino effect, however: the truth. But will Rojack ever become so desperate that he might consider doing something so unthinkable?
Quote #8
But we could not begin with a lie between us. It was if […] some message had come to me from the end of the world. (5.14)
After lying so much that his pants are incinerated, Rojack is desperate to find some sort of mental relief. In this way, Cherry represents a new start for Rojack, a life free of the deceit of his past. He holds true to this pact, too, telling Cherry the truth when she asks him if he killed Deborah.
Quote #9
"Your wife's death is sufficiently tragic without beginning to mention the unhappy… the dreadful… the ambiguous aspects of it all." (5.192)
Despite Rojack's plentiful lies, the truth is pretty readily apparent. He's like a dude with a bad toupee who's convinced that everyone believes he has a full head of luxurious hair. At a certain point, the only person that Rojack has successfully deceived is himself.
Quote #10
"It doesn't matter what is done in private. What is important is the public show—it must be flawless." (8.323)
In other words, something doesn't have to be true for people to believe it. The trick is to present your lies as if it they're true and never waver, no matter how silly and unbelievable they might seem. When you think about it, that's exactly what Rojack has been doing the whole time.