Gore Vidal: A BiographyNovelist, cultural critic, essayist, historian, comic satirist, image maker, provocateur, actor, homosexual, bisexual...controversial, brilliant, confrontational, unflinching, cynical, idealistic...finding words to describe Gore Vidal is never difficult. And yet, an accurate picture of this multifaceted chameleon has eluded us until now. Here, at last, is a vastly entertaining biography of an American icon. From his Washington childhood, a world of high political and social connections and domestic turmoil, to his Exeter education and U.S. Army experiences; from his Hollywood and television career to his literary life as a novelist, playwright, and essayist; from his friendships and feuds with Tennessee Williams, Anais Nin, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and William Buckley to his exploration of homosexuality and celebration of bisexuality; from his cool satirical analyses of "the rich, the famous and the powerful" to his projection of himself onto the national stage of television talk shows and political ambition, Gore Vidal has been both participant in and spectator at the centers of American power. No other twentieth-century figure has moved so easily and confidently, and had such a profound effect, in the disparate worlds of literature, drama, film, politics, historical debate, and the culture wars. Fred Kaplan enjoyed complete access to Vidal's papers, letters, and private photographs, as well as television and newsreel footage, but was guaranteed a free hand by Vidal to write as he saw fit. The result is a lively, witty, and textured life of a literary colossus. |
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Page 584
... Myra demanded an imaginative engagement and a suspension of middle - class prohibitions that might damage its sales ... Myra's author preferred that it sell every bit as well as Julian and Washington , D.C. With Dupee he promoted a ...
... Myra demanded an imaginative engagement and a suspension of middle - class prohibitions that might damage its sales ... Myra's author preferred that it sell every bit as well as Julian and Washington , D.C. With Dupee he promoted a ...
Page 676
... Myra , ” he wrote to Dick Poirier in January 1974 , " and so as much as I disapprove of sequels , I found myself again at her mercy . The beginning is , I gather , difficult and that will put people off , I fear . Also , unlike most ...
... Myra , ” he wrote to Dick Poirier in January 1974 , " and so as much as I disapprove of sequels , I found myself again at her mercy . The beginning is , I gather , difficult and that will put people off , I fear . Also , unlike most ...
Page 678
... Myra , intent on changing history and the world . In the narrative Myron's and Myra's voices alternate as they struggle for control , the conforming , brainwashed , unimaginative Myron and the creative , irrepressible , transgressive Myra ...
... Myra , intent on changing history and the world . In the narrative Myron's and Myra's voices alternate as they struggle for control , the conforming , brainwashed , unimaginative Myron and the creative , irrepressible , transgressive Myra ...
Contents
Prelude | 1 |
A Washington Childhood 19251939 | 30 |
CHAPTER THREE | 68 |
Copyright | |
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