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 107
... told that if I didn't cut that stuff out I'd be expelled , so I cut it out . Mr. Connell certainly knew that if a pretty boy or a pretty girl passed through the room , my eyes would most likely follow the boy . I knew about Mr. Connell ...
... told that if I didn't cut that stuff out I'd be expelled , so I cut it out . Mr. Connell certainly knew that if a pretty boy or a pretty girl passed through the room , my eyes would most likely follow the boy . I knew about Mr. Connell ...
Page 201
... told her much about himself , his mother , his family , his work . A seductively engrossing listener , Anaïs encouraged him to tell all . He told her more than the guarded young man usually told anyone , let alone a stranger . Anaïs ...
... told her much about himself , his mother , his family , his work . A seductively engrossing listener , Anaïs encouraged him to tell all . He told her more than the guarded young man usually told anyone , let alone a stranger . Anaïs ...
Page 324
... told Lehmann in early November , exhausted from revising Dark Green , Bright Red , that " in a few days I retire to Houston for love and a rest from work . " He does not appear to have gone to Houston then . With his bags packed in ...
... told Lehmann in early November , exhausted from revising Dark Green , Bright Red , that " in a few days I retire to Houston for love and a rest from work . " He does not appear to have gone to Houston then . With his bags packed in ...
Contents
Prelude | 1 |
A Washington Childhood 19251939 | 30 |
CHAPTER THREE | 68 |
Copyright | |
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