Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, July 31, 2012
Death / Books Gore Vidal
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 9:02 PM
The novelist, essayist, playwright, historian, and all-around brilliant author died today. He was 86. His two books of collected essays, United States and The Last Empire, are two of my all-time favorites. Others prefer his historical novels, and many prefer Myra Breckenridge/Myron, or his more recent historical writing, but for me, those two fat books of essays were transformative reading experiences. Vidal is from a long line of American aristocracy—he's connected in various ways to the Gores, Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, the Auchinclosses, and other old storied names—but he always wrote like he was pissed at everyone, and his elegant mannerisms never got in the way of the sharp stick he jabbed at the eyes of those in power. He wasn't always right, but he was always maddening in the best possible way. I will miss him.
1
I've read Myra Breckenridge more than any other book. (And I love United States too.) RIP Gore Vidal.
2
#1
Movie with Rex Reed is a favorite.
But Gore Vidal...I don't know...he always seemed "of his time".
I mean all those New York magazine intellectuals of the 1970s seemed of their time. Even Mailer might have been a passing fad, or else more historic than artistic.
Not that it was shabby to be on of those people...those adult intellectuals who could work purely with their minds for a living, before there was the public internet, and really sell ideas and personality more than anything.
They had it great...living in NYC at the ebb of population. Cheap rents, $200 apartments, and Andy Warhol for entertainment.
Movie with Rex Reed is a favorite.
But Gore Vidal...I don't know...he always seemed "of his time".
I mean all those New York magazine intellectuals of the 1970s seemed of their time. Even Mailer might have been a passing fad, or else more historic than artistic.
Not that it was shabby to be on of those people...those adult intellectuals who could work purely with their minds for a living, before there was the public internet, and really sell ideas and personality more than anything.
They had it great...living in NYC at the ebb of population. Cheap rents, $200 apartments, and Andy Warhol for entertainment.
4
The glaring oversight of his not receiving the Kennedy Center honors is beyond shameful. But one imagines Gore's refusal to take shit from anyone may have not served him well. "Always a godfather, never a god" he once lamented. Well, you were a god, Gore, and those who did not appreciate your essays in "Reflections Upon a Sinking Ship" (i.e. the USA) are wallowing in a world of denial and ignorance.
5
I thought he was great as the aging liberal Senator Brickley Paiste in the political mockumentary "Bob Roberts" with Tim Robbins.
6
Over the years I've read every one of Gore Vidlas novels, his essay colle ctions and memoirs. Ever the contrarian he chose anti-federalists, pagans and sexual outlaws as protagonists. Born into a social and politial elite, he lived on its outskirts due to his sexual predilictions. I do not say orientation because he always insisted that there were no such thing as homosexuals, only homosexual acts. Thus he was of the choice camp, which left him the argument that he could be straight if he chose to be. Ever the contrarian, he never did.
8
There was no one who made me want to both write and read more than Mr. Vidal. I will miss him, too, Paul for who will take his place? A magnificent voice for the Left, a soothsayer, a peerless historian and although one might not think so seeing him on the attack, he was a lovely man.
9
Rest in peace, magnificent bastard. Though it flies in the face of all my beliefs I wish above all you might be reunited with all the friends you missed so much as they passed, Tennessee and Anais, Italo and Howard. And JImmy.
10
I have never laughed harder while reading a novel than when reading "Duluth." He was crazy, but I will miss his crazificatiom deeply.
11
He gave up so much to get The City and the Pillar published. Had to write mystery novels under an assumed name just to get by. What a badass; I wish I had his ability to truly not give a damn what anybody else thinks.
12
Vidal was brilliant and fearless. I remember reading his essay "Pink Triangle and Yellow Star" in my High School library (in Iowa) in the late 70's. It was, as you say, "transformative" for me.
It would be hard to communicate to younger people how weird and repressive attitudes were back then, but suffice to say that his essay was the ONLY intelligent thing about gays I had read to that point. (By the way, "Gay" was a word and concept he was averse to - he always maintained that "gay" and "homosexual;" were adverbs, not nouns).
But his essays (and novels) covered an even more taboo subject in American politics: class.
If you can find it, please watch his 1968 debate with conservative William F Buckley which aired live on national television. When Vidal baits Buckley (calling him a "crypto-Nazi") the normally smooth Buckley proceeds to loose his shit on live TV calling Vidal a "queer' . Truly one of television's golden moments.
It would be hard to communicate to younger people how weird and repressive attitudes were back then, but suffice to say that his essay was the ONLY intelligent thing about gays I had read to that point. (By the way, "Gay" was a word and concept he was averse to - he always maintained that "gay" and "homosexual;" were adverbs, not nouns).
But his essays (and novels) covered an even more taboo subject in American politics: class.
If you can find it, please watch his 1968 debate with conservative William F Buckley which aired live on national television. When Vidal baits Buckley (calling him a "crypto-Nazi") the normally smooth Buckley proceeds to loose his shit on live TV calling Vidal a "queer' . Truly one of television's golden moments.
14
I am ashamed to admit I am far less familiar with Vidal's works than most readers here; but I intend upon rectifying that soon enough. He will be missed.
15
"Burr" is just remarkable stuff. "1876" is possibly better. "Lincoln" is masterful. That's enough; most of the rest I haven't read, but everything I've dipped into impresses with the range; he was a "man of letters" more than any one particular kind of writer, a kind of fellow who is simply extinct today. He was better at it than Edmund Wilson, to whom he was sometimes compared, though his vast intelligence was hindered by his frequently nutty political pronouncements. He was a brilliant speaker and talk show guest, unafraid to combine brilliance and cheese.
On the subject of his most famous feud, he was ten times the man Norman Mailer ever was, and a hundred times the writer.
On the subject of his most famous feud, he was ten times the man Norman Mailer ever was, and a hundred times the writer.
16
"The Republican Party wants to get the government off our backs — and onto our fronts." GV 1982
The world needs so many more like him. He was majestic on so many different levels. Rock on you brilliant, misanthropic, handsome, erudite queen!
The world needs so many more like him. He was majestic on so many different levels. Rock on you brilliant, misanthropic, handsome, erudite queen!
17
Oh, OK, I guess Buckley is his more famous feud now. Fine. Mailer's was better. Oh, how I miss the Dick Cavett Show.
@3, I think it gets the editing treatment it deserves every night, when it is not shown.
@3, I think it gets the editing treatment it deserves every night, when it is not shown.
18
So glad I saw him when he appeared here several years ago!! I've had this fantasy for some years that he leaves a tell-all memoir to be published after his death, where he dishes the dirt on famous names; he knew EVERYTHING about virtually EVERYONE of consequence in the last half of the 20th century.
21
@12: Pink Triangle and Yellow Star managed to combine outrage and mockery very well. I love the image of Midge Decter "clutching her Teclas" and writing The Boys on the Beach in wannabe New Yorker prose.
22
Three weeks short of Calvino’s sixty-second birthday, he died; and Italy went into mourning, as if a beloved prince had died. For an American, the contrast between them and us is striking. When an American writer dies, there will be, if he’s a celebrity (fame is no longer possible for any of us), a picture below the fold on the front page; later, a short appreciation on the newspaper’s book page (if there is one), usually the work of a journalist or other near-writer who has not actually read any of the dead author’s work but is at home with the arcane of gossipy “Page Six”; and that would be that.Vidal, "Calvino's Death", NY Review of Books, 1985
23
Just put United States on my library hold list. Alas, my library system doesn't have The Last Empire. I already have too many library books at home, so if I like U.S. I'll look a little harder for Last Empire.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks for the recommendation.
24
United States is a magnificent thing, a chronicle of politics, people and places of the American 20th century. Also, dishing dirt on JFK, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tennessee Williams and scads of other bold faced names. It is erudite gossip mixed with caustic social and political observation. His novels were good (mostly) but his essays...oh, his essays...
25
The acidic-tongued Gore Vidal was also connected to sgt_doom (third cousins), of which I am proud to say, although I never agreed with his lightweight opinions on the JFK assassination nor his paltry viewpoint on that administration, overall his opinions fell into the intelligent category. (And he was far to complimentary of Eisenhower's administration, which was culpable in the overthrow of too many democractically-elected governments, and McCloy's appointment to the World Bank, where McCloy refused loans to Guatemala as their labor laws were too "liberal" and they were pushing for agrarian land reforms.)
Recommended reading:
Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy presidency, by Donald Gibson
Thy Will Be Done, by Gerard Colby with Charlotte Dennett
Recommended reading:
Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy presidency, by Donald Gibson
Thy Will Be Done, by Gerard Colby with Charlotte Dennett
26
My first Vidal novel was Julian. You don't see people mention it all that much but it remains a favorite of mine.
Also very fond of Burr which poses a question I had never thought to ask - how was it that a popular rebellion in New England came under control of a bunch of lawyers from Virginia.
Also very fond of Burr which poses a question I had never thought to ask - how was it that a popular rebellion in New England came under control of a bunch of lawyers from Virginia.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Portland Voters Are Stoopid by Goldy
-
An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed by Paul Constant
-
Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral by Dan Savage
-
Why They Break Windows by Unpaid Intern
-
Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me... by Dan Savage
-
Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness by Paul Constant
-
There Are No Atheists In Foxholes by Dan Savage
-
Tornado Truthers by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Did You Think I Was Going To Tell You Not To Come Out? (PLUS: Help Free Kate!) by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Have You Ever Heard of...? by Dan Savage
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (27) RSS