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Gore Vidal's America (Polity celebrities series)

door Dennis Altman

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Gore Vidal is one of the most significant American writers of thesecond half of the twentieth century, having produced a largenumber of best selling novels, essays, plays and pamphlets whichhave impacted on major political and social debates for fiftyyears. He is both a serious writer and a television and moviecelebrity, whose increasingly acerbic picture of the United Statesguarantees he is both revered and reviled. Gore Vidal's America examines the ways in which Vidal'swritings on history, politics, sex and religion throw into focusour understandings of the United States, but also recognizes hisversatility and inventiveness as a creative writer, some of whosenovels - Julian; Myra Breckinridge; Lincoln; Duluth - are among theimportant literary works of their time. Ranging from Vidal's early defence of homosexuality in The Cityand the Pillar (1948) to his most recent writings on the war inIraq, this book provides a unique perspective on the evolution ofpost-World War II American society, politics and literature. AsAltman writes: ?Difficult not to see in the results of the2004 elections, where the Republican right gained in both the WhiteHouse and the Senate, proof of Vidal's worse fears, namely that theimpact of imperial adventure, big money and religious moralismwould increasingly imperil the American Republic."… (meer)

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Lemeritus, JohnWilliam56, GeoffreyP, Karen74Leigh, stevenmg, Chalkstone, donkelly68, ALGA

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Over my years of reading 65% of my books have been purchased new. Most of them are paperback. Of the other 35%, initially I used the public library but once I started earning money...I had the overwhelming need to own and keep, the rest were second hand. This current book is second hand (gotta love Abebooks). I am one who annotates and underlines in books that I want to fix in my mind and, as I am also someone who rereads books, I frequently find myself coming across my previous marks of interest and I can check my present self against my much younger one. What happens surprisingly seldom is that I will buy a book already underlined by the previous owner and I am just now discovering what a joy that is, to compare minds in an even more concrete way. I have always felt a bit of a vandal when I underline, which I seldom do in the hardcovers I own, but which in later life I did more frequently in my paperbacks so to find so little evidence of previous readers in the books I purchased only increased my guilt and shame. The only mitigating factor in my case is when I buy a book and love it enough to underline I usually keep it for 40 or more years (they will remain on my shelves till I die and will be as yellow and dried up as myself by that time and fit only for a dumpster). Okay, I have only just started this book about one of my life's heroes but felt compelled to get this bit off my chest right away.

The book is now finished and I am heartily sorry. I wish there were more. I wish I had a photographic memory...I would really like to have swallowed this one whole. I instantly wanted to reread it but restrained myself. This is a book about Gore Vidal..not really a biography more a critique or an indepth review of him as a person, his personas, his output, his impact. It is a view of Vidal's views and expressed opinions of the world at large and America in particular. It is a book friendly view of Vidal and lauds him..which as a major fan of the man, I liked to read. Having read his books, watched his speeches and interviews over the last fifty years...Vidal was, indeed, prescient. All he warned against has come home to roost and is so depressing that I am glad he is not hear to see it. (

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Karen74Leigh | Jan 11, 2020 |

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"Writers," said the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, are "evolutionary cells... a means of introducing new ideas into the society, and also a means of responding symbolically to life." -Preface, The Writer As Social Critic

In 1994, in the course of a summit of heads of government of the major industriaiized nations hosted by Italy, the then first lady Hilary Clinton paid a visit to Gore Vidal at his clifftop house in Ravello. -Introduction

Luckily, there is no need here to do more than sketch briefly Vidal's life. -Chapter 1, Vidal's Life

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Gore Vidal is one of the most significant American writers of thesecond half of the twentieth century, having produced a largenumber of best selling novels, essays, plays and pamphlets whichhave impacted on major political and social debates for fiftyyears. He is both a serious writer and a television and moviecelebrity, whose increasingly acerbic picture of the United Statesguarantees he is both revered and reviled. Gore Vidal's America examines the ways in which Vidal'swritings on history, politics, sex and religion throw into focusour understandings of the United States, but also recognizes hisversatility and inventiveness as a creative writer, some of whosenovels - Julian; Myra Breckinridge; Lincoln; Duluth - are among theimportant literary works of their time. Ranging from Vidal's early defence of homosexuality in The Cityand the Pillar (1948) to his most recent writings on the war inIraq, this book provides a unique perspective on the evolution ofpost-World War II American society, politics and literature. AsAltman writes: ?Difficult not to see in the results of the2004 elections, where the Republican right gained in both the WhiteHouse and the Senate, proof of Vidal's worse fears, namely that theimpact of imperial adventure, big money and religious moralismwould increasingly imperil the American Republic."

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