Gore Is Gone

Gore Vidal has died.  Novelist, playwright, screenwriter.  Polymath, gadfly, character.

He's best remembered as a novelist. Perhaps he never wrote a great novel, but he wrote a lot of good ones. He was probably the first major author of the post-war generation to write a book of note based on his service in World War II--Williwaw, which he completed when he was only 19. He wrote over 25 novels, many controversial due to their political and sexual (especially homosexual) content.  His historical works about America, such as Burr, 1876 and Lincoln, are especially recommended. He also had a comic bent which came across strongly is satires like Myra Breckinridge (condemned for its sexuality, which helped turn it into a huge bestseller) and its sequel Myron, which I think is the superior book.

He also was a successful Broadway playwright, creating such amusements as Vist To A Small Planet (adapted into a Jerry Lewis film which bears little resemblance), An Evening With Richard Nixon (beating up on Tricky Dick well before Watergate) and, his best play, The Best Man.  It's a 1960 drama about a Presidential political convention.  Our system has changed since then, but the drama and the comedy still work--in fact, a new production of the play is currently running on Broadway.

He also was a successful screenwriter and worked during the final days of the studio system.  In later years he told many behind-the-scenes tales of Hollywood--I recall not so long ago he and Charlton Heston got into a shouting match about the gay subtext in Ben-Hur.

Vidal was also an essayist and critic who published many non-fiction works. He was also quite interested in politics and in his earlier years had political aspirations. It's probably better he became a writer, where his true talent lay.

He always had unusual views. In later years, though he was generally treated as a charming eccentric, some of his political beliefs were beyond the pale.  But I think that'll all be forgotten, while his humor and erudition will live on.