Vidal on Vidal--a great and supremely entertaining writer on a great and endlessly fascinating subject. A New York Times best American memoir "In the hands of Gore Vidal, a pen is a sword. And he points it at the high and mighty who have crossed his path." -- Los Angeles Times Palimpsest is Gore Vidal's account of the first thirty-nine years of his life as a novelist, dramatist, critic, political activist and candidate, screenwriter, television commentator, controversialist, and a man who knew pretty much ...
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Vidal on Vidal--a great and supremely entertaining writer on a great and endlessly fascinating subject. A New York Times best American memoir "In the hands of Gore Vidal, a pen is a sword. And he points it at the high and mighty who have crossed his path." -- Los Angeles Times Palimpsest is Gore Vidal's account of the first thirty-nine years of his life as a novelist, dramatist, critic, political activist and candidate, screenwriter, television commentator, controversialist, and a man who knew pretty much everybody worth knowing (from Amelia Earhart to Eleanor Roosevelt, the Duke and the Duchess of Windsor, Jack Kennedy, Jaqueline Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Andre Gide, and Tennessee Williams, and on and on). Here, recalled with the charm and razor wit of one of the great raconteurs of our time, are his birth into a DC political clan; his school days; his service in World War II; his emergence as a literary wunderkind in New York; his time in Hollywood, London, Paris and Rome; his campaign for Congress (outpolling JFK in his district); and his legendary feuds with, among many others, Truman Capote and William F. Buckley. At the emotional heart of this book is his evocation of his first and greatest love, boyhood friend Jimmy Trimble, killed in battle on Iwo Jima.
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Gore Vidal can write well. This, obviously, is the only reason to read a book. But in addition to being a fine writer, this is a man who: grew up with a blind grandfather United States senator, had close friends like Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles and Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. He has so many interesting anecdotes and stories about Hollywood and writers from that era and I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in those times (40s after the war, 50s, 60s).
onemadpom
Dec 18, 2008
A glittering cast...
Few are the prominent people of the post war period not to have been associated with Gore Vidal, and his polished, lively prose makes this memoir all the more enjoyable. A perfect companion to his first volume of collected essays ("United States"), also highly recommended.
drednm
Apr 3, 2007
Absolutely Superb
Gore Vidal's bittersweet memoir is a mesmerizing trip through his first 40 years of his life(so ok, 39). Vidal's incredible life has seen him as a player in chic literary circles, on Broadway, in Hollywood, as a political figure in Washington, and, seemingly, anywhere anything interesting was happening between WW II and Kennedy's assassination. Vidal is funny--oh so funny--in his tales of his "jet set" (a term he hates) life, but he's also poignant in sharing his memories of many great figures. The book, written when Vidal was approaching 70, caps (although he's still writing) an incredible literary career that has included novels, short fiction, plays, screen plays, essays, and criticism, dating back to the late 1940s. What lies beneath the biting and often hilarious stories of celebrities, however, is a very serious and personal sea change, the story of how Vidal moved from being a privileged conservative to the apex of political liberalism. His scathing political commentaries have been among the best insider's views of just how the American political system works (or doesn't) in the last several decades. His story of the phony "Camelot" mystique of the Kennedy years is a bitter pill to digest, but one never doubts Vidal's veracity. Vidal balances personal family stories of his famous grandfather, his parents, his step-siblings (which included Jackie Kennedy), with his high-flying literary life and finally his failed political dream. The cast (seemingly of thousands) is a veritable who's who of post-war culture. It's hard to think of anyone Gore Vidal has not known. The man has had an incredible life. . As I write this review, I cannot think of a man I admire more. The man is a genius.
