Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal, original name Eugene
Luther Vidal (b. Oct. 3, 1925, West
Point, N.Y., U.S.), prolific American
novelist, playwright, and essayist,
noted for his irreverent and
intellectually adroit novels.
Vidal graduated from Philips Exeter
Academy in New Hampshire in 1943 and
served in the U.S. Army in World War II.
Thereafter he resided in many parts of
the world—the east and west coasts of
the United States, Europe, North Africa,
and Central America. His first novel,
Williwaw (1946), which was based on his
wartime experiences, was praised by the
critics, and his third novel, The City
and the Pillar (1948), shocked the
public with its direct and unadorned
examination of a homosexual main
character. Vidal’s next five novels,
including Messiah (1954), were received
coolly by critics and were commercial
failures. Abandoning novels, he turned
to writing plays for the stage,
television, and motion pictures and was
successful in all three media. His
best-known dramatic works from the next
decade were Visit to a Small Planet
(produced for television, 1955; on
Broadway, 1957; for film, 1960) and The
Best Man (play, 1960; film, 1964).
Vidal returned to writing novels with
Julian (1964), a sympathetic fictional
portrait of Julian the Apostate, the
4th-century pagan Roman emperor who
opposed Christianity. Washington, D.C.
(1967), an ironic examination of
political morality in the U.S. capital,
was the first of a series of several
popular novels known as the Narratives
of Empire, which vividly re-created
prominent figures and events in American
history—Burr (1974), 1876 (1976),
Lincoln (1984), Empire (1987), Hollywood
(1990), and The Golden Age (2000).
Lincoln, a compelling portrait of
President Abraham Lincoln’s complex
personality as viewed through the eyes
of some of his closest associates during
the American Civil War, is particularly
notable. Another success was the comedy
Myra Breckinridge (1968; film 1970), in
which Vidal lampooned both
transsexuality and contemporary American
culture. In Rocking the Boat (1962),
Reflections upon a Sinking Ship (1969),
The Second American Revolution (1982),
United States: Essays, 1952–1992 (1993;
National Book Award), Imperial America:
Reflections of the United States of
Amnesia (2004), and other essay
collections, he incisively analyzed
contemporary American politics and
government. He also wrote two
autobiographies: Palimpsest: A Memoir
(1995) and Point to Point Navigation: A
Memoir, 1964 to 2006 (2006). Vidal was
noted for his outspoken political
opinions and for the witty and satirical
observations he was wont to make as a
guest on talk shows.
