Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal

Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal

An intimate, authorized yet totally frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925â€“2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past centuryÂ

The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Pariniâ€™s Empire of Self digs behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidalâ€™s colorful career to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truths underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as wellâ€”a virtual Whoâ€™s Who of the twentieth century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Johnny Carson, Leonard Bernstein, and the crÃ¨me de la crÃ¨me of Hollywood. Also a generous helping ofÂ feuds with the likes of William F. Buckley, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and The New York Times, among other adversaries.Â
Â Â Â The life of Gore Vidal teemed with notable incidents, famous people, and lasting achievements that call out for careful evocation and examination. Jay Parini crafts Vidalâ€™s life into an accessible, entertaining story that puts the experience of one of the great American figures of the postwar era into context, introduces the author and his works to a generation who may not know him, and looks behind the scenes at the man and his work in ways never possible before his death. Provided with unique access to Vidalâ€™s life and his papers, Parini excavates many buried skeletons yet never loses sight of his deep respect for Vidal and his astounding gifts. This is the biography Gore Vidalâ€”novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, historian, wit, provocateur, and pioneer of gay rightsâ€”has long needed.

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Brand Anchor Books
Manufacturer Anchor
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2015-10-13

Country	USA
Brand	Anchor Books
Manufacturer	Anchor
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2015-10-13

Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal

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