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R.I.P. Gore Vidal

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 08:14:00 AM EST
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Gore Vidal has died. He was 86 and had been ill with pneumonia.

Here's Gore Vidal's Vanity Fair article on Timothy McVeigh and his take on 911 and the Patriot Act.

For a bibliography and site with links to the full text of many of his essays, check out the Gore Vidal Pages. Some Vidal quotes are here.

R.I.P. Mr. Vidal.

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    R.I.P. Gore Vidal | 32 comments (32 topical)

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    RIP Gore Vidal (5.00 / 9) (#2)
    by lilburro on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:02:33 AM EST
    When I was a teenager, around 16 or so, wandering around my small town's used bookstore (which closed shortly after), I found his book of essays, "Homage to Daniel Shays."  I purchased it (used bookstores are good for a teenager's allowance) and read it and reread it and reread it for years to come, especially on summer vacations.  His acerbic wit, obvious appreciation of criticism as an important function in society and in general, sometimes breezy insights ("everyone is bisexual" comes to mind and it no doubt particularly shaped my worldview as a teen and as someone who now identifies as lesbian and is still resistant to other's attempts to handle that with kid gloves, as, after all, isn't everyone bisexual, or at least, a little bit freakier than they claim to be?), and liberal-mindedness stuck with me and probably contributed more than I know to who I am today (for better or worse, I guess!).  Taste and quality of work - actual merit - was most important to him, nothing else.  (Sample:  "The theater needs continual reminders that there is nothing more debasing than the work of those who do well what is not worth doing at all" which still makes me "HA!" today).  He certainly wasn't someone who would want to be remembered as a subcultural author (gay lit); he waged his wars in the mainstream at a time when his sex life was hardly as accepted as it is today.  Of course, he was loaded with money.  All the same, his life as a sarcastic, demanding, pugilistic, intellectual but not academic gay man who briskly gained and used his authority to pass down judgment on a banal and ill American society was, and hopefully is, an inspiring one.  The idea that someone would disagree with him never gave him pause, and I admire that in writers I read today (including many lefty bloggers such as digby and the writers of this wonderful blog).  I can only imagine how he would laugh at our eternally self-indulgent upper-middle class today (the HBO show "Girls" comes to mind, and the countless people my age who are paraded through the New York Times for their cashed-in tumblrs, personal blogs, etc.); not everything that you can do (or can make money doing) is worth doing; strive to do what's best.  And when you're not doing that, at least, don't suffer fools gladly.

    A great man, at least in my opinion.  I hope my appreciation of him would earn at least a slight smirk of recognition from above.  RIP Gore Vidal.

    Wonderful tribute. Thank you. (5.00 / 6) (#3)
    by oculus on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:30:03 AM EST


    Parent
    Thanks! (none / 0) (#26)
    by lilburro on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 03:53:22 PM EST
    That book was far more important to me than I thought.  For example, if he hadn't introduced me to John Horne Burns (a great writer, see "The Gallery") I never would've studied abroad in Rome in college.  I still have a faint suspicion of Mishima (and other people who work out too much) thanks to his critical essay.  Etc.  And he's so funny.  

    Parent
    A great man, indeed. (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 03:02:13 PM EST
    Gore Vidal was a true literary giant with a real gift for weaving a compelling narrative, whether it was in fiction or a contemporary critique of our times.

    Speaking for myself only, I really appreciated how he took "Honest Abe" down from his iconic pedestal in Lincoln (1984) and dusted him off, thoughtfully deconstructing our 16th president in an eloquent and humane manner that rendered the man's actual historic accomplishments all the more astounding.

    There's little doubt that Vidal first researched his subject matter thoroughly before commencing to storytelling. His deft use of historical fiction offers the reader the type of complex, three-dimensional insight about Lincoln the man that is often terribly difficult to convey effectively in a more conventional non-fictional biography.

    He will be missed, undoubtedly.

    Parent

    Excerpt from LAT obit: (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by oculus on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 03:12:35 AM EST
    "No one else in what he calls 'the land of the tin ear' can combine better sentences into more elegantly sustained demolition derbies than Vidal does in some of his best essays," Thomas Mallon once wrote in the National Review.

    I also recommend his 2 volumes of (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by ruffian on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:33:35 PM EST
    memoirs, 'Palimpsest' and 'Point To Point Navigation'.

    I can't even write this minute, thinking about how great he was. I am inadequate to the task.

    I read 'Burr' for a book report in Jr. High and it started my lifelong enjoyment and admiration of his work. (And I wonder how many teachers at Catholic school these days encourage 12 yr olds to read Gore Vidal? Thank you Mrs. Snyder.) I still have that mangled copy of 'Burr' and it is my password recall phrase when asked about my favorite book.

    He was so prolific I could easily read no one else, ever, but I'm sure he forgave me branching out.

    His opinions about the direction our country has taken are not to be taken lightly. Sometimes I disagree, but I have a hard time arguing with his logic.

    RIP to a great man, too good for elective office.

    Yes, 'Palimpsest' (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:02:14 PM EST
    was very good. My favorite novels are 'Washington, D.C' and Burr. After a recommendation to read 'The City and the Pillar' for its mid-century (1948) audacity, it took combing through used book stores for quite a while to find a copy---and it was worth the search. Never read 'Williwaw' (1946) his first, but it is often mentioned, and it probably holds up well with time, as does most all of his work, including the Broadway revival of "Best Man. In addition to a life crowded with literary successes, he was special in that he was a celebrity author and one who brought to conversations all the fun of a witty grandee. Gore Vidal was a master at using ridicule as a weapon, such as the memorable cut given to Anita Bryant, the anti-gay singer and Orange Juice Queen: "she won't be assassinated by an outraged homosexual, but by an outraged music lover."

    Parent
    What a life (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by ruffian on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:33:29 PM EST
    You would think the memoirs are a 'Forrest Gump' type novel. He was even close to Amelia Earhart, through his father, who was romantically involved with her.

    And of course all told with incomparable insight, style and wit.  

    I know I will be skimming my collection tonight.

    Parent

    Palimpsest (none / 0) (#31)
    by jondee on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 07:10:05 PM EST
    was a little too much of a score-settling, bitchy-gossip-fest for my taste..

    He obviously loved Tennessee Williams, but he couldn't restrain himself from airing out "Bird's" laundry in a way that I doubt Williams would've appreciated.

    And Capote, who Vidal didn't love, fairs about as well as Richard Nixon in Palimpsest.

    And, for it's worth, interestingly (to some) he also always said JFK was killed "by persons unknown".  

    Parent

    Met him about 8 years back (5.00 / 5) (#18)
    by Dadler on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:45:22 PM EST
    At an anti-war march and rally in southeast San Diego. Was in a wheelchair and pretty frail then, but gracious as hell, and seemed genuinely tickled to see a thousand or so people at this protest in a ghetto park in SoCal.  RIP, G.

    What a brilliant life.... (4.67 / 3) (#32)
    by desertswine on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 08:28:44 PM EST
    All in all, I would not have missed this century for the world.

    Gore Vidal

    NYT link: (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 12:38:23 AM EST
    Charles McGrath

    Attacks on those who have just died (none / 0) (#4)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:59:53 AM EST
    are not allowed here. Nor is name-calling of anyone. One such comment has been deleted.

    If you read the Vanity Fair McVeigh article... (none / 0) (#6)
    by unitron on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 09:19:46 AM EST
    ...you might find it of interest to Google the names Mike Loudenslager and Terrence Yeakey.

    Book TV Gore Vidal on writing, (none / 0) (#7)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 10:14:46 AM EST
    against the grain. Key West Literary Seminar January 2009.

    Sorry, link not available. (none / 0) (#8)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 10:18:04 AM EST


    Parent
    RIP Mr. Vidal. (none / 0) (#10)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 11:44:38 AM EST
    The man could write!

    I'll never forget him coming (5.00 / 4) (#11)
    by jondee on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 12:44:09 PM EST
    on the Tonight Show right after the guy from the San Diego Zoo: "I was going to bring MY lizard with me tonight, but he had to film Firing Line."

    Parent
    Ya, didn't he call Buckley a "queer" (none / 0) (#13)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:30:16 PM EST
    on Buckley's show? I think after Buckley called him a "nazi" or something. Vidal's voice and persona always reminded me of Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island...

    Parent
    Buckley called Vidal (none / 0) (#16)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:36:01 PM EST
    a queer, in an exchange that started with Vidal calling Buckley a crypto-Nazi. (Vidal later changed that to crypto-fascist)

    Parent
    Dam kids, calling each other names. (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:43:06 PM EST
    J would have kicked them off TL. ;-)

    Parent
    Nobody ever brings up (none / 0) (#29)
    by jondee on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 04:55:30 PM EST
    that Buckley initiated that below-the-belt exchange by dredging up the subject of Vidal's falling-out with the Kennedys, in the middle of a debate about Vietnam.

    Parent
    Yep, the two had a long history with each other... (none / 0) (#30)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 05:52:28 PM EST


    Parent
    Not a bad actor either... (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:16:30 PM EST
    I'll never forget his portrayal of exasperated incumbent Sen. Brickley Paiste of Pennsylvania in "Bob Roberts"...that film was downright prophetic, and funny as hell.

    Parent
    Ya, I agree. I remember him from that. (none / 0) (#14)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 01:31:03 PM EST


    Parent
    Digby, with tape of Vidal and Buckley (none / 0) (#20)
    by ruffian on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:27:18 PM EST
    Another edition of What Digby Said

    I enjoy that video (none / 0) (#27)
    by lilburro on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 03:55:01 PM EST
    but crosstalk, even then!  Maybe it's just the nature of discussing politics on TV.  God I'm glad I don't have cable news.

    Parent
    Most memorable things about GV: (none / 0) (#21)
    by brodie on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:30:23 PM EST
    1.  His 1968 spirited convention debates on ABC vs Bill Buckley, leading to the latter filing a libel suit.

    2.  His ca 1970 appearance on the Dick Cavett Show opposite a semi inebriated and snarling Norman
    Mailer angry over his depiction by Vidal in a recent NYRB article.

    1.  His over the top humorous grand entrance at a book signing party the day after losing in the Dem senate primary to Jerry Brown, Vidal arriving waving his arms in the V for victory fashion of Dick Nixon.

    2.  Learning of the many famous people he knew through personal and family connections and relations, from Amelia Earhardt to JFK and Jackie to Al Gore.


    Yes, and, not to speak ill of the dead, (none / 0) (#23)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 02:50:33 PM EST
    but it seemed he despised Al Gore and the rest of the "Tennessee" Gores...

    Asked why he was so dismissive about Al Gore and that Tennessee clan, he drew himself up and hissed: "We were the Gores!"


    Parent
    I recall Vidal had nicer things (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by brodie on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 03:20:47 PM EST
    to say about Al's spirited sister, the one who died too soon from smoking.  I also dimly recollect that GV in 2000 said he would be voting for his TN relative.

    I'd also agree with the Guardian reporter that GV wrote far better in the essay mode, not fiction, and will be known more for the essays.  And for being one of the wittiest and best conversationalists as a public intellectual.

    They don't make them like that anymore.  The few public intellectuals and wise (wo)men of today that I can think of tend to be uncharismatic narrow specialists and technocrats.

    Parent

    As a local writer Bill Kaufman (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by jondee on Wed Aug 01, 2012 at 04:35:35 PM EST
    describes them: yuppie smart alecks who went straight from grad school to the beltway..

    And, afterwards, if they ever stray too far from the recieved wisdom, or officially sanctioned narrative, as Gore used to say, "phone calls are made".

    Vidal used to call the NYT (calling all wmds!) "our Pravda."

    Parent

    Another Vidal book worth re-reading (none / 0) (#33)
    by mcl on Sun Aug 05, 2012 at 10:54:32 PM EST
    "Lincoln" was also excellent. I plan to re-read it in tribute to Vidal.

    R.I.P. Gore Vidal | 32 comments (32 topical)

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