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The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
Like his National Book Award—winning United States, Gore Vidal’s scintillating ninth collection, The Last Empire, affirms his reputation as our most provocative critic and observer of the modern American scene. In the essays collected here, Vidal brings his keen intellect, experience, and razor-edged wit to bear on an astonishing range of subjects. From his celebrated profiles of Clare Boothe Luce and Charles Lindbergh and his controversial essay about the Bill of Rights–which sparked an extended correspondence with convicted Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh–to his provocative analyses of literary icons such as John Updike and Mark Twain and his trenchant observations about terrorism, civil liberties, the CIA, Al Gore, Tony Blair, and the Clintons, Vidal weaves a rich tapestry of personal anecdote, critical insight, and historical detail. Written between the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and the electoral crisis of 2000, The Last Empire is a sweeping coda to the last century’s conflicted vision of the American dream.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
64 people are currently reading
5655 people want to read
About the author
Gore Vidal
422 books1,866 followersWorks of American writer Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, noted for his cynical humor and his numerous accounts of society in decline, include the play
The Best Man
(1960) and the novel
Myra Breckinridge
(1968) .
People know his essays, screenplays, and Broadway.
They also knew his patrician manner, transatlantic accent, and witty aphorisms. Vidal came from a distinguished political lineage; his grandfather was the senator Thomas Gore, and he later became a relation (through marriage) to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Vidal, a longtime political critic, ran twice for political office. He was a lifelong isolationist Democrat. The Nation, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire published his essays.
Essays and media appearances long criticized foreign policy. In addition, he from the 1980s onwards characterized the United States as a decaying empire. Additionally, he was known for his well publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote.
They fell into distinct social and historical camps. Alongside his social, his best known historical include Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as the first major feature of unambiguous homosexuality.
At the time of his death he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and has been described as the 20th century's answer to Oscar Wilde
Also used the pseudonym Edgar Box.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Gore Vidal é um dos nomes centrais na história da literatura americana pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Nascido em 1925, em Nova Iorque, estudou na Academia de Phillips Exeter (Estado de New Hampshire). O seu primeiro romance, Williwaw (1946), era uma história da guerra claramente influenciada pelo estilo de Hemingway. Embora grande parte da sua obra tenha a ver com o século XX americano, Vidal debruçou-se várias vezes sobre épocas recuadas, como, por exemplo, em A Search for the King (1950), Juliano (1964) e Creation (1981).
Entre os seus temas de eleição está o mundo do cinema e, mais concretamente, os bastidores de Hollywood, que ele desmonta de forma satírica e implacável em títulos como Myra Breckinridge (1968), Myron (1975) e Duluth (1983).
Senhor de um estilo exuberante, multifacetado e sempre surpreendente, publicou, em 1995, a autobiografia Palimpsest: A Memoir. As obras 'O Instituto Smithsonian' e 'A Idade do Ouro' encontram-se traduzidas em português.
Neto do senador Thomas Gore, enteado do padrasto de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, primo distante de Al Gore, Gore Vidal sempre se revelou um espelho crítico das grandezas e misérias dos EUA.
Faleceu a 31 de julho de 2012, aos 86 anos, na sua casa em Hollywood, vítima de pneumonia.
People know his essays, screenplays, and Broadway.
They also knew his patrician manner, transatlantic accent, and witty aphorisms. Vidal came from a distinguished political lineage; his grandfather was the senator Thomas Gore, and he later became a relation (through marriage) to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Vidal, a longtime political critic, ran twice for political office. He was a lifelong isolationist Democrat. The Nation, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire published his essays.
Essays and media appearances long criticized foreign policy. In addition, he from the 1980s onwards characterized the United States as a decaying empire. Additionally, he was known for his well publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote.
They fell into distinct social and historical camps. Alongside his social, his best known historical include Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as the first major feature of unambiguous homosexuality.
At the time of his death he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and has been described as the 20th century's answer to Oscar Wilde
Also used the pseudonym Edgar Box.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Gore Vidal é um dos nomes centrais na história da literatura americana pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Nascido em 1925, em Nova Iorque, estudou na Academia de Phillips Exeter (Estado de New Hampshire). O seu primeiro romance, Williwaw (1946), era uma história da guerra claramente influenciada pelo estilo de Hemingway. Embora grande parte da sua obra tenha a ver com o século XX americano, Vidal debruçou-se várias vezes sobre épocas recuadas, como, por exemplo, em A Search for the King (1950), Juliano (1964) e Creation (1981).
Entre os seus temas de eleição está o mundo do cinema e, mais concretamente, os bastidores de Hollywood, que ele desmonta de forma satírica e implacável em títulos como Myra Breckinridge (1968), Myron (1975) e Duluth (1983).
Senhor de um estilo exuberante, multifacetado e sempre surpreendente, publicou, em 1995, a autobiografia Palimpsest: A Memoir. As obras 'O Instituto Smithsonian' e 'A Idade do Ouro' encontram-se traduzidas em português.
Neto do senador Thomas Gore, enteado do padrasto de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, primo distante de Al Gore, Gore Vidal sempre se revelou um espelho crítico das grandezas e misérias dos EUA.
Faleceu a 31 de julho de 2012, aos 86 anos, na sua casa em Hollywood, vítima de pneumonia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
September 11, 2021
There was a time I used to spend Friday nights at restaurants, or pubs or watching a movie at the cinema. Last night was spent watching 1968 debates on America’s ABC between William Buckley and Gore Vidal – this is what I’ve become. But it was so much fun!!
The Last Empire by Gore Vidal is a fascinating collection of Essays about all things USA. This is the third essayist’s work I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks – indeed, Gore is the man who put me onto Gramsci and Michel de Montaigne (and Buckley, I suppose). Thanks Gore!
“Humans are biped mammals filled with red seawater” I love this humble description of us. Perhaps less hubris would serve us and the planet well.
Vidal presents 25 essays over 300 pages. If I could find one word to describe his writing style I would say energetic, like most people with intellect’s like his (and Christopher Hitchens comes to mind), their fascination with numerous topics is immense, they are erudite and for me the sealer is they seem to have a brilliant way of introducing humour into their work.
In The Last Empire he writes the US is ”……a unique society in which we have free enterprise for the poor and socialism for the rich”. Personally, I’ve never read such a concise way of summarising the tax breaks the Big End of Town tend to receive in capitalist countries.
My favourite essays of this collection were Wiretapping the Oval Office, Hersh’s JFK, Blair, The Last Empire, The New Theocrats, and Birds and Bees and Clinton.
But two of his essays had me in the palm of his hand:
Japanese Intentions on the Second World War where he carefully laid out his view that Japan were ready to surrender some months before the US decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, he believed FDR’s primary reason for attacking Japan in this way was to show his primary foe, the Russians, the US was armed to the teeth with atomic weapons.
The meaning of Timothy McVeigh in this one, Vidal takes the unusual approach of not automatically demonising McVeigh, instead he looks for reasons why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Vidal was extremely critical of the press for ignoring the “why’s” instead, concentrating on the simplistic art of demonising people like McVeigh. The author here lays out an argument to suggest McVeigh was in fact ‘”at war” with the US Government and was responding to their attack of the Davidians at Waco.
Now whether one agrees with Vidal or not, in some ways isn’t important. I don’t agree with everything he says – but what he did to me (anyway) was to open my mind to other arguments, different angles, and he did this in such an erudite way. I’ve often thought Conspiracy Theorists were borderline nutters – and Vidal certainly play with conspiracy theories in my view. Although he did deny this moniker, he suggested he was more of a “Conspiracy Analyst”. Semantics, perhaps?
It saddens me when people like Vidal (and my hero Hitchens) leave this mortal coil. They take with them brain’s the size of a planet, they are forever curious, always argumentative, sometimes irascible, challenging, difficult and often very funny.
4 Stars
The Last Empire by Gore Vidal is a fascinating collection of Essays about all things USA. This is the third essayist’s work I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks – indeed, Gore is the man who put me onto Gramsci and Michel de Montaigne (and Buckley, I suppose). Thanks Gore!
“Humans are biped mammals filled with red seawater” I love this humble description of us. Perhaps less hubris would serve us and the planet well.
Vidal presents 25 essays over 300 pages. If I could find one word to describe his writing style I would say energetic, like most people with intellect’s like his (and Christopher Hitchens comes to mind), their fascination with numerous topics is immense, they are erudite and for me the sealer is they seem to have a brilliant way of introducing humour into their work.
In The Last Empire he writes the US is ”……a unique society in which we have free enterprise for the poor and socialism for the rich”. Personally, I’ve never read such a concise way of summarising the tax breaks the Big End of Town tend to receive in capitalist countries.
My favourite essays of this collection were Wiretapping the Oval Office, Hersh’s JFK, Blair, The Last Empire, The New Theocrats, and Birds and Bees and Clinton.
But two of his essays had me in the palm of his hand:
Japanese Intentions on the Second World War where he carefully laid out his view that Japan were ready to surrender some months before the US decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, he believed FDR’s primary reason for attacking Japan in this way was to show his primary foe, the Russians, the US was armed to the teeth with atomic weapons.
The meaning of Timothy McVeigh in this one, Vidal takes the unusual approach of not automatically demonising McVeigh, instead he looks for reasons why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Vidal was extremely critical of the press for ignoring the “why’s” instead, concentrating on the simplistic art of demonising people like McVeigh. The author here lays out an argument to suggest McVeigh was in fact ‘”at war” with the US Government and was responding to their attack of the Davidians at Waco.
Now whether one agrees with Vidal or not, in some ways isn’t important. I don’t agree with everything he says – but what he did to me (anyway) was to open my mind to other arguments, different angles, and he did this in such an erudite way. I’ve often thought Conspiracy Theorists were borderline nutters – and Vidal certainly play with conspiracy theories in my view. Although he did deny this moniker, he suggested he was more of a “Conspiracy Analyst”. Semantics, perhaps?
It saddens me when people like Vidal (and my hero Hitchens) leave this mortal coil. They take with them brain’s the size of a planet, they are forever curious, always argumentative, sometimes irascible, challenging, difficult and often very funny.
4 Stars
November 10, 2016
2016 POST-ELECTION UPDATE: one can't imagine what trenchant barbs Vidal would have uttered concerning the state and level of discourse of American society right now. My personal opinion is he would have preferred permanent exile over having to reside in it.
----------------------------------------
It is fair to say that I received the bulk of my education about the - ever unfolding - drama that is the United States of America from Gore Vidal.
He was instrumental in shattering some of my misconceptions about its history (certainly when it comes to its role in WW II and the period following its transformation into a National Security State in 1947 by Truman). He did all this, while -almost paradoxically - strengthening my belief in and deepening my respect for what this republic (now, sadly, an imperial oligarchy in crisis) in theory should stand for. He was, in a sense, America's unofficial biographer, a rather depressing task to undertake for one interested in stating things as they are.
Having read his stupendous collection of essays United States: Essays 1952-1992, this volume offers more of the same: a combination of literary essays and political writings, with some personal anecdotes thrown in. For me personally, the literary essays of Vidal are always the highlight. They illustrate just how much of an appreciation the man had for the craft and its practitioners. As a result, my knowledge of literature has broadened immensely, and Vidal introduced me to writers I probably wouldn't have encountered otherwise.
Some of his political essays however, (while well-written and informative) unfortunately suffer from being a tad outdated and/or repetitive. Certain subjects (obsessions?) keep popping up, and this detracts from the reading experience. As a relatively young non-American, I presume this effect is amplified, since I haven't consciously lived through most of these events.
But these are minor quibbles. Vidal's breadth of knowledge, his penchant for a clever turn of phrase and a delightfully sardonic sense of humour invariably carry the day. A master essayist, to be sure. Highly recommended, but tackle his United States: Essays 1952-1992 first.
----------------------------------------
It is fair to say that I received the bulk of my education about the - ever unfolding - drama that is the United States of America from Gore Vidal.
He was instrumental in shattering some of my misconceptions about its history (certainly when it comes to its role in WW II and the period following its transformation into a National Security State in 1947 by Truman). He did all this, while -almost paradoxically - strengthening my belief in and deepening my respect for what this republic (now, sadly, an imperial oligarchy in crisis) in theory should stand for. He was, in a sense, America's unofficial biographer, a rather depressing task to undertake for one interested in stating things as they are.
Having read his stupendous collection of essays United States: Essays 1952-1992, this volume offers more of the same: a combination of literary essays and political writings, with some personal anecdotes thrown in. For me personally, the literary essays of Vidal are always the highlight. They illustrate just how much of an appreciation the man had for the craft and its practitioners. As a result, my knowledge of literature has broadened immensely, and Vidal introduced me to writers I probably wouldn't have encountered otherwise.
Some of his political essays however, (while well-written and informative) unfortunately suffer from being a tad outdated and/or repetitive. Certain subjects (obsessions?) keep popping up, and this detracts from the reading experience. As a relatively young non-American, I presume this effect is amplified, since I haven't consciously lived through most of these events.
But these are minor quibbles. Vidal's breadth of knowledge, his penchant for a clever turn of phrase and a delightfully sardonic sense of humour invariably carry the day. A master essayist, to be sure. Highly recommended, but tackle his United States: Essays 1952-1992 first.
Read
May 20, 2017Once upon a time a friend of mine included Gore Vidal among his list of closeted anarchists. I have held Vidal in high regard ever since, despite having read precious little from him.
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 is simply the one volume of his two dozen plus books of essays and non-fiction which I happened to have at hand. If you have any interest in twentieth century literature and politics you will want to read one of these collections, perhaps going whole-hog with his 1300 page United States.
Vidal lived through a large chunk of the 20th century and moved within some rather high literary and political circles. Some dull readers get irritated by his “name dropping” which is something one does when one happens to know a lot of people that such readers have read about in glossy magazines. Vidal was raised in a political family but made an early decision to write novels, his first while stationed in the Aleutian Islands during WWII when he was nineteen. The convergence of these literary and political circles, dosed with a keen interest in history, places Vidal in a rather unique position.
The first portion of Last Empire is concerned with a number of literary figures. Here is the list of names: Edmund Wilson, Dawn Powell, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, John Updike (we are all happy to read yet another dispraise of this Rabbitt), Thomas Mann (who read and commented on Vidal’s The City and the Pillar, Anthony Burgess, and some other folk you might recognized. The personae of Vidal’s bookchat do not much overlap with the literary tradition I tend toward, but one must stretch oneself.
The larger portion of the collection is concerned with matters political and historical, with Empire.
Vidal is one of those Leftists who refuse to bow to the Liberal blackmail which tends to keep us all in fear of the Right and thusly maintain the right-ward lean of our politics. Vidal is quite happy to not capitulate to our court historians and empire propagandists who would have us worship the Kennedy’s and Truman’s of our history. I am quite happy to read Vidal set the record straight about our imperialism.
His solution, which everyone asks for whenever a critic like Vidal says that things ain’t right, is to convene a People’s Convention, which possibility is enshrined in our Holy Constitution, in order to correct our outdated, non-functioning, eviscerated Constitution. That would require a revolutionary democratic movement.
Should you require a kind of know-better critique from me of Vidal’s politics, I would suggest that he does not acknowledge the role that the working class has to play in any politics of radical democracy; and I would suggest that Vidal does not have enough data and citations to please those who have bought the Official Story hook, line and sinker--for that you will want to consult the writings of Noam Chomsky.
You owe yourself a few Gore Vidal essays. Find the ones that tweak your interest, the literary, the political, the historical. He is my kind of grumpy old man. If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention.
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 is simply the one volume of his two dozen plus books of essays and non-fiction which I happened to have at hand. If you have any interest in twentieth century literature and politics you will want to read one of these collections, perhaps going whole-hog with his 1300 page United States.
Vidal lived through a large chunk of the 20th century and moved within some rather high literary and political circles. Some dull readers get irritated by his “name dropping” which is something one does when one happens to know a lot of people that such readers have read about in glossy magazines. Vidal was raised in a political family but made an early decision to write novels, his first while stationed in the Aleutian Islands during WWII when he was nineteen. The convergence of these literary and political circles, dosed with a keen interest in history, places Vidal in a rather unique position.
The first portion of Last Empire is concerned with a number of literary figures. Here is the list of names: Edmund Wilson, Dawn Powell, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, John Updike (we are all happy to read yet another dispraise of this Rabbitt), Thomas Mann (who read and commented on Vidal’s The City and the Pillar, Anthony Burgess, and some other folk you might recognized. The personae of Vidal’s bookchat do not much overlap with the literary tradition I tend toward, but one must stretch oneself.
The larger portion of the collection is concerned with matters political and historical, with Empire.
Vidal is one of those Leftists who refuse to bow to the Liberal blackmail which tends to keep us all in fear of the Right and thusly maintain the right-ward lean of our politics. Vidal is quite happy to not capitulate to our court historians and empire propagandists who would have us worship the Kennedy’s and Truman’s of our history. I am quite happy to read Vidal set the record straight about our imperialism.
At no point in the hagiographies of Truman does anyone mention what he actually did to the United States and the world. First, he created the National Security State. He institutionalized the Cold War. He placed us on a permanent wartime footing.Vidal, of course, is right on the money about US imperialism, and were we a free and democratic society, he wouldn’t need to say what he says.
His solution, which everyone asks for whenever a critic like Vidal says that things ain’t right, is to convene a People’s Convention, which possibility is enshrined in our Holy Constitution, in order to correct our outdated, non-functioning, eviscerated Constitution. That would require a revolutionary democratic movement.
Should you require a kind of know-better critique from me of Vidal’s politics, I would suggest that he does not acknowledge the role that the working class has to play in any politics of radical democracy; and I would suggest that Vidal does not have enough data and citations to please those who have bought the Official Story hook, line and sinker--for that you will want to consult the writings of Noam Chomsky.
You owe yourself a few Gore Vidal essays. Find the ones that tweak your interest, the literary, the political, the historical. He is my kind of grumpy old man. If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention.
August 1, 2012
GORE VIDAL is one of those writers who always challenges, excites, and stirs up my thinking. While I do not fully endorse all of the views in "THE LAST EMPIRE: ESSAYS 1992-2000", I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. He is one of the best.
In terms of clarity of thought and analysis, Gore writes on subjects as varied as Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, JFK, FDR, Truman, Charles Lindbergh, John Updike (one of the funniest, most thoughtful and scathing essays in the book), "bad history", race relations, and the U.S. political system.
Here are two examples of the passion and conviction Vidal brings to this book:
1) "...I invite the Senate to contemplate Vice President Aaron Burr's farewell to the body over which he himself had so ably presided: 'This house is a sanctuary, a citadel of law, of order, and of liberty; and it is here in this exalted refuge; here, if anywhere, will resistance be made to the storm of political frenzy and the silent arts of corruption; and if the Constitution be destined ever to perish by the sacrilegious hands of the demagogue or the usurper, which God avert, its expiring agonies will be witnessed on this floor.' Do no harm to this state, Conscript Fathers." (essay on 'Birds and Bees and Clinton')
2) "What will the next four years bring? With luck, total gridlock. ... With bad luck (and adventures), Chancellor Cheney will rule. A former Secretary of Defense, he has said that too little money now goes to the Pentagon even though last year it received 51 percent of the discretionary budget. Expect a small war or two in order to keep military appropriations flowing. There will also be tax relief for the very rich. But bad scenario or good scenario, we shall see very little of the charmingly simian George W. Bush. The military - Cheney, Powell, et al. - will be calling the tune, and the whole nation will be on constant alert, for, James Baker has already warned us, Terrorism is everywhere on the march. We cannot be too vigilant. Welcome to Asuncion. Yes! We have no bananas."
The Nation 8/15 January 2001 (Essay on 'Democratic Vistas')
No matter what one may think of Gore Vidal, his writings will always engage and challenge the reader to think, and think, and think. And learn.
In terms of clarity of thought and analysis, Gore writes on subjects as varied as Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, JFK, FDR, Truman, Charles Lindbergh, John Updike (one of the funniest, most thoughtful and scathing essays in the book), "bad history", race relations, and the U.S. political system.
Here are two examples of the passion and conviction Vidal brings to this book:
1) "...I invite the Senate to contemplate Vice President Aaron Burr's farewell to the body over which he himself had so ably presided: 'This house is a sanctuary, a citadel of law, of order, and of liberty; and it is here in this exalted refuge; here, if anywhere, will resistance be made to the storm of political frenzy and the silent arts of corruption; and if the Constitution be destined ever to perish by the sacrilegious hands of the demagogue or the usurper, which God avert, its expiring agonies will be witnessed on this floor.' Do no harm to this state, Conscript Fathers." (essay on 'Birds and Bees and Clinton')
2) "What will the next four years bring? With luck, total gridlock. ... With bad luck (and adventures), Chancellor Cheney will rule. A former Secretary of Defense, he has said that too little money now goes to the Pentagon even though last year it received 51 percent of the discretionary budget. Expect a small war or two in order to keep military appropriations flowing. There will also be tax relief for the very rich. But bad scenario or good scenario, we shall see very little of the charmingly simian George W. Bush. The military - Cheney, Powell, et al. - will be calling the tune, and the whole nation will be on constant alert, for, James Baker has already warned us, Terrorism is everywhere on the march. We cannot be too vigilant. Welcome to Asuncion. Yes! We have no bananas."
The Nation 8/15 January 2001 (Essay on 'Democratic Vistas')
No matter what one may think of Gore Vidal, his writings will always engage and challenge the reader to think, and think, and think. And learn.
October 25, 2017
I can't believe its taken my entire adult life thus far to discover Gore Vidal.
This book is a collection of essays that he's written during the last few years of the 20th century about the United States. It's broken up into 4 parts ranging from famous literary authors, to past presidents, and the imperialism of the U.S.
Gore himself comes from a privileged background, a wealthy family including the Gores (thus his first name). He ran for office, but was mainly successful with his writing. The essays which resonated with me were regarding how corrupt and broken our system... heck, our country is! Elections do not really matter because the people who win got there by corporation donations. Elected officials do not really serve the citizens of this country, they serve their corporate overlords who control and dictate policy. It's all a game.. and you can't win.
Speaking of corruption, he spoke repeatedly on the NSA and how we have Harry Truman to blame for where our country is now. My favorite quote in the book comes from Frank Church, former U.S. Senator from Idaho, prophesying the NSA's control and monitoring American citizens:
"I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge... I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return."
I wish we had more brave people like Vidal who would speak out publicly against the system. Here's hoping more people wake up.
This book is a collection of essays that he's written during the last few years of the 20th century about the United States. It's broken up into 4 parts ranging from famous literary authors, to past presidents, and the imperialism of the U.S.
Gore himself comes from a privileged background, a wealthy family including the Gores (thus his first name). He ran for office, but was mainly successful with his writing. The essays which resonated with me were regarding how corrupt and broken our system... heck, our country is! Elections do not really matter because the people who win got there by corporation donations. Elected officials do not really serve the citizens of this country, they serve their corporate overlords who control and dictate policy. It's all a game.. and you can't win.
Speaking of corruption, he spoke repeatedly on the NSA and how we have Harry Truman to blame for where our country is now. My favorite quote in the book comes from Frank Church, former U.S. Senator from Idaho, prophesying the NSA's control and monitoring American citizens:
"I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge... I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return."
I wish we had more brave people like Vidal who would speak out publicly against the system. Here's hoping more people wake up.
December 1, 2018
"Perhaps the only literary form perfect by late-twentieth-century United Statespersons is the blurb for the dust jacket. It is for us what the haiku was the medieval Japanese."
So fun to see Gore get spicy about Beltway orthodoxy, he would've loved being a hot take crafter on Weird Twitter. Presciently describes the US as having "two right wings" and also repeatedly uses phrases that could be Rage Against the Machine songs like "The United States of Amnesia."
Like Joan Didion, he casually name-drops members of the intelligentsia he lunches with (on Jerry Brown: "He rang me in Italy.") but I'm more entertained than annoyed by that.
So fun to see Gore get spicy about Beltway orthodoxy, he would've loved being a hot take crafter on Weird Twitter. Presciently describes the US as having "two right wings" and also repeatedly uses phrases that could be Rage Against the Machine songs like "The United States of Amnesia."
Like Joan Didion, he casually name-drops members of the intelligentsia he lunches with (on Jerry Brown: "He rang me in Italy.") but I'm more entertained than annoyed by that.
September 2, 2019
Entertaining romp through letters, politics and the pop culture
There is no question that Vidal likes to take people apart, especially political people. He likes to introduce the obtuse and stuffy to themselves, as it were, and to laugh at the pretentious. His favorite targets are on the Right, which is good, and his second favorite targets are on the Left, which is also good. He is, strange to say, and perhaps unbeknownst to himself, as American as pizza pie and Cabernet Sauvignon, matzo balls and chow mein. If he didn't exist we would have to invent him. He is the heir of Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken and Edmund Wilson with a dollop of Truman Capote thrown in. His ego is as wide as the Mississippi and his self-aggrandizement as consistent as the winter snow in Buffalo. He has done everything in literature except write poetry, and he has probably done that, and I just don't know about it. He has run for congress, for president, written screenplays (e.g., Suddenly Last Summer) and TV scripts, plays, and appeared in a science fiction movie (Gattaca). He and William F. Buckley Jr. have played clowns for one another, and he has been the confidant, if not of presidents, then of first ladies. He thinks of himself as beautiful, although it's been a long time since he really cared about that. He is one of our finest and most penetrating social critics, an original who manages to occupy the left while maintaining a stance somewhere to the aristocratic right of the Boston blue bloods, although of course his roots are in the political south, in Tennessee, Washington, D.C. and Mississippi.
I have never been able to read, much less appreciate, however, his fiction. No doubt the failure is mine. Yet I think it indisputable that Vidal is a much better essayist than he is a novelist. In this, his latest collection--effectively just a continuation of his United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993), a massive volume of 1,278 pages, also jacketed ironically in red, white and blue--Vidal continues his unrelenting attack on all things pretentious, pompous, political and/or simply within reach.
He can be balanced (as in "Edmund Wilson: Nineteenth-Century Man," the first essay), slighting with faint praise ("The Romance of Sinclair Lewis" p. 46), adoring ("Sinatra" p. 149), brutal (as in "Reply to a Critic" p. 79), and devastatingly funny, particularly when addressing the hijinks of American pols as in his essays on FDR, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Al Gore, etc. He is at his best when defending the constitution, human rights, freedom, and democracy against its enemies as in "Shredding the Bill of Rights," p. 397, "A Letter to Be Delivered," p. 436, and "Japanese Intentions in the Second World War," p. 457, not to mention perhaps a hundred other essays here and elsewhere. His main tactic is a cynical sarcasm laced with selected facts from his prodigious memory. He can be ironic and surgically subtle, but he is not above plain old ridicule. His style is accomplished and erudite without being stuffy. His treatment is popular but without any concessions to the verbally challenged.
But Gore Vidal (the "Gore" is from his mother's side of the family, the same family that spawned Al Gore) is also a classicist, thoroughly at home in Roman and Greek literature, and especially in Greek culture. He is an expert on literature and politics, as knowledgeable as any academic and as cosmopolitan and worldly as any ambassador. It is one of the ironies of Vidal's life, he being a staunch foe of what he has always seen as the frivolity of "bookchat" and its best-seller mentality, that he became with the historical novels he started writing in the sixties, a best-selling author himself, and a darling of the bookchat set. Indeed, Gore Vidal is an ironic man: an American aristocrat who would disown his class and embrace the hoi-polloi while keeping his tie pin firmly in place.
I was trying to see how his style has changed over the years, reading some of his essays from the fifties and sixties, and then this volume of 48 essays from the last decade. I must say that he is just as opinionated, assertive and eloquent as ever. I think he more carefully dotted his i's and crossed his t's in the old days, so that his sentences were perhaps a little more architectural, while today he is more relaxed and straight-forward. One might say, nowadays he just lets it fly.
In short, this collection is a splendid, energetic and thoroughly enjoyable romp through Americana land courtesy of one of our great tour masters. Did I say that if Gore Vidal didn't exist, we would have to invent him? Certainly America's twentieth century would not be the same without him.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
There is no question that Vidal likes to take people apart, especially political people. He likes to introduce the obtuse and stuffy to themselves, as it were, and to laugh at the pretentious. His favorite targets are on the Right, which is good, and his second favorite targets are on the Left, which is also good. He is, strange to say, and perhaps unbeknownst to himself, as American as pizza pie and Cabernet Sauvignon, matzo balls and chow mein. If he didn't exist we would have to invent him. He is the heir of Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken and Edmund Wilson with a dollop of Truman Capote thrown in. His ego is as wide as the Mississippi and his self-aggrandizement as consistent as the winter snow in Buffalo. He has done everything in literature except write poetry, and he has probably done that, and I just don't know about it. He has run for congress, for president, written screenplays (e.g., Suddenly Last Summer) and TV scripts, plays, and appeared in a science fiction movie (Gattaca). He and William F. Buckley Jr. have played clowns for one another, and he has been the confidant, if not of presidents, then of first ladies. He thinks of himself as beautiful, although it's been a long time since he really cared about that. He is one of our finest and most penetrating social critics, an original who manages to occupy the left while maintaining a stance somewhere to the aristocratic right of the Boston blue bloods, although of course his roots are in the political south, in Tennessee, Washington, D.C. and Mississippi.
I have never been able to read, much less appreciate, however, his fiction. No doubt the failure is mine. Yet I think it indisputable that Vidal is a much better essayist than he is a novelist. In this, his latest collection--effectively just a continuation of his United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993), a massive volume of 1,278 pages, also jacketed ironically in red, white and blue--Vidal continues his unrelenting attack on all things pretentious, pompous, political and/or simply within reach.
He can be balanced (as in "Edmund Wilson: Nineteenth-Century Man," the first essay), slighting with faint praise ("The Romance of Sinclair Lewis" p. 46), adoring ("Sinatra" p. 149), brutal (as in "Reply to a Critic" p. 79), and devastatingly funny, particularly when addressing the hijinks of American pols as in his essays on FDR, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Al Gore, etc. He is at his best when defending the constitution, human rights, freedom, and democracy against its enemies as in "Shredding the Bill of Rights," p. 397, "A Letter to Be Delivered," p. 436, and "Japanese Intentions in the Second World War," p. 457, not to mention perhaps a hundred other essays here and elsewhere. His main tactic is a cynical sarcasm laced with selected facts from his prodigious memory. He can be ironic and surgically subtle, but he is not above plain old ridicule. His style is accomplished and erudite without being stuffy. His treatment is popular but without any concessions to the verbally challenged.
But Gore Vidal (the "Gore" is from his mother's side of the family, the same family that spawned Al Gore) is also a classicist, thoroughly at home in Roman and Greek literature, and especially in Greek culture. He is an expert on literature and politics, as knowledgeable as any academic and as cosmopolitan and worldly as any ambassador. It is one of the ironies of Vidal's life, he being a staunch foe of what he has always seen as the frivolity of "bookchat" and its best-seller mentality, that he became with the historical novels he started writing in the sixties, a best-selling author himself, and a darling of the bookchat set. Indeed, Gore Vidal is an ironic man: an American aristocrat who would disown his class and embrace the hoi-polloi while keeping his tie pin firmly in place.
I was trying to see how his style has changed over the years, reading some of his essays from the fifties and sixties, and then this volume of 48 essays from the last decade. I must say that he is just as opinionated, assertive and eloquent as ever. I think he more carefully dotted his i's and crossed his t's in the old days, so that his sentences were perhaps a little more architectural, while today he is more relaxed and straight-forward. One might say, nowadays he just lets it fly.
In short, this collection is a splendid, energetic and thoroughly enjoyable romp through Americana land courtesy of one of our great tour masters. Did I say that if Gore Vidal didn't exist, we would have to invent him? Certainly America's twentieth century would not be the same without him.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
April 30, 2012
It's hard to know how to categorize this collection of reprinted essays. Some are primarily literary, others historical, others political. Since Vidal is so connected to all three domains, however, and frequently inserts himself into his essays, I've chosen biography as the most appropriate rubric.
Vidal is a great essayist, but reading one of them after another becomes wearing because of the repetition, particularly in the soon-to-be-even-more-dated political essays. There is less redundancy in the non-political works, many of which provide capsule biographies of other figures, literary and political, many of whom were prominent persons of his own acquaintance--if not relation. Not only does he adduce interesting, often little known, sometimes never before revealed, facts about these figures, but he also can be counted on to have a distinctive, often controversial, take on his subjects.
Vidal does come across as a know-it-all and this, in aggregate, hurts his presentation. However, he does know quite a bit and his opinions are worthy of consideration.
Incidentally, I picked this book up at the Bridgman, Michigan Library sale room, a source for many of the quality hardcovers I give away as gifts. This one will probably end up with Dad, Vidal's rough contemporary and fellow veteran of the Pacific war.
Vidal is a great essayist, but reading one of them after another becomes wearing because of the repetition, particularly in the soon-to-be-even-more-dated political essays. There is less redundancy in the non-political works, many of which provide capsule biographies of other figures, literary and political, many of whom were prominent persons of his own acquaintance--if not relation. Not only does he adduce interesting, often little known, sometimes never before revealed, facts about these figures, but he also can be counted on to have a distinctive, often controversial, take on his subjects.
Vidal does come across as a know-it-all and this, in aggregate, hurts his presentation. However, he does know quite a bit and his opinions are worthy of consideration.
Incidentally, I picked this book up at the Bridgman, Michigan Library sale room, a source for many of the quality hardcovers I give away as gifts. This one will probably end up with Dad, Vidal's rough contemporary and fellow veteran of the Pacific war.
November 24, 2014
This collection of essays on literary, biographical, and historical subjects runs the gamut between the brilliant (his takedown of John Updike) and the pedestrian (some of his political pieces). In general, the period covered is the Clinton Presidency, though there are echoes going all the way back to Herbert Hoover and FDR.
Gore Vidal is a unique figure in our recent history: Because of his family connections, he has met with (and even befriended) many of the major figures of the Twentieth Century. He has no great love for FDR, whom he accuses of orchestrating the whole Pearl Harbor attack, and John F. Kennedy, who -- well we all pretty much know what he did. He has even fewer good things to say about Truman, Nixon, the two Bushes, Carter, and William Jefferson Clinton.
Reading The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 made me feel that I needed to read more of Mr. Vidal, even though his Mephistophelean knowingness is in itself suspicious. But then, I can't really believe what anyone who ever been part of the political scene says. At least, not without a nearby grain of salt.
Gore Vidal is a unique figure in our recent history: Because of his family connections, he has met with (and even befriended) many of the major figures of the Twentieth Century. He has no great love for FDR, whom he accuses of orchestrating the whole Pearl Harbor attack, and John F. Kennedy, who -- well we all pretty much know what he did. He has even fewer good things to say about Truman, Nixon, the two Bushes, Carter, and William Jefferson Clinton.
Reading The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 made me feel that I needed to read more of Mr. Vidal, even though his Mephistophelean knowingness is in itself suspicious. But then, I can't really believe what anyone who ever been part of the political scene says. At least, not without a nearby grain of salt.
July 7, 2015
Vidal's essay "Edmund Wilson: Nineteenth Century Man" contains what is surely the best put-down ever delivered en passant, a line which leaves me in stitches every time I think of it. Imagining it in Vidal's haughty intonation makes it even more hilarious:
Anaïs Nin, muse to Henry Miller, Olive Oyl to his Popeye, returns, hustling her jams and jellies.
August 28, 2019
Vidal is one of the few writers of the 20th Century who had the rare combination of wit, intellect and access to talk truth yet not get relegated to the margins by DC and the mainstream media. My only regrets in reading this amazing collection were that I wasn't old enough and aware enough to have read him while he lived, and that voices such as Vidal's are so few and far between.
December 23, 2018
American Supreme . . . is an album by the band Suicide.
July 26, 2023
Honestly I learned a lot about history and American politics, I just dont want Goodreads to think im into any of that lol
November 17, 2008
Gore Vidal's Prose is always enjoyable, as is his "behind the scenes" perspective on matters literary and political. Unfortunately, I withhold the fifth star because I have developed a distinctly philosophical prejudice, that assertions be backed up with publicly verifiable evidence, and that these substantiated claims be linked together into arguments for specific claims. Vidal doesn't consistently do this, but, in a book of polemical essays, he shouldn't have to. They are good reading simply as prose, but in those places where he says something intriguing enough to pique my interest, I find the absence of a clear argument or of verifiable evidence unsatisfyingly substituted with a claim that he has privileged "behind the scenes" knowledge. Sounds too much like McCain during the debates, always going on about how he was there.
August 29, 2012
My first reading of Vidal has definitely inspired me to read more - both more short stories and some of his historic fiction, which I am very much looking forward to. After an unsure start, when the dictionary had to be kept close at hand, his writing style and choice of words soon became something I relished and enjoyed. Given that it is an edited collection of short stories, there is a little bit of repetition but the style, the writing, the passion and the verve make it easy to overlook this. Perhaps more of a shock, for me at least, was the depth of Vidal's conspiratorial thinking - but it's hard to disagree with and it is most certainly well thought out. Definitely a must-read for anyone with an interest in literature or US politics, or anyone who just wants to read something that is masterfully written.
October 15, 2008
Timeless political commentary. He turned me on to some depression era figures that iv'e recently checked out and read biographies. What a tremendous time to live. What a tremedous life. Vidal has passion, heart, and, perhaps most importantly, the guts to actually speak his mind.
January 30, 2013
Don't always agree with him, but can't help being fascinated by Gore Vidal. Absolutely engaging and over flowing with information
April 21, 2020
A collection of essays. Interesting.
August 22, 2017
The Last Empire is a collection of Gore Vidal's essays from 1992 through 2006. Vidal is a man of letters, best known for his acidic wit and his disdain for the establishment positions of American superiority and the assumption that American culture was better than that of the rest of the world. He came from an influential family, growing up in Washington, D.C. and going to the best schools. His family were in politics and business. His father was the founder of the TWA airline, and his mother was married for a time to the man who was also Jackie Kennedy's stepfather. Gore knew everyone who was anyone and he refused to let anyone put him or his life choices down. He was widely known as one of the first gay men to be actively out, although the truth was probably that he was bisexual. He wrote many novels, most based on historical events such as Burr and Lincoln. Many knew him best as the sparring partner of William F. Buckley in the first Crossfire debates.
This book is divided into four parts, each covering a specific number of years. The first covers topics such as pieces on Charles Lindbergh, the critic Edmund Wilson, Mark Twain and Sinatra. Part two becomes more political, covering topics such as wiretapping in the Oval Office and the Gore political family. The third part becomes more political with Vidal hitting his themes of the country steadily losing the freedoms the founders wanted us to have and the danger of the military and big corporations taking over the country and the legal systems. The last part continues this theme while spending a lot of time covering the President Clinton scandal and impeachment and calling for the populace to take back their country.
Vidal took no gruff from anyone. His putdowns and feuds were legendary. One rival was the author John Updike. A quote from his piece, "Anyway, I hoped that he would make some self-mocking play on his own self-consciousness as opposed to Socrate's examined life. Hope quickly extinguished. There is no real examination of the self, as opposed to an unremitting self-consciousness that tells us why he was--is--different--but not too much different--from others and what makes him the way he is--always is, as he doesn't much change in his own story, a small-town Philocetes whose wound turns out to be an unpretty skin condition called psoriasis." Another quote, "For Updike, fags and dykes are comical figures who like their own sex and so cannot be taken seriously when they apply for the same legal rights under the Constitution that fun-loving, wife-swapping exurbanites enjoy."
Vidal is not for everyone. Yet his love for his country and his dismay at how business and the military are taking over the rights we were given by the founding fathers shines through. Those reading this book will find themselves educated about past events and individuals and will emerge with a new appreciation for Gore Vidal. This book is recommended for history readers and those interested in the arts and how they intersect with government and world history.
This book is divided into four parts, each covering a specific number of years. The first covers topics such as pieces on Charles Lindbergh, the critic Edmund Wilson, Mark Twain and Sinatra. Part two becomes more political, covering topics such as wiretapping in the Oval Office and the Gore political family. The third part becomes more political with Vidal hitting his themes of the country steadily losing the freedoms the founders wanted us to have and the danger of the military and big corporations taking over the country and the legal systems. The last part continues this theme while spending a lot of time covering the President Clinton scandal and impeachment and calling for the populace to take back their country.
Vidal took no gruff from anyone. His putdowns and feuds were legendary. One rival was the author John Updike. A quote from his piece, "Anyway, I hoped that he would make some self-mocking play on his own self-consciousness as opposed to Socrate's examined life. Hope quickly extinguished. There is no real examination of the self, as opposed to an unremitting self-consciousness that tells us why he was--is--different--but not too much different--from others and what makes him the way he is--always is, as he doesn't much change in his own story, a small-town Philocetes whose wound turns out to be an unpretty skin condition called psoriasis." Another quote, "For Updike, fags and dykes are comical figures who like their own sex and so cannot be taken seriously when they apply for the same legal rights under the Constitution that fun-loving, wife-swapping exurbanites enjoy."
Vidal is not for everyone. Yet his love for his country and his dismay at how business and the military are taking over the rights we were given by the founding fathers shines through. Those reading this book will find themselves educated about past events and individuals and will emerge with a new appreciation for Gore Vidal. This book is recommended for history readers and those interested in the arts and how they intersect with government and world history.
June 22, 2018
“Perhaps the only literary form perfected by the late-twentieth-century United Statespersons is the blurb for the dust jacket. It is for us what the haiku was for the medieval Japanese.” So said a man for whom the same could not be said. “The Last Empire” is a collection of essays written by one of America’s greatest writers, Gore Vidal (1925-2012). The subjects broached throughout the anthology range from 20th century personalities to American history, and social and political commentary.
As good as Vidal is on the macro of politics and literature, he is still one of the great observers of people. “Women like men that like women.” That Vidal wasn’t referring to heterosexuality (a term with which, coincidentally, Vidal takes issue) proves the extent to which insight can be condensed without losing potency by an artful wordsmith.
Many would characterize his politics as radical left. Whatever label one uses, the one thing he most certainly was not was an apologist. Nothing escaped his criticism, some things simply received a healthier supply of it than others (the corporatization of politics in America comes to mind). Some of Vidal’s insights will appear less than novel to readers today - such as the distinction without a difference between America’s two main political parties. Many of his pronouncements that earned him the reputation as a leftist radical would earn him today a reputation for nothing more than astute observation, but such were the days of the Fabulous 50’s during which he found his political sea legs.
Case in point: “One fact of the national condition that can never be discussed with candor is the class system.” Or as the old joke about the reunion of professor and pupil has it:
A British professor, briefly reunited with a former student away at graduate school in America, asks the student his area of research. “The class system in America,” comes the response. “I didn’t think there was a class system in America,” admits the professor. “Nobody does, that’s how it survives.” And so it continues, unknown and undiscussed, in the absence of one of America’s greatest polemicists and provocateurs.
As good as Vidal is on the macro of politics and literature, he is still one of the great observers of people. “Women like men that like women.” That Vidal wasn’t referring to heterosexuality (a term with which, coincidentally, Vidal takes issue) proves the extent to which insight can be condensed without losing potency by an artful wordsmith.
Many would characterize his politics as radical left. Whatever label one uses, the one thing he most certainly was not was an apologist. Nothing escaped his criticism, some things simply received a healthier supply of it than others (the corporatization of politics in America comes to mind). Some of Vidal’s insights will appear less than novel to readers today - such as the distinction without a difference between America’s two main political parties. Many of his pronouncements that earned him the reputation as a leftist radical would earn him today a reputation for nothing more than astute observation, but such were the days of the Fabulous 50’s during which he found his political sea legs.
Case in point: “One fact of the national condition that can never be discussed with candor is the class system.” Or as the old joke about the reunion of professor and pupil has it:
A British professor, briefly reunited with a former student away at graduate school in America, asks the student his area of research. “The class system in America,” comes the response. “I didn’t think there was a class system in America,” admits the professor. “Nobody does, that’s how it survives.” And so it continues, unknown and undiscussed, in the absence of one of America’s greatest polemicists and provocateurs.
September 22, 2019
This is a collection of essays written by Gore Vidal between 1992-2000. His subjects can be other writers(past or present), usually in the form of a book review. Included are historical figures like George Washington, FDR, Kennedy and Nixon. He also writes about contemporary events like President Clinton’s impeachment woes. His writing is in depth and thoughtful. His wit is legendary and biting at times but he isn’t vulgar about it.
What often is missed in Vidal’s writing though is his patrician manner of speaking and presenting himself. You can sometimes detect in his words but it has to be seen to. If one looks up his debates with William F. Buckley Jr., highlighted in the documentary “Best of Enemies” during the Presidential conventions of 1968 one can see his always cool and seemingly mocking manner in full display.
It is excellent writing though at times when he’s rambling about something or someone you know or care nothing about it can be tedious to slog through. Those instances are many times equalled out by subjects that are of interest. I also encounter this when reading other collections of essays where the subject matter can vary wildly so it isn’t a knock against his writing which is superb, thought provoking and entertaining many times over. This is a good one to hang onto a pick out stuff read individually in the future.
What often is missed in Vidal’s writing though is his patrician manner of speaking and presenting himself. You can sometimes detect in his words but it has to be seen to. If one looks up his debates with William F. Buckley Jr., highlighted in the documentary “Best of Enemies” during the Presidential conventions of 1968 one can see his always cool and seemingly mocking manner in full display.
It is excellent writing though at times when he’s rambling about something or someone you know or care nothing about it can be tedious to slog through. Those instances are many times equalled out by subjects that are of interest. I also encounter this when reading other collections of essays where the subject matter can vary wildly so it isn’t a knock against his writing which is superb, thought provoking and entertaining many times over. This is a good one to hang onto a pick out stuff read individually in the future.
September 13, 2019
Vidal displays a mastery of the English language in this collection of essays, but the substance of the words he spins are very much lacking in potency.
The big problem with Vidal is that he does not attempt to engage in any serious analysis of a situation - in some cases, he just goes off on a never ending, irrelevant tangent. Take his essay “The Last Empire” for a case in point. Here, Vidal makes a claim - that America was fundamentally responsible for starting the Cold War because it changed its position on how Germany would be divided up after the war (causing comrade Stalin - someone who doesn’t really have any intentions on the international stage because his country is burying 20 million dead - to be mad) - and does not attempt to develop the claim he made and just takes it as a given that he has already demonstrated his point. Vidal, I am very sorry, but if you want someone who may be an expert on a topic to remotely give a crap about your argument you might want to provide a superior argument than what you expect from someone in their second year of an undergraduate degree.
The big problem with Vidal is that he does not attempt to engage in any serious analysis of a situation - in some cases, he just goes off on a never ending, irrelevant tangent. Take his essay “The Last Empire” for a case in point. Here, Vidal makes a claim - that America was fundamentally responsible for starting the Cold War because it changed its position on how Germany would be divided up after the war (causing comrade Stalin - someone who doesn’t really have any intentions on the international stage because his country is burying 20 million dead - to be mad) - and does not attempt to develop the claim he made and just takes it as a given that he has already demonstrated his point. Vidal, I am very sorry, but if you want someone who may be an expert on a topic to remotely give a crap about your argument you might want to provide a superior argument than what you expect from someone in their second year of an undergraduate degree.
September 5, 2021
All the essays in this collection appeared in popular newspapers or periodicals (new york times, GQ, new yorker, newsweek, the nation, etc.) during the time span given in the title. There are 4 sections of which the first is high quality writing about historical and literary figures. Very good.
The remaining 3 sections are a dissapointing diatribe about US politics. Clearly Vidal has some important and interesting points to make about the political system and its issues, but putting together such an extensive set of back-to-back essays of this nature makes him seem like a shrill nut job with an axe to grind. Vidal's views were formed over half a century of first-hand knowledge of politicians and leaders, and his views have grown and matured over time. It is a pity that this book seems to play to the populist audience and not to a balanced thinking one.
The remaining 3 sections are a dissapointing diatribe about US politics. Clearly Vidal has some important and interesting points to make about the political system and its issues, but putting together such an extensive set of back-to-back essays of this nature makes him seem like a shrill nut job with an axe to grind. Vidal's views were formed over half a century of first-hand knowledge of politicians and leaders, and his views have grown and matured over time. It is a pity that this book seems to play to the populist audience and not to a balanced thinking one.
May 23, 2025
Read accidentally - meant to read the other "The Last Empire" book. But don't regret it.
Favorite quote:
"With that much money being ran from the taxpayer, the last thing those who govern want is any serious discussion of what is actually happening to our money. Who collects what money from who to spend on whom is all there is to politics, and in a serious country should be the central preoccupation of the media. Unfortunately, politics is the last thing a government like ours wants us to know about. So how do they divert from the delicate subject? Until recently, anyone who questioned the Pentagon budget was labeled a communist. This is diversionary politics."
Favorite quote:
"With that much money being ran from the taxpayer, the last thing those who govern want is any serious discussion of what is actually happening to our money. Who collects what money from who to spend on whom is all there is to politics, and in a serious country should be the central preoccupation of the media. Unfortunately, politics is the last thing a government like ours wants us to know about. So how do they divert from the delicate subject? Until recently, anyone who questioned the Pentagon budget was labeled a communist. This is diversionary politics."
September 12, 2022
I read this book as part of the Rory Gilmore reading challenge and it is so academically written it is hard to get through. I won't lie, it did raise my curiosity to politics and American/world history which I mildly think is the point of these essays. While it was hard to read, I will definitely be trying to dive more into the realm of politics and history as a result of finishing this compilation of essays.
November 12, 2023
Was wondering why US went against things like bullet trains and democracy…it’s was because Gore was against them!…the people’s party politician who wore red in congress and sounds like a communist. The one who couldn’t make it into mainstream politics today if he tried. Not the Gore who’s basically a Dixiecrat Republican but wore the blue democrat colors at the politics matches. Hope this all makes cents now.
October 12, 2018
While, in his old age, Vidal’s rant could sometimes feel like self-caricatures, he remains the premiere writer (expository as well as narrative prose) of his generation. As such, he was crucial to the political development of my generation in ways that he might not always have wanted to claim. Still, it’s the strength of his voice, which I find most endearing.
August 11, 2022
First time reading Vidal. I found his wit to have less bite than Hitchens. Maybe his talking points were original in the 90s but they seem fairly commonplace today on topics like drugs, sexuality, etc. His commentary on foreign policy was fascinating and the highlight of the book. Don't remember ever hearing such distain for Harry Truman.
May 18, 2024
The essays contained in this volume, all from the 1990s, are consistently fascinating. Occasionally, Vidal takes an unusual, if not unpopular, point of view but always backs it up with thoughtful analysis, not to mention verifiable evidence. His two volume memoirs are also highly recommended. I haven't yet got into his novels, but his non-fiction is terrific.
September 9, 2024
If one is a fan of the writing of Gore Vidal then this is a must read . A collection of essays on American politics and society in the last years of the 20th century and during the early years of the George W . Bush presidency that still are as bitingly relevant today .
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