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Vidal in Venice
The author offers his personal impressions of Venice, recounts its long history, and describes the paintings, sculpture, and architecture of the city
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
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About the author
Gore Vidal
420 books1,895 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 1, 2021
This is the kind of book I rarely find in travel literature, one filled with history delivered with a shrewd wit and a strong appreciation for aesthetics. A very good example of its kind.
Available at the Internet https://archive.org/details/vidalinve...
Available at the Internet https://archive.org/details/vidalinve...
April 20, 2021
Well of course it's not a travel guide! It's a Gore Vidal travel guide!
But even if you do approach the book as an oversized Baedeker it's still a very useful book; its photos classy and plentiful, its historical points painting a colourful picture of the centuries from muddy lagoon to quasi-Disneyland tourist-trap. But it's Vidal's warmly sly commentary that truly makes this book a pure joy. The preferred term for his writing seems to be 'witty', but the style is much more that of a frequent visitor whose sharpness of eye enables him to see the underlying truth of the "beautiful cliche" and still love it for all its artifice.
He makes you feel closer to the 'real' Venice, even though a real Venice may not exist. As he says, "For the visitor it is a sort of waking dream...", but it truly is a place outside time, a tiny corner of the world where the fantasy is, for a while at least, a postponement of reality.
But even if you do approach the book as an oversized Baedeker it's still a very useful book; its photos classy and plentiful, its historical points painting a colourful picture of the centuries from muddy lagoon to quasi-Disneyland tourist-trap. But it's Vidal's warmly sly commentary that truly makes this book a pure joy. The preferred term for his writing seems to be 'witty', but the style is much more that of a frequent visitor whose sharpness of eye enables him to see the underlying truth of the "beautiful cliche" and still love it for all its artifice.
He makes you feel closer to the 'real' Venice, even though a real Venice may not exist. As he says, "For the visitor it is a sort of waking dream...", but it truly is a place outside time, a tiny corner of the world where the fantasy is, for a while at least, a postponement of reality.
May 1, 2018
I learned some fascinating facts and stories about Venice and its historical denizens in Vidal's 1985 examination of the city, and his ancestral connections there. I'll probably actually remember only one or two of them while vacationing there in 2018.
Be that as it may, I really enjoyed his writing; a refreshing change from guidebooks. (Pace Rick Steves).
Be that as it may, I really enjoyed his writing; a refreshing change from guidebooks. (Pace Rick Steves).
December 7, 2022
If you’re interested in the history of Venice, this is an outstanding book. I love Gore Vidal’s writing style. The opening line continues to stick with me. One of the greatest writers of our time.
May 3, 2014
I'm not too keen on Vidal's self-centered, elitist nonsense, but did enjoy his often cynical view of history and focus on fascinating details of the Venetian City-State. The book is old (Reagan was president), the author is dead, but some of the tidbits will feed nicely for me into an upcoming trip to Venice.
June 16, 2009
Vidal is snarky and elitist but clever and amusing. he covers only the interesting bits and it's fascinating.
November 15, 2007
I can't stand Gore Vidal, but this is a good book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews