Difference between revisions of "Gore Vidal"
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| − | '''Gore Vidal''', born 1925, is an [[American]] writer notorious for his promotion of [[homosexuality]] and transexualism in two of his novels. | + | '''Gore Vidal''', born 1925, is an [[American]] writer notorious for his promotion of [[homosexuality]] and transexualism in two of his novels. U.S. Federal Judge [[Richard Posner]] called him one of America's top public intellectuals.<ref>[http://home.uchicago.edu/~rposner/publicintellect.htm] "Data for tables in Chapter 5 of Richard A. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline" where Posner talks about the data he used for his book ''Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline''.</ref><ref>[http://home.uchicago.edu/~rposner/TABLE%20II.pdf] Table II, which is Posner's data for 607 public intellectuals. A PDF search of "Vidal" will show he is on Posner's list.</ref> |
Because of his matter-of-fact treatment of homosexual relations in such books as ''The City and The Pillar'', Vidal is often seen as an early and unrelenting champion of sexual liberation. ''Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings'', a representative sampling of his views, contains literary and cultural essays that document his long campaign to mock and subvert conventional American attitudes toward sex. | Because of his matter-of-fact treatment of homosexual relations in such books as ''The City and The Pillar'', Vidal is often seen as an early and unrelenting champion of sexual liberation. ''Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings'', a representative sampling of his views, contains literary and cultural essays that document his long campaign to mock and subvert conventional American attitudes toward sex. | ||
Revision as of 23:43, April 5, 2010
Gore Vidal, born 1925, is an American writer notorious for his promotion of homosexuality and transexualism in two of his novels. U.S. Federal Judge Richard Posner called him one of America's top public intellectuals.[1][2]
Because of his matter-of-fact treatment of homosexual relations in such books as The City and The Pillar, Vidal is often seen as an early and unrelenting champion of sexual liberation. Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings, a representative sampling of his views, contains literary and cultural essays that document his long campaign to mock and subvert conventional American attitudes toward sex.
The main character of City rapes and murders a man who resists his sexual advances. The hero of Myra Breckinridge also rapes a man.
Vidal is also known for his series of novels concerning American history—
- Washington, D.C. (1967)
- Burr (1973)
- 1876 (1976)
- Lincoln (1984)
- Empire (1987)
- Hollywood (1990)
- The Golden Age (2000)
— and for his political essays, many of which were collected in two volumes:
- United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993)
- The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 (2001).
In 2009, Vidal received the National Book Foundation's award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.{[3]
References
- ↑ [1] "Data for tables in Chapter 5 of Richard A. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline" where Posner talks about the data he used for his book Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline.
- ↑ [2] Table II, which is Posner's data for 607 public intellectuals. A PDF search of "Vidal" will show he is on Posner's list.
- ↑ http://www.nationalbook.org/amerletters_2009_vidal.html