Vidal, Gore, 1925–, American writer, b. West Point, N.Y. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where a formative influence was his witty and scholarly grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore of Oklahoma. Vidal is an acerbic observer of the contemporary American scene and an acute commentator on the nation's history. His first novel, Williwaw (1946), was based on his experiences in World War II. The City and the Pillar (1948, rev. ed. 1965) was one of the first mainstream novels to deal frankly with homosexuality. His best-known novel, Myra Breckenridge (1968), is a witty satire about a man who dies and returns to life as a woman.

Vidal's historical fiction includes an interlocking septet of American novels—consisting of Washington, D.C. (1967), Burr (1973), 1876 (1976), Lincoln (1984), Empire (1987), Hollywood (1990), and The Golden Age (2000)—as well as Julian (1964), Creation (1982), Live from Golgotha (1992), and The Smithsonian Institution (1998). Among his plays are Visit to a Small Planet (1955) and The Best Man (1960). Vidal's sharply argued and often controversial essays have been collected in several volumes, including Reflections on a Sinking Ship (1969), The Second American Revolution (1982), Armageddon (1987), Screening History (1992), United States: Essays 1952–1992 (1993), and The Last Empire: Essays 1992–2000 (2001). He has also written murder mysteries under the name Edgar Box.

Bibliography

See his memoirs, Palimpsest (1995) and Point to Point Navigation (2006); R. J. Stanton and G. Vidal, ed., Views from a Window: Conversations with Gore Vidal (1980); R. Peabody and L. Ebersole, ed., Conversations with Gore Vidal (2005); biography by F. Kaplan (1999); studies by B. F. Dick (1974), R. F. Kiernan (1982), J. Parini, ed. (1992), S. Baker and C. S. Gibson (1997), and S. Harris (2005).

Vidal, Gore

orig. Eugene Luther Vidal

(born Oct. 3, 1925, West Point, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist, playwright, and essayist. Vidal began publishing his writings soon after his wartime army service. Though he wrote stage plays and television and film screenplays, he is best known for his irreverent and intellectually adroit novels. The City and the Pillar (1948) became notorious for its homoerotic subject matter. Myra Breckenridge (1968) was acclaimed for its wild satire. His other novels, many of them historical and most of them best-sellers, include Julian (1964), Washington, D.C. (1967), Burr (1974), 1876 (1976), and Lincoln (1984). He also published several essay collections and the memoir Palimpsest (1996). Known for his iconoclastically leftist political analyses, he twice ran unsuccessfully for Congressional office.

Vidal, (Eugene Luther) Gore (Edgar Box, pen name) (1925– ) writer; born in West Point, N.Y. He studied at Exeter Academy, and served in the Army during World War II. His novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), was one of the first serious works by an American to deal explicitly with homosexuals. He wrote a number of successful novels, plays, short stories, books of literary criticism, essays, and, using the pen name of Edgar Box, mystery novels. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives (1960), and the U.S. Senate (1982); he drew on the former experience for his play, The Best Man (1960). Said to have originated the idea of the Peace Corps, he was an often vitriolic commentator on the American political and social scene. Such fictional works as Myra Breckenridge (1968) display his capacity for irreverent wit, while in a semifictional work such as Lincoln (1984), and in his prolific output of reviews and essays, he displayed the vast range of his knowledge alongside his generally disaffected attitudes toward American society.