Gore Vidal: His Life and Legacy
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/gore_vidal_life_legacy_20120803/
Posted on Aug 5, 2012
By Truthdig Staff
Essays
Since 2006, Truthdig has been proud to publish the essays of Gore Vidal.
America the Great ... Police State
July 28, 2009
Let us accept the facts staring us in the face—that demonstrably we are no longer a republic. We are no longer governed by laws, only by armed men and force. This is just like the days of Billy the Kid. You have an armed man going down a dusty street and that is authority. And it has come to this for us.
Gore Vidal Blasts Racism Claim
Nov. 10, 2008
Gore Vidal, racist? Au contraire, the renowned author asserts in this response to a recent piece on The Huffington Post that claimed Vidal had a problem with Barack Obama’s bid for the White House because of the president-elect’s race.
John McCain in the Echo Chamber
Oct. 27, 2008
October proved to be the cruelest month, for that was the time that Sen. McCain, he of the round, blank, Little Orphan Annie eyes, chose to try out a number of weird lies about Barack Obama ostensibly in the interest of a Republican Party long overdue for burial.
Gore Vidal’s Article of Impeachment
June 11, 2008
On June 9, 2008, a counterrevolution began on the floor of the House of Representatives against the gas and oil crooks who had seized control of the federal government. This counterrevolution began in the exact place which had slumbered during the all-out assault on our liberties and the Constitution itself.
Gore Vidal Speaks Seriously Ill of the Dead
March 20, 2008
The iconic author objects to Newsweek’s obituary of his onetime rival, William F. Buckley, a “knightly man,” as described by the magazine, who stood up to “bullies” like Gore Vidal ... by gay-bashing him on national television.
Gore Vidal on the Democratic Debate Debacle
Dec. 18, 2007
Whither Dennis Kucinich? If the powers that be at CNN and a certain Iowa news outlet (attention: Des Moines Register) thought that elbowing Kucinich out of the most recent Democratic presidential debate would slip by unnoticed, Gore Vidal is more than ready to disabuse them of that notion.
Nov. 13, 2006
In this Truthdig exclusive excerpt from his just-released book, “Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir,” National Book Award-winning author Gore Vidal recounts Depression-era episodes of his life involving his grandfather, T.P. Gore, the blind senator from Oklahoma, along with a political, economic and existential awakening that followed young Vidal’s viewing of “The Prince and the Pauper.”
Gore Vidal: Reflections on 9/11
Sept. 19, 2006
The legendary man of letters sees echoes of Rome’s devolution from republic to empire in America’s imperial misadventures since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Gore Vidal: America and Empire
April 14, 2006
The celebrated man of letters charts the course of American post-WWII hegemony in this concise original essay written as a foreword to Robert Scheer’s new book, “Playing President.”
President Jonah, Meet Oliver Cromwell!
Feb. 7, 2006
Building on his “President Jonah” theme, Gore Vidal offers another angle on George W. Bush’s presidency, illuminated by the recent spate of wildfires in Southern California.
Hail and Fairwell, Gore Vidal
Truthdig Managing Editor Peter Scheer on his memories of Gore Vidal:
I remember Gore Vidal like a Bond villain. He was sitting on the edge of his bed in that same big house in the Hollywood Hills where he died Tuesday night. Holding on to a glass of whiskey with one hand, he used the other to stroke a giant white cat with an angry mouth and a cloudy gray eye. He called it “pussy.” Of course he did.
I was there to record the great man with the booming voice while he read his latest Truthdig essay. We had done this before, but I got the impression that my arrival had disturbed him and I was anxious as I fumbled with my equipment. He was a pro with Southern grace and diction that could dent a microphone, but he chose that day to fuck with me. Rather than read his own words as written, Gore kept going off script, eyeballing me and smiling every time I ruined the recording by laughing nervously at his improvisations. The audio was unusable, but the great man had his fun and that mattered much more to him than the godforsaken hits we might generate with a podcast. That was four years ago.
Multimedia
A Tribute in Photos:
In memory of the renowned author and social critic, Truthdig presents a set of unreleased photographs of Gore Vidal taken at his home during an interview in January 2006.
Gore Vidal on the American Empire:
Gore Vidal reads from his essay, “Hail and Farewell: the End of the American Empire, in which the iconic author, historian and patriot suggested that perhaps there was a more sinister explanation for the president’s fiascoes than mere incompetence: He was out to destroy the American empire.
Gore Vidal on Campaign ’08 and America’s Future:
Robert Scheer sits down with Gore Vidal to hear his take on the upcoming presidential campaign, religion and the future of the American empire in this first installment from Truthdig’s series of interviews with the iconic author and historian.
Gore Vidal: Living Through History
Iconic author and historian Gore Vidal speaks with Robert Scheer about his new memoir, “Point to Point Navigation,” and the events that shaped his life and his country, from war with Hitler to the “waking nightmare” of Iraq.
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Gore Vidal on the Academy Awards, Sexuality and Politics
In a Truthdig interview conducted by Sheerly Avni, Gore Vidal weighs in on this year’s Academy Awards competition, Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and Truman Capote’s Proust complex.
President Jonah, Spoken by Gore Vidal
Internationally acclaimed essayist, novelist and playwright Gore Vidal argues that America under Bush is evincing characteristics of the post-fall-of-Rome Dark Ages: the triumph of faith over reason, the atrophy of education and critical thinking, and integration of the state, torture and religion.
Interviews
On life, movies, Cuba, his country’s future, and more.
Gore Vidal Sounds Off on Solar Power Caper
July 6, 2007
Note to public utility companies: Do not cross Gore Vidal. What began as a personal nuisance—the shutdown of his newly installed home solar power system by Los Angeles’ water and power provider—has become emblematic of a bigger issue (or two) for the venerable writer, who states his position in no uncertain terms in this interview.
Gore Vidal on Cuba
May 14, 2007
The iconic author and historian speaks with Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer about his recent tour of Cuba, why he thinks the island has a bright future and why the United States, the world’s only superpower, has an inferiority complex.
Gore Vidal on Campaign ’08 and America’s Future
April 27, 2007
Robert Scheer sits down with Gore Vidal to hear his take on the upcoming presidential campaign, religion and the future of the American empire in this first installment from Truthdig’s series of interviews with the iconic author and historian.
‘This Place Is Broken’: The Gore Vidal Interview
March 8, 2006
Gore Vidal spoke with Truthdig’s Sheerly Avni about a range of topics, including this year’s Oscar-nominated films (see Part I). He also commented at length about many of the real-life concerns these films attempt to address, including terrorism, war, propaganda movies and, finally, the troubling relationship between the U.S. government and the American entertainment industry, which Vidal refers to as White House East and White House West.
Gore Vidal on ‘Capote,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain’—and Why ‘Match Point’ Is the Best Picture of 2005
March 3, 2006
Prize-winning novelist, essayist, playwright and screenwriter Gore Vidal sat down with Truthdig’s Sheerly Avni on March 2 in the living room of his home in Hollywood. He spoke candidly about America’s prudishness, his admiration for Ang Lee, and Truman Capote’s Proust complex.
Gore Vidal: Living Through History
Nov. 21, 2006
Iconic author and historian Gore Vidal speaks with Robert Scheer about his new memoir, “Point to Point Navigation,” and the events that shaped his life and his country, from war with Hitler to the “waking nightmare” of Iraq.
On Gore Vidal
Kasia Anderson, Democracy Now!, Andrew Gumbel, Alexander Reed Kelly
The Roots of Gore Vidal’s Discontent
Aug. 2, 2012
Gore Vidal, the high-born author and activist who died Tuesday at the age of 86, was a man who had grand, democratic ambitions for his country—a nation that became a pale, mocking imitation of the place he knew during his pre-World War II boyhood—says his longtime friend Bob Carr, the current Australian minister of foreign affairs.
Vidal: ‘I Am the Enemy to So Many’
Aug. 1, 2012
Throughout his adult life and probably his youth, Gore Vidal enjoyed the sort of playful self-adulation that is often mistaken for arrogance when committed by members of the American upper class.
Andrew Gumbel: A Rejoinder to Gore Vidal
Nov. 14, 2008
Let me describe what happened in my interview with Gore Vidal for Vanity Fair’s Spanish edition and why I felt compelled to report what was, in my experience, the single most shockingly racist line of the 2008 presidential election campaign.
Sun Shines Again on Chez Vidal
July 28, 2007
Those readers who have followed the saga of Gore Vidal’s bid to harness the sun may be heartened to hear that the esteemed author has emerged victorious in his green-minded mission: Vidal’s solar system is back in working order. Here, he offers a wry retort to counter his detractors, along with a spirited response to a recent New York Times report about solar power that left him quite cold, it would seem.
Harnessing the Sun Leaves Vidal in the Dark
July 2, 2007
Powering his home with solar energy sounded like an enlightened idea to Gore Vidal, but after several exasperating rounds of “routine” inspections and unexpected blackouts, it seems that even Southern California’s most abundant natural resource can be caught up in red tape.
Gore Vidal’s State of the Union
Feb. 1, 2006
The famed novelist, playwright and social activist continues his 30-year-old tradition of delivering his own State of the Union address. | streaming media and transcript at “Democracy Now!”
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