Vidal has managed to stick to the actual historical record. Even since he's left his aspirations as a politician behind, Vidal's attraction to controversial political issues continues in his provocative essays and public appearances. Ernest Wharton that the latter refused to engage Vidal in debate.

Buckley) and the frequently ruffled (Norman Mailer) alike, and did so terrify his congressional campaign opponent J. His sharp wit has discomposed the unrufflable (William F. In his essays, he frequently chooses political subjects, as he did with his damaging assessment of Robert Kennedy-for-President in an Esquire article in 1963.Īt the same time, Vidal's assets as a writer have made him a dangerous public figure in his own right. Vidal's best-received historical fictions, like Julian, Burr, and Lincoln, re-imagine the personal and political lives of powerful figures in history. Gore belonged to the same political dynasty into which Al Gore was born). He takes his first name from his maternal grandfather, Thomas Pryor Gore, a populist Senator from Oklahoma for whom neither blindness nor feuds with FDR could prevent a long, distinguished career (Incidentally, T.P.

Buckley.įrom his early arrival on the literary scene, Vidal's fascinations with politics, power and public figures have informed his writing. Throughout his career, he has rubbed shoulders and crossed swords with many of the foremost cultural and political figures of our century: from Jack Kennedy to Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote to William F. Currently-lives in Ravello, Italy Los Angeles, CaliforniaĪs a prominent post-WWII novelist, socialite and public figure, Gore Vidal has lived a life of incredible variety.Awards-National Book Critics Circle Award, 1982 National.Education-Phillips Exeter Academy (Prep school).As his amanuensis, he chooses Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler, a young New York City journalist, and together they explore both Burr's past and the continuing political intrigues of the still young United States. But he retains much of his political influence if not the respect of all.Īnd he is determined to tell his own story. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers.īurr is a portrait of perhaps the most complex and misunderstood of the Founding Fathers.

Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years.

Gore vidal aaron burr