Vidal, Gore, << vee DAHL, gawr >> (1925-2012), was an American author best known for his novels. Some have historical themes, and others satirize American society. Vidal also wrote essays, short stories, and plays.
Many of Vidal’s novels use historical persons as characters. Julian (1964) portrays the Roman emperor of the A.D. 300’s who fought against Christianity. Creation (1981) is set in the 400’s B.C. with famous characters such as the Chinese philosopher Confucius and the Persian rulers Darius I and Xerxes I. The Smithsonian Institution (1998) is a historical fantasy set in Washington, D.C., in 1939. Vidal wrote a series of novels dealing with American history. They are, in the order of the periods they describe, Burr (1973), Lincoln (1984), 1876 (1976), Empire (1987), Hollywood (1990), Washington, D.C. (1967), and The Golden Age (2000). He satirized modern life in Myra Breckenridge (1968) and its sequel, Myron (1974). He satirized feminism in Kalki (1978).
Vidal’s short stories were collected in A Thirsty Evil (1956) and Head of a Sad Angel (1990). His essays were published in United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993), The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 (2001), and Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace (2002). During the 1950’s, Vidal wrote three detective novels under the name Edgar Box. His best-known play, The Best Man (1960), deals with intrigue at a presidential convention. He also wrote two memoirs, Palimpsest: A Memoir (1995) and Point to Point Navigation (2006). Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, Jr., was born on Oct. 3, 1925, in West Point, New York. He died on July 31, 2012.
