Great New York Musicals 2008 Jun 26, 2008
Based on the 1955 teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky (Network) and screenplay by Gore Vidal, Harvey Fierstein, (Hairspray, Torch Song Trilogy) skilfully adapts this poignant slice of life family portrait into a musical. The Hurleys are the typical Bronx $125-a-week blue collar household that Chayefsky loved to write about - husband, wife, live in uncle (Fierstein) and two kids. (Suite101.com)
COLUMN: Harrison should have been impeached forbeing only 5-feet-6 Jun 19, 2008
TODAY'S HEADLINES SPECIAL SECTION ONLINE POLL. With what aid should the government assist in Coles, Clark, Cumberland, Crawford, Jasper and Lawrence counties after recent storm damage. (Mattoon Journal-Gazette, IL)
Spacey adds Shrink to packed schedule Jun 17, 2008
Spacey will be joined by an array of Hollywood stars portraying his patients, including Robin Williams, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston and Griffin Dunne, as well as the writer Gore Vidal. The project is helmed by Jonas Pate, who previously directed episodes of TV series such as Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights and the remake of the Bionic Woman, based on a script by relative newcomer Thomas Moffett - his only previous credit is a recent comedy drama called Frost. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Gore Vidal: Will take '100 years to recover from Bush'... Jun 15, 2008
W Bush, US writer Gore Vidal said in an interview published on Saturday. "The president behaved like a virtual criminal but we didn't have the courage to sack him for fear of violating the American constitution," Vidal told the El Mundo newspaper. (The Drudge Report)
Melvyn in the middle Jun 14, 2008
The man who has interviewed such big names as Woody Allen ("not fun"), Norman Mailer ("such a twinkle") and Gore Vidal ("great, wonderful") on his hugely successful The South Bank Show feels inadequate. "Well, I do, actually. It's the truth. When people ask what's your favourite film I go into a freeze. I simply don't know. The whole system breaks down, whatever's inside goes kaput. I've just got to get out of the room." Remember Me is a romance with overtones of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Peace at Last? Jun 14, 2008
Deborah Solomon interviews the irascible Gore Vidal, who questions John McCain's war record: "Who started this rumor that he was a war hero? Where does that come from, aside from himself?" Vidal also offers his thoughts on William F. Buckley's demise: "[H]ell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred.". Must ReadHanna Rosin's in the Atlantic considers the possibility that the much-touted Section 8... (Slate)
Washington diaryUS election fever crosses the Atlantic to the United Kingdom May 30, 2008
They donned their wellies, sedated their children with hot chocolate and waded through muddy fields worthy of a re-enactment of the Battle of the Somme to listen to Gore Vidal, former President Jimmy Carter and a gaggle of journalists chew the fat over Uncle Sam. Not so long ago, talk of America induced groans of despair more than quivers of excitement. (BBC News -- Americas)
The great divider May 28, 2008
HastertVotesAgainstStudentsAgain wrote on May 24, 2008 4:46 PM:" 454boy. Nobody here put the lying word in Kathryn Lopez's mouth except you.Where do these techniques work for you? You say "liberal" like it's a bad thing.I can be more specific and say that this trite attack piece on Obama by a 31 year old is not worthy of the intellect or legacy that SHOULD have been William F. Buckley's. And Gore Vidal is pretty bent himself, I think he would like that but he sure had George W Bush's number, and... (DeKalb Daily Chronicle, IL)
The literary pecking order laid bare May 27, 2008
Gore Vidal has always been tricky. So it's hard to know if he has his hearing aid switched off or if he is just being deliberately difficult. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Matthew Bell: The IoS diary May 25, 2008
" Mayor Boris is no fan of Met chief Sir Ian Blair shouldn't his days be numbered? Forget Carla Bruni, there's a new Mrs Sarkozy in the offing. The French President's tousle-haired son Jean, 21, has announced his engagement to Jessica Darty, who, like Carla, has the handy advantage of being heir to a large fortune. Young Sarko has already followed his father into politics and is now following suit with a large society wedding, scheduled for 2 July.As everyone from Gore Vidal to Jimmy Carter... (Independent)
George Monbiot calls for citizen's arrest of John Bolton May 25, 2008
The Guardian columnist's demand - greeted with cheers from the audience - came just hours after an audience member challenged the veteran author Gore Vidal for appearing on the same festival bill as Bolton, who is widely viewed as a driving force behind the 2OO2 invasion of Iraq ... Earlier in the day, the esteemed American man of letters Gore Vidal was asked from the audience whether he thought the invitation extended to Bolton, decribed by the questioner as a "war criminal", was justifiable. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Voice of the people May 24, 2008
Gore Vidal: 'This country is finished ... Gore Vidal's collected essays, United States, a hefty volume incorporating the work of four decades in the form in which he is a modern master, won the US National Book Award for 1993 ... Eugene Luther Gore Vidal was born on October 3 1925 at West Point, New York, into a family that was privileged, powerful and unhappy. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
When the Left Was Right May 24, 2008
Prepare for another aphasiac episode in what Gore Vidal calls the United States of Amnesia. But I say to hell with Ayers and Dohrn. (The American Conservative)
What It Means to Be a Writer May 24, 2008
"A writer is a someone who writes, that's all." -- Gore Vidal. Reading Assignment. (Suite101.com)
Obituary: Elaine Dundy May 8, 2008
She retained close friendships with Sir Laurence Olivier, Welles, Tennessee Williams, Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal. With the latter, she reveals, she went to bed once, while remaining discreet as to the details. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Elaine Dundy, 86; novelist had stormy marriage with critic May 8, 2008
In between the beatings and arguments was a charmed life amid the literati and Hollywood and theatrical elite, including Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Gore Vidal, and Orson Welles. "She was a great wit," Vidal, who knew her for 50 years, said Monday. (Boston Globe)
Endquote . . . Endquote May 6, 2008
ENDQUOTE - New York Post. Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Last Update: 07:05 AM EDT. (New York Post -- Gossip)
A premier's challenge May 3, 2008
Carr wrote his book at weekends in his office, where the corporate decor is a backdrop to shelves of American books and photographs of Gore Vidal and James Ellroy with their Australian fan. My Reading Life is an emphatic, conversational guide to literature and a roadmap into Carr's mind. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Not Laughing Over Cartoons May 3, 2008
Saturday, May 03, 2008 Last Update: 07:10 AM EDT. CROWD MORE OFF THAN B'WAY. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Defending the Doodad on the Lamb Chop May 2, 2008
He cites to obituary writers who remembered that William F. Buckley Jr. famously feuded with Gore Vidal. Moreover, recalled Michael Kinsley in The New York Times, Buckley famously claimed that he could and did write a column in 20 minutes. (Dublin Courier Herald, GA)
Thomas Frank Speaks Apr 22, 2008
Frank's declaration that our "middle-class republic" has been replaced "by a plutocracy" is the sort of pompous after-dinner remark more typically belched out by aging haute populists like Lewis Lapham, Gore Vidal, Kevin Phillips, and Michael M. Thomas (all of whom, one can't help feeling, pine secretly for the days when privilege was based on bloodlines) than from lively young thinkers like Frank. This raises the depressing possibility that success is turning Frank into a windy, generalizing... (Slate)
LA Times Festval of Books Apr 20, 2008
Gore Vidal in Conversation with Jane Smiley. Current Interest: Right & Left. (Suite101.com)
Don't know much about history Apr 20, 2008
In fact, fiction based on real people and events has become mainstay of novelists from Gore Vidal to first-timer Nancy Horan, who found drama in the life of Frank Lloyd Wright. For the nonfiction writer, history also comes in handy for twisting into just the proper shape to fit a conclusion or make a point. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
'A Catered Affair' puts dignity back on menu Apr 18, 2008
Based on a 1956 film written by Gore Vidal and a teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky, Affair focuses on Aggie and Tom Hurley, a middle-aged, working-class couple whose only son and favored child has just died serving in the Korean War. When their daughter, Janey, abruptly decides to run off and marry her longtime beau, Aggie's grief is compounded by guilt, and she is forced to confront questions and doubts stemming from her own past. (USA Today -- Life)
ABC debate coverage a tabloid affair Apr 18, 2008
" Bugs Raplin wrote on Apr 17, 2008 9:23 AM:" Charles "Charley" Gibson was interviewing Gore Vidal on "Good Morning America" a few years ago, and during the interview Vidal brought up some inconsistencies in the government explanation of the Oklahoma City bombing. Gibson was in New York; Vidal in Italy, and ,of course, this interview was conducted via satellite. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Choctaw Nation to receive historic papers, letters and telegrams Apr 12, 2008
This archive contains a variety of papers, letters and telegrams to and from Choctaw chiefs of the 19th and 20th centuries, and includes telegrams and letters from Will Rogers and Senator Thomas Gore, the first senator from the new state of Oklahoma and grandfather of noted author Gore Vidal. The archive is valued at $25,000 and was given to the fund by a private donor. (Durant Daily Democrat, OK)
Hollywood's 'secret' survival guide Apr 12, 2008
Heston, too, let himself be "set up" by a range of mischief-makers from Gore Vidal to Michael Moore. The flustered actor walked out of an onscreen Moore interview, and let Vidal draw him into a bizarre debate over the supposedly homoerotic undertones of "Ben-Hur." In his autobiography, Vidal said that he and director William Wyler had agreed that the Heston-Stephen Boyd relationship in the film was too distanced and that an erotic subtext was therefore added. (Variety)
It's a mad, bad world Apr 11, 2008
The film features interviews with Gore Vidal, Tariq Ali and Noam Chomsky. Petty acknowledges that when it come to talking about the failings of the West, these names fall squarely into the "usual suspects" category and were sought because "I thought they would be big names that might make the film (more) credible". (The Age)
Global Haywire Apr 10, 2008
There are the usual clips of George Bush saying dumb things and the wonderfully acidic Gore Vidal pours scorn on all things Western. Less eloquent, but also less predictable, are the university students interviewed for the film. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
The Satire Recession Apr 9, 2008
Gore Vidal once said that you should never pass up an opportunity to have sex or go on television, but that was before AIDS. And cable. No one seems to have pointed this out to the people doling out stale wisecracks on Not Just Another Cable News Show (Saturdays at 7 p.m., ET), CNN's new misadventure in comedy. (Slate)
In 'Johnny One-Eye,' reading to experience history Mar 23, 2008
Gore Vidal once said that any reader who gets his history from historical fiction gets the history he deserves ... And while he pushes too hard in a few places, he has subtitled his book "A Tale of the American Revolution." Take it as fair warning and heed Gore Vidal. (Boston Globe)
Events pro and con mark invasion anniversary Mar 17, 2008
SAN DIEGO Acclaimed author Gore Vidal was among about 500 people who gathered in San Diego's City Heights neighborhood yesterday to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and to call for an end to the war. Vidal, 82, a Los Angeles resident, said he hopes President Bush's departure from office in January will bring about a dramatic change in the nation's policy on the war. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-TribuneMarching to mark an anniversary Mar 16, 2008
Author Gore Vidal spoke at an afternoon rally following a peaceful march on University Avenue. JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune A flag bearer leads the way at Saturday's rally. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Festival, parade highlight St. Patrick's Day Mar 15, 2008
Gore Vidal headlines anti-war march, rallies. SAN DIEGO: Author Gore Vidal is scheduled to appear at an anti-war demonstration in City Heights tomorrow marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
'Vain, querulous and a genius' Mar 8, 2008
"For those of us who arrived on the scene in the war years, McCullers was the young writer . . . an American legend from the beginning," Gore Vidal wrote on the publication of Clock Without Hands. Her fame was as much the creation of publicity as of talent. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Unforgettable William F. Buckley Mar 3, 2008
On one occasion Buckley appeared on a late-night program with the writer Gore Vidal, and Vidal accused Buckley of being a "crypto-Nazi." Incensed, Buckley called Vidal a "goddamn queer." Both men ended up suing the other ... On one occasion Buckley appeared on a late-night program with the writer Gore Vidal, and Vidal accused Buckley of being a "crypto-Nazi." Incensed, Buckley called Vidal a "goddamn queer." Both men ended up suing the other. (Townhall.com)
Carter, Clarkson and Booth are among guests making Hay Mar 3, 2008
Other guests will include Naomi Klein, John Irving, Gore Vidal and Ian McEwan. Hanif Kureishi will speak about his latest novel, Something To Tell You, and Karen Armstrong - author of The Bible: A Biography - will explore one of the most influential texts of all time. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Read on... Mar 1, 2008
Five people whom I'd like to see answer this survey: Gore Vidal, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tony Benn (the British politician, interviewed in Sicko) Segolene Royal, and W.B. Yeats. Saffron Burrows, star of 'The Bank Job,' out on March 7. (Variety)
William F. Buckley Jr., conservative icon, dies Feb 28, 2008
His televised punditry got Mr. Buckley into trouble in 1968, when he and the novelist Gore Vidal squared off as analysts on ABC during the Democratic convention. Vidal so enraged Mr. Buckley that at one point he shouted on air, "Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in the goddam face.". (Boston Globe)
Eloquent champion of conservatives dies Feb 28, 2008
Buckley's career also had its share of controversy, including a long feud with writer Gore Vidal. During a televised debate at the 1968 Democratic national convention in Chicago, on the police crackdown of protestors there, Vidal referred to Buckley as a "crypto-Nazi." Buckley threatened to "sock" Vidal and called him a gay epithet. (USA Today -- Life)
William F. Buckley: Mandarin of Right-Wing TV Feb 28, 2008
The following night, as it happened, the guest was Gore Vidal, as assertive and bombastic on the liberal side as Buckley had been on the Tory. When Vidal departed, Downs formed a circle with his fingers and said that the far left and the far right tended to meet; they were indistinguishable in their radicalism. (Time.com)
Conservative icon dies Feb 28, 2008
In a 1968 television debate, when left-wing novelist and critic Gore Vidal called him a pro-war-crypto-Nazi, Buckley snarled an anti-gay slur and threatened to sock you in your. face and you'll stay plastered. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Death of the Great American Novel? Feb 24, 2008
Never mind Cormac McCarthy, Don Delillo and Thomas Pynchon are still writing, to say nothing of non-American authors (Salman Rushdie, Doris Lessing) and non-fiction writers (Gore Vidal, Bob Woodward). Sheets says that the publishing industry, being a global enterprise, places emphasis on "literary tofu". (Suite101.com)
I get attracted to unusual stuff: Aamir Jan 28, 2008
But Aamir himself was disappointed as he had come all the way to Jaipur to meet the famous writer Gore Vidal who did not turn up finally. Till the last minute the organisers kept me in the dark about Gore Vidal s absence, he said rather jokingly. (Hindu)
* [SUNDAY PROFILE] Studs Terkel spins a good yarn Jan 27, 2008
") This is not because he talks slowly, but because confining himself to the standard linear narrative structure - a beginning, middle and end, and then on to the next tale - is not his style. He is a raconteur. He makes detours to talk about his experiences. His speaking style owes more to jazz improvisation than classical (very loud jazz improv as he is quite deaf). He goes where the stories take him. And if you're prepared to go with him, it is quite good fun. His book is written just as he... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
POLITICAL PARTY TIME! Jan 24, 2008
This is the irrepressible Gore Vidal answering the question: "What would have happened in 1963 had Khrushchev, and not Kennedy, been assassinated?". HISTORY HAPPENING before our very eyes. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Let me tell you a story Jan 23, 2008
") This is not because he talks slowly, but because confining himself to the standard linear narrative structure - a beginning, middle and an end, and then on to the next tale - is not his style. He is a raconteur. He makes detours to talk about his experiences.His speaking style owes more to jazz improvisation than classical (very loud jazz improv as he is quite deaf). He goes where the stories take him. And if you're prepared to go with him, it is quite good fun. His book is written just as he... (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Cats pounce as Eagles implode Jan 12, 2008
I have never quite understood splitting infinitives but have long treasured the story of Gore Vidal, who, after viewing proofs of his book, sent a message to his publisher: "When I split an infinitive, it F---ING well stays split!" But do go on, Jared ) "So I'm not going to help them when they, for whatever reason, disrespect me." (No, I have no idea what he is particularly on about, either, but here he is expressing nothing more than his rights. "I've had plenty of lies written about me. I had... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Sport)
United States Dec 30, 2007
There's a scarcely credible blurb from Gore Vidal ('Beautifully written, hypnotically mesmerising. as good as Theodore Dreiser') and an effusive note of thanks to Shirley MacLaine for 'taking time to help edit' his book. (Guardian Unlimited)
The real story behind the masterpiece Dec 22, 2007
Nearly half a century later, in 1989, Gore Vidal caused his own cultural ruckus when he wrote in The New York Review Of Books that Rosebud was Hearst's name for his lover's clitoris. But Rosebud was also the plot query - or so-called McGuffin - that drove the narrative of the film. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Gordon: Real News Dec 22, 2007
Jay counts among his heroes Mark Twain ("He had the courage to go where the facts led him -- there weren't any taboos -- and he did it with skill"), and he signed up perhaps this generation's Twain, Gore Vidal, along with Harper's magazine editor Lewis Lapham for his advisory board. Over time, that board came to include many of the leading figures in today's alternative news media -- Jeff Cohen of FAIR, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, John Nichols and Jonathan Schell of The Nation, Mark Karlin of... (Zmag.org)
In Praise Of Mr. Write Dec 21, 2007
Gore Vidal, who abandoned. "> Friday, December 21, 2007 Last Update: 08:35 AM EST lect> IN PRAISE OF MR. WRITE THE STAGE'S AUTHORS HAVE THEIR OWN TALES Loading new images... December 21, 2007 -- THEY say that, in the theater, the playwright is king. So today's column is a royal procession - Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter and Noel Coward. Gore Vidal, who abandoned Broadway in the '60s because he was tired of "being graded" by critics, has just completed an unfinished Tennessee Williams play... (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Jim Dine, Tony Labat and Ruth Eckland: wrecks, lies and videotape Dec 16, 2007
The train passes over and over again on the looped video, evoking "endless war for endless peace," as Gore Vidal calls it, and the ever-receding horizon of public debt that it entails. The very passivity of the camera reads as an expression of helplessness. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Read 'em and weep ... bookstores thrive in county Dec 14, 2007
Others include the outstanding selection, the palpably serious intent, the staggering history of author appearances: Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal (not together. Allen Ginsberg; Francoise Gilot; James Watson, Francis Crick (not together. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Historians Embrace Schlesinger Papers Dec 10, 2007
Between former Secretary of State Dean Acheson and historian C. Vann Woodward, it includes Bacall, Truman Capote, Bill Clinton, Walter Cronkite, Marlene Dietrich, John Kenneth Galbraith, Allen Ginsburg, Albert Gore Sr. and Jr., Lillian Hellman, Hubert Humphrey, Alfred Kazin, Henry Kissinger, Norman Mailer, George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Gore Vidal and Kurt Vonnegut. While only a sampling of the letters was available to examine, a fleeting look revealed how Schlesinger freely offered opinions and... (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Angry letters Dec 10, 2007
Mario Vargas Llosa famously contended for the Peruvian presidency (the local equivalent would be Julian Barnes putting up for mayor of London) and even in the US so waspish and un-American a figure as Gore Vidal managed to attract more votes than John F Kennedy when he ran for Congress in 1960s. In fact, the connection between politics and literature in this country is more extensive than it seems. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Why are some Christians wound-up over “The Golden Compass?” Dec 7, 2007
wrote on Dec 6, 2007 11:41 AM:" Again 'something wicked this way' has apparently arrived hmm. Whenever this 'JH' below posts I do detect a distinct whiff of sulpher. Does he also wear a 'pink swastika' and will he be celebrating Herr Adolf's birthday in front of the Sons of Abraham synagogue? Gore Vidal once accused William F. Buckley of being a 'crypto-nazi'; I think we have one on Jimmy's blog, and not so 'crypto' at that... ". neves wrote on Dec 6, 2007 11:21 AM:" The Golden Compass is based... (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
New York Review of Books co-founder Dec 5, 2007
Hardwick was as outspoken and opinionated as any of the early contributors, including Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer. Her themes, however, were close to those of novelist Mary McCarthy, another early contributor. (Los Angeles Times)
Neither Here Nor There: All I want for Christmas . . . 11-25-2007 Nov 25, 2007
Plainview Daily Herald - Neither Here Nor There: All I want for Christmas. Neither Here Nor There: All I want for Christmas. (Plainview Daily Herald, TX)
Mailer knew his way around sentence structure Nov 19, 2007
If he didn't rise above them all to take his place with Faulkner, Dostoevski and Tolstoy, as he at one time envisioned himself doing, he was at the very least right in there with the best of his contemporaries who include, after all, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Grace Paley, Flannery O'Connor, John Updike and two particular thorns in Mailer's tough, scarred hide: Truman Capote and Gore Vidal. But after charging onto the literary landscape with The Naked and the Dead (1948), his bold, brash,... (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CNN Defends 'Bitch' Hype, Kurtz Chastises Sanchez Nov 16, 2007
GORE VIDAL: You're a liar and a hypocrite, you're a plague. TEICHNER: Watch his verbal combat with Gore Vidal on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. (MediaResearch.org)
Goodman: Fearless Journalist Nov 16, 2007
"How could it be, at the end of World War II, we were the most honored, powerful nation in the world? 'Honored' is the key word. Today we are the most despised. How come? The American public itself has no memory of the past. Gore Vidal uses the phrase 'United States of Amnesia.' I say, United States of Alzheimer's. What do we know about it -- why are we there in Iraq? They say, when you attack our policy, you are attacking the boys. On the contrary, they're defending those boys. Welcoming them... (Zmag.org)
AMY GOODMAN: Terkel's memoir well worth waiting for Nov 15, 2007
Gore Vidal uses the phrase 'United States of Amnesia. I say, United States of Alzheimer's. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Appreciation: Mailer was 'dauntless' Nov 15, 2007
More than such peers as Gore Vidal, William Styron or Kurt Vonnegut, Mailer was the writer as Writer, not a career to be printed on a business card, but a calling, an identity, with all the follies and privileges to which a man alert to his own gifts felt entitled. He wrote letters to the president, sounded off on talk shows, likened himself to Picasso, placed himself on a "plateau" with Jacqueline Kennedy. (CNN -- Showbiz)
Why we should weep for Mailer Nov 14, 2007
In 1971, after Gore Vidal wrote "there has been from Henry Miller to Norman Mailer to Charles Manson a logical progression", Mailer head-butted Vidal. He head-butted Truman Capote too. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
