The Man Who Wrote Burr

[nightdog_barks]

Literary lion Gore Vidal is dead at 86.

Comments

[third_owl]

Fascinating man. I don't think I've ever read anything of his, or known much about him at all, though his name is one I've recognized for ages.

It's so sad to me that he lost his Jimmie.

[mer_duff]

Very sad. I loved his take on history - the Narratives of Empire books, of course (Burr is one of my all-time favourite novels - so cheeky!) - but also Julian and Creation.

I was actually just going through some old New York Times Magazines the other day and found a "Questions For" with him that was wonderfully outrageous. Final exchange - "Well, it was a great pleasure talking to you." "I doubt that."

[pwcorgigirl]

Just a collection of Gore Vidal's one-line character sketches/assassinations would make a great read. The man had the DNA of a scorpion. :-D

[pwcorgigirl]

Maeve Binchy is also dead. If there's a literary afterlife, her sweetness just balanced out Gore's acid tongue.