Gore vidal, original name eugene luther gore vidal, jr. Caroline, blaise, and peter sanford, james burden day, and clay overbury all return as characters from. Get the best deals on gore vidal hardcover books with dust jacket when you shop the largest online selection at. Gore vidal author signed autographed hc dj book smithsonian institution 1998 new.
As the capstone on his historical novelization of the rise and decline of the american empire, it is a fitting end to a series which enlightens and entertains. Make offer gore vidal the golden age signed 1st edition 2000. The golden age offers up united states history as only gore vidal can, with unrivaled penetration, wit, and high drama, allied to a classical view of human fate. The golden age is the concluding volume in gore vidals celebrated and bestselling narratives of empire seriesa unique pageant of the national experience from the united states entry into world war two to the end of the korean war. Often, vidals heterodoxy affected the quality of his work. I previously read burr and lincoln, both of which i enjoyed more than this novel.
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. The sharpeyed and sympathetic witnesses to these events are caroline sanford, hollywood actress turned. Excerpt from the golden age by gore vidal, plus links to. Vidals last american chronicle rewrites history and his own literary past. Free shipping on many items browse your favorite brands affordable prices. The golden age is a book that has been sitting on my special keeps book cabinet since i met the author joan london back at a stories on stage author in 2015. The golden age its title is deeply ironic and bitter concludes in february 2000, with an aging peter sanford visiting a most unusual friend to tape a political discussion for american tv. The encounter permits a few haunting moments as vidal once again brings together the elements of his life and work. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. The golden age, a historical novel published in 2000 by gore vidal, is the seventh and final novel in his narratives of empire series. It is a supreme entertainment that is not only sure to be a major bestseller but that will also change listeners understanding of american history and power. Farrell suddenly visualized the opening shot to the film that he had planned to make of daphne du mauriers lush novel rebecca.
The golden age is the capstone to the series of fine historical novels known as narratives of empire about america through the ages which gore vidal. The sharpeyed and sympathetic witnesses to these events are caroline. Reviewed by harry kloman from the pittsburgh postgazettte, sunday, oct. Gore vidal the golden age is the concluding volume in gore vidals american empire novels a unique pageant of the national experience from the united states entry into world war two to the end of the korean. The golden age is set in the years 19391954, and in 2000. The difference between the self that is out for the public to see and the self that is real and working behind the curtain is a. The story concludes in february 2000, with an aging peter. The golden age an american chronicle novel by gore vidal doubleday. His first novel, williwaw, written when he was 19 years old and serving in the army.
A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. It is a supreme entertainment that will also change listeners understanding of american history and power. Its title refers, ironically, to the misplaced exuberance and hope of young americans at the end of world war ii. The golden age is vidals crowning achievement, a vibrant tapestry of. Read free book excerpt from the golden age by gore vidal, page 2 of 2. Gore vidal hollywood a novel of america in the 1920s signed 1st edition 1990. The golden age home, though filled with love and compassion for the young children recovering there, acts as a cage to all of the children, family and staff. The golden age is vidals crowning achievement, a vibrant tapestry of american political and cultural life from 1939 to 1954, when the epochal events of world war ii and the cold war transformed america, once and for all, for good or ill, from a republic into an empire. The historical novel is once again in vogue, and gore vidal stands as its undisputed american master. In all, the golden age short shrifts the fictional characters of the earlier book, altering their affinities for one another to suit the new narrative, and replacing their compelling introspection with a novel of ideas of the sort vidal has come to write about history and politics. I recall enjoying the author event given by joan, to mark the release of her much anticipated third book, the golden age.
The golden age, which takes place from 1939 to 1954, is vidals seventh and last novel in the series. In your new novel, the golden age, the character peter sanford, pondering how fdr had hidden so much about pearl harbor from the american public in order to get the nation into war for whatever. Gore vidal host bob edwards talks with author gore vidal about his new novel, the golden age. The golden age 10 setting the setting of the golden age is paramount to how the story unfolds. The newest entry in vidals narratives of empire series which includes burr, lincoln and 1876 is a densely plotted, hugely ambitious novel that manages to. Vidals fiction strives mightily to transform the faces on the mount rushmore monument into rubble and scree. The second roosevelt in the white house receives similar treatment in the golden age. He had just pulled into the driveway to laurel house, set high above the slowchurning potomac river, and there before him. A series of historical essays masquerading as a historical novel, it endeavors to present vidals philosophy regarding our.
Since then he has written twentythree novels, five plays, many screenplays, short stories, well over two hundred essays, and a memoir. Gore vidals first novel, williwaw, was published in 1946 when he was barely out of his teens. The golden age completes the story of the sanfords, fictional descendants of aaron burr, and their friends, lovers and nemeses. The golden age is the seventh and last in the american chronicle series by gore vidal. However, if you have a good encyclopedia in your pc, that would be a useful companion to any vidal novel. American author and public intellectual gore vidals historical novel the golden age 2000 is the last book in his narratives of empire heptalogy, which chronicles the long evolution of american imperialism and nationalism. Ghosts are mentioned on numerous occasions and are used for one particular metaphor in the novel. The characters in the novel writers, senators, proprietors of political magazines and their countless relatives are all so wellheeled that their conversation, when it isnt a clumsy vehicle for vidals cranky politics, amounts to little more than chatter. The golden age gore vidal delivers the final volume of the american chronicle series, his sweeping, scoresettling fictional history of the united states. His first novel, williwaw, written when he was nineteen years old and serving in the army, appeared in the spring of 1946. The golden age is vidals crowning achievement, a vibrant tapestry of american political and cultural life from 1939 to 1954, when the epochal events of world. The golden age might have benefited from footnotes, but novels rarely have footnotes, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no cliffs notes reader in the works.
But of the actual lives of ordinary americans, we read nothing in the golden age. Though its narrative temperature remains dangerously low, entertainment value is dependably high in this seventh and last of vidals delectable novels of empire. The golden age follows chronologically washington, d. Gore vidals the golden age is a magnificent book by our greatest living author and man of letters. The golden age brings the series full circle, revisiting the. Golden age metaphor, the classical term used as a metaphor for a period of perceived greatness. Gore vidals novel takes a different view of america from world war ii to the korean war. The golden age by gore vidal pittsburgh postgazette.
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