THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

Gore Vidal died today at his home of complications of pneumonia after being sick for a period of time. Vidal, 86, an author and playwright, has contributed hundreds of essays, best-selling novels and Tony nominated plays to the world of entertainment. Among his bestselling novels are “Myra Breckenridge” and “Lincoln, and the recently revived play “The Best Man.”

Gore Vidal twice ran for a political office, including a 1960 run for Congress in the 29th District in New York and for a California Senate seat in 1982. He lost both races, though the New York Times quotes him as saying “There is not one human problem that could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.”

Known for his wit and sharp-tongue, Vidal cut to the quick on any number of topics, but for him, the truth of his words rang clear, and to some extent, the world listened. Of his death, The Hour quotes Vidal with, "Because there is no cosmic point to the life that each of us perceives on this distant bit of dust at galaxy's edge," he once wrote, "all the more reason for us to maintain in proper balance what we have here. Because there is nothing else. No thing. This is it. And quite enough, all in all."

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GORE VIDAL GONE. Now we'll never see that novel he was working on in his "Narratives of Empire" series. (He spoke about it on CSPAN TV about 3 years ago.)

I feel lost and almost inconsolable now, having been acquainted with Vidal and his works for almost 40 years. One of the memories I will always cherish is of meeting him at the Smithsonian Institution in September 2000 (where he had consented to an interview about his life and work --- what an entertaining night that was!) and receiving his autograph on my hardcover copy of "THE GOLDEN AGE".

Mr. Vidal, I salute you, sir.


(I will be interested to know from my fellow Goodreads members their impressions of Gore Vidal and --- for any who, like me, have read several of his works, their thoughts about them.)