Sex, Death and Money

1968, first paperback edition, from Bantam
Gore Vidal
Sex, Death and Money
Original price 95 cents, purchase price unknown
Very worn paperback with detached front cover
B-

Although Vidal does address the three topics in his eye-catching title, most of these essays are about literature and politics, which are related to the three title taboos but not as interesting.  For the most part, I was bored by his literary criticism, dealing as it does with writers I've never read.  I will admit that his snipes at Mailer and Miller (Henry) are a nice warm-up for Kate Millett's perspective on them in Sexual Politics (coming up in the now not too distant year of 1970).  But I have no interest in John O'Hara, John Horne Burns, or John Dos Passos, or the non-Johns he covers.

The political essays are better, with still significant figures such as Goldwater and RFK.  The "sex" essays are first, the best of the lot being his thoughts on Suetonius's Twelve Caesars, especially after seeing Vidal's take on the later Roman Emperor, Julian. 

This book came out the same year as Myra Breckinridge, which was too mean-spirited for me to finish reading when I tried it years ago.  Here Vidal's sharp tongue has worthy targets, and I did laugh out loud a couple times at his wit.  1968 was also the year Vidal clashed with William F. Buckley during the Republican Convention.  The contrast between even the essays of 1967 and the parts from 1968-- the introduction, the June 6th note to the previous spring's essay on "the holy family" of the Kennedys, and the last essay, "The Liberal Dilemma"-- is striking, as events turned more violent and chaotic.  Vidal was never an optimist, but that year seems to have made his hopes dimmer, although he still believes in the power of "yet." 

The earliest essays are from the mid-1950s, when Vidal had mostly turned from novels to teleplays, and his insights into early television are intriguing.  According to Wikipedia, he was writing mysteries under a pseudonym, but it was a setback when The City and the Pillar was so controversial.  He discusses that early novel, as well as compares his literary career to his contemporaries.  OK, the section on books isn't all dull, but the gossip is better than the critiques of style.