Tuesday, October 11, 2005
The City and the Pillar
Many people have read this book and expected (because it was the first American book with openly gay characters) one thing (a homoerotic love story), but because it is a Gore Vidal novel and he is a subtle and nuanced writer (a self described truth teller (of course his ego is incredibly large, but his truths are truer than most so I let it slide)) it is more a study of living in the margins 1940’s America. Americans then (as now) viewed homosexuals mostly as stereotypical effeminate fairies and Gore Vidal wanted to take away the veil and show that homosexuals are varied like any other group in society.
I loved this book, but I am biased—I like most Gore Vidal novels (I have never been able to finish Lincoln and Burr wasn’t as good the second time around, but that’s just personal preference). This is not to say that the book is somewhat dated—it was written in the 40’s. But I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a few days. If you have never read a Gore Vidal novel this is a good place to start.
I loved this book, but I am biased—I like most Gore Vidal novels (I have never been able to finish Lincoln and Burr wasn’t as good the second time around, but that’s just personal preference). This is not to say that the book is somewhat dated—it was written in the 40’s. But I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a few days. If you have never read a Gore Vidal novel this is a good place to start.
# posted by Tom Smith @ 9:10 AM 
