“Nothing is easier nowadays than to get a feeling of being entirely surrounded by Gore Vidal,” Richard H. Rovere wrote in a 1960 Talk of the Town story. At that time, Vidal was a regular guest on television talk shows, his play “The Best Man” was a hit on Broadway, and several movies made from his screenplays or based on his books were in the theatres. If that was not enough, Vidal was also running for Congress in upstate New York. Asked by Rovere how he expected to win, the candidate responded, “By superior industry.” Vidal, who lived a long and industrious life, died yesterday, in Los Angeles. During the nineteen-nineties, he contributed frequently to our pages Here’s a guide to his pieces in The New Yorker.
“How I Survived the Fifties”: Excerpts from Vidal’s memoir, “Palimpsest.”
“Dinner with the Princess”*: Letter to Louis Auchincloss about dining with Princess Margaret.
“The Woman Behind the Women”*: On Clare Boothe Luce.
“Just Between Cousins”*: An exchange of letters between Vidal and Auchincloss.
“Reel History”*: John Quincy Adams and the Amistad affair.
“Coached by Camelot”: On J.F.K.
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