Collection: Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal (1925–2012) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright and public intellectual whose work engaged with American political life, classical antiquity and sexual freedom across more than six decades. His novel The City and the Pillar (1948) was among the first mainstream American novels to treat homosexuality without apology. Vidal's wit, his classical education and his long residence in Italy made him a transatlantic figure whose opinions were sought on culture, politics and sexuality by publications including BUTT Magazine, in which he appeared in interview. His collected essays and his memoir Palimpsest (1995) remain among the essential documents of American literary life in the twentieth century.