Customer Reviews

Death in the fifth position

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Gore Vidal's first book as the mystery writer Edgar Box, a pseudonym he was forced to take after the notoriety of The City and the Pillar made him a public figure and critical dartboard. The City and the Pillar was pilloried by some for its portrayal of homosexuality; here the fictional Box goes in the other direction and exposes us to predatory male ballet stars and diva fag hags. All, ultimately, in savage good fun and the gossipy good writing Vidal is famous for. He declared it took him eight days to write; well, the book's a quick read, and despite the dated-ness of its settings (forties NYC) remains a racy, picaresque thriller which in the best spirit of its author rocks the conventions of its genre

Earlier this year I wrote a review of Nancy Mitford's classic Love in a Cold Climate and praised Vintage for re-issuing it and other Mitford novels. Well, they're at it again, this time re-issuing Gore Vidal's three Edgar Box mysteries in handsome new editions. Of the three, the best is the first (and gay inclusive), Death in the Fifth Position.

Peter Cutler Sargeant III is a NYC press agent hired by the Grand Saint Petersburg Ballet in hopes that he can put a positive spin on the company's celebrated choreographer Jed Wilbur, one time member of the Communist Party. Set during the time of HUAC and the blacklists, Communist ties quickly become secondary to murder, and our PR man finds himself an amateur detective intimately mixed up with various members of the troupe.

Vidal was well acquainted with the NYC dance world and dated, among others, Harold Lang (the lead in Fancy Free) and John Kriza (the lead in Billy the Kid). Death in the Fifth Position is short (in length, not story), acerbic and witty; full of colorful characters and theatre "types" such as the ingénue, the prima donna, the impresario, the hard nosed cop, and a cavalcade of queens - most notably the lecherous male soloist Louis Giraud. The mystery is well plotted, moves at an impressive pace and is, most importantly, absorbing and fun from start to finish.

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard will release Death in the Fifth Position, Death before Bedtime and Death Likes it Hot March 22; now, if they would just re-issue Thieves Fall Out, another gay-inclusive mystery Vidal penned (this time as Cameron Cay), what a treat that would be.

Back in the early 1950s Gore Vidal was an up and coming young novelist who had annoyed some very important people at The New York Times Book Review. Unable to get his books reviewed, Vidal struggled with being a gifted-but-starving writer. Fortunately he ran into a publisher who encouraged him to write mysteries under a pseudonym. Death in the Fifth Position was the first of three mysteries Vidal published as Edgar Box during this period.

Death in the Fifth Position deals with murder in a ballet company. Its an intriguing plot with several surprising twists. The trademark Vidal acerbic wit is fully on display, making me wonder just how many people were really fooled by his Edgar Box alias. The story is redolent of its period: McCarthyism, labor unrest, Cold War, conflict over sexual and gender identity are all very apparent.

Death in the Fifth Position's plot and characters would guarantee it a wide audience. The fact that it was written by one of the twentieth century's finest American authors is a bonus that makes it even more appealing.

In New York City, as the House Un-American Activities Committee conducts hearings, the Grand Saint Petersburg Ballet hires public relations specialist Peter Cutler Sargent to create a positive spin to avert trouble since renowned choreographer Jed Wilbur was once a communist. He expects a relatively easy assignment by controlling the media though the director Ivan Washburn explains the pickets and an accusation letter have unnerved him especially as the fifth ballet to arrive in town.

However, a dark cloud surfaces when the star ballerina Ella Sutton dies during a performance by falling from thirty feet above the stage. Sargent investigates though NYPD Inspector Gleason tells "Harvard" to stick to the PR lies. He finds that behind the scenes of the ballet people are loaded with backstabbing machinations as rivalries and affairs are the norm for this troupe even as he hopes his new lover Jane Garden who replaced the unfortunate Ella is not the culprit.

This is a reprint of a Gore Vidal's first terrific novella written pseudonymously as Edgar Box due to his being blacklisted by the NY Times for the then controversial The City and the Pillar; the author gives kudos to brave publisher Victor Weybright for his support. The super storyline is obviously a theatre whodunit, but six decades later provides an interesting timely look at 1950s censorship as the present gurus want to rewrite Mark Twain. The novella is clever, but it is the cast starting with the PR amateur sleuth who makes for a wonderful night at the Russian Ballet.

Harriet Klausner

I found this novel absolutely boring from beginning to end. It is a waste of time. I regret having bought it.