Live From Golgotha [Paperback]

Gore Vidal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 1993

Thanks to the latest breakthrough in computer software, a cyberpunk- known bleakly as The Hacker- is destroying the tapes that describe the mission of Jesus Christ and His Gospel or Good News. The Sacred Story is vanishing rapidly. Fortunately one tape is Hackerproof, that of Timothy, who in his youth, was Robin to Saint Paul's Batman. Now, in Timothy's old age, Saint Paul comes to him in a vision and begs him to write down the True Gospel, otherwise all is lost. And thanks to the wonders of modern techonology, a TV crew will pre-record, live from Golgotha, the Crucifixion in order to boost NBC during the upcoming ratings battle. Will it take place or not? Will the Hacker manage to destroy all the records, including Timothy's? Will Jesus's weight problem be an image problem in the light of today's high standards? Tune in to Gore Vidal's classic of the greatest story never told- until now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A marvellous specimen of parodic invention. THE OBSERVER Vidal's prose is a jangling mixture of Hollywood tough talk, biblical jargon and rampant camp. His japes at the expense of religion, history and taste add up to a work of highly serious humour. Iconoclasm at its most challenging and witty. MAIL ON SUNDAY Wonderfully outrageous SUNDAY TELEGRAPH in the tradition of MYRA BRECKENBRIDGE, MYRON and DULUTH, but more pointed and more daring. FINANCIAL TIMES

About the Author

Gore Vidal has received the National Book Award, written numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been a political activist and as Democratic candidate for Congress from upstate New York, he received the most votes of any Democrat in a half-century.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Abacus (September 23, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349104786
• ISBN-13: 978-0349104782
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,471,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gore Vidal has received the National Book Award, written numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been a political activist and as Democratic candidate for Congress from upstate New York, he received the most votes of any Democrat in a half-century.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blasphemous and un-put-downable, November 15, 2001

By 

clare pitcher (london, london United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live from Golgotha (Hardcover)

Entirely blasphemous. Astonishingly simple. Entirely engaging and written in such a black vein of humour that you won't be able to help yourself. Questions the foundation of the Christian faith: can you ever remain certain that it was Christ who was nailed to that Cross having read this?
If you loved Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" you'll adore this book.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant idea drowning in American controversialism, January 1, 2000

By 

Bjorn Clasen (Rolléngergronn, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live from Golgotha (Hardcover)

The idea of the plot in »Live From Golgotha« is so simple it's genius: the battle about transmitting live from the crucifixion of Jesus. I wonder why nobody has got that idea before. That alone is enough to deserve one star.

But the story itself does not deserve more than an additional two stars. It drowns in overexposed attempts to be controversial, in the typical American way of wanting to provoke the authorities of moral.

This novel is a mixture of the movies »Back To The Future« (I, II and III), »Life Of Brian« and »12 Monkeys« and the filmatization of »The Last Temptation Of Christ«. Gore Vidal has a lot of good ideas but he does not seem to tidy up in order to "kill his darlings" among them. However, Vidal's humour has a certain level, balancing on the thin line between Woody Allen'ism and blasphemy. (Being an atheist, I am not the right person to judge whether the author actually does step over the line and into blasphemy).

But the story fades, in and out. Mostly out, towards the end of the book. Compared to the expectations you start with, knowing the plot, it fades to disappointment.

So, reading »Live From Golgotha«, you get some good laughs, a few chills because of Vidal's close-to-blasphemy, from time to time some excitement about how the story is going to develop... but in the end, closing the book, the feeling is kind of empty.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars APPALLING, August 26, 2006

By 

K. Fergeson (Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live from Golgotha (Hardcover)

This book is a disgrace. My copy is going in the trash immediately. As a Christian, I don't want to keep at least this copy in the market. If it was possible to give zero stars I would do so.