The Smithsonian Institution [Hardcover]

Gore Vidal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 1998

In 1939 a teenaged science prodigy is summoned to the Smithsonian and becomes involved in a scheme to change history. Combining themes from his American history novels with those from what Vidal calls his "inventions" ("Myra Breckinridge; Live from Golgotha"), "The Smithsonian Institution" presents a tour de force of outrageous satire and social commentary, seriousness and high spirits, autobiography and reportage, science fiction and historical romance, full of quintessentially Vidalian jokes Print ads. Author publicity (General Fiction) .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having astutely explored several historical periods in his fiction (Lincoln, etc.), Vidal has now produced an eccentric novel about a literal time machine and a boy who uses it to save the world (or one version of the world) from within the headquarters of Washington, D.C.'s public museum complex. On Good Friday, 1939, 13-year-old T. is summoned from his D.C. boarding school to the Mall for a mysterious meeting. It seems the outwardly average (if unusually attractive) young man has scribbled, in the margins of a math test, an equation that may be essential to the upcoming war effort. Cloistered with Oppenheimer, Einstein, Charles Lindbergh, the Founding Fathers and other historical personages who have been kept alive in the Smithsonian's magical exhibits, T. struggles to solve the mysteries of space-time, prevent the coming war (in which he is doomed to die) and hold on to cradle-robbing Frankie Cleveland, the immortal 22-year-old version of Grover's First Lady. Part Alice in Wonderland, part Twain's Mysterious Stranger, part fictionalized autobiography, this bagatelle reintroduces many of the characters and themes already treated in Vidal's historical novels and memoirs. T. bears at least enough resemblance to Vidal's well-publicized great love?a St. Albans classmate who died at Iwo Jima?to explain the novelist's obvious affection for him. If the tale of T. remains a mostly private, somewhat rueful joke, it will no doubt charm Vidal's most devoted readers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-T. is 13 in 1939 and possesses, albeit unknowingly, the secret formula that will complement Einstein's theory and possibly alter the outcome of history as we know it. Because of his doodles on an algebra exam, the powers that beAand readers are never quite sure until the end who the powers areAarrange for him to be deposited at the doors of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Once inside, he is seduced in the Native American exhibit by a charming young thing he calls Squaw, but who turns out to be Frankie Cleveland, one of the womenAa very young oneAfrom the First Ladies exhibit. He soon realizes that the Institution contains many exhibits that come alive when the doors close, as well as laboratories for secret experiments. In his travels, he soon understands that he can visualize mathematical possibilities and respond to Einstein, Oppenheimer, and other scientists who are closed up in the museum along with a lobotomized Abraham Lincoln and even a statue representing T., killed in action during World War II. Obviously, much belief must be suspended and the time-travel episodes and glances at history both as it was and might have been are convoluted, but Vidal does know his American history. Through this disjointed, lightweight page-turner, readers pick up a historical awareness, especially of the presidents, almost painlessly. T.'s coming of age and subsequent romps with Frankie are risqu?, but all in fun and might be a further inducement to read on. An intriguing introduction to Vidal as well as enjoyable historical fiction.
Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (February 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375501215
• ISBN-13: 978-0375501210
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,707,358 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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction or Science Fiction?, January 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Smithsonian Institution: A Novel (Paperback)

Centering around a main character named T., The Smithsonian Institution is part science fiction and part historical fact. T. is a child blessed with a gift for mathematics, and is enlisted by the government to help with the Manhattan project in the early 1940's. T. soon finds himself immersed in a world of greater fantasy than reality. He is hamming it up with Abe Lincoln, and discussing physics theories with Albert Einstein. As he searches for a way to end the war and create a nuclear bomb, T. finds that stranger things than normal are happening at the Smithsonian. T. soon finds himself consumed with time travel and changing history to stop a war that he knows will have a deadly outcome for himself. Gore Vidal has written a wildly entertaining book but it is not for the unimaginative. The reader must be willing to follow Vidal on his sidetracks and accept whatever strange conclusion they may have without using the historical reality available for judgement. Anyone who enjoys history and science fiction will enjoy this book, as long as it is not looked to for strict historical accuracy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A metaphor for American History, December 12, 2000

By 

M. Gream (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Smithsonian Institution: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is Vidal comment on the american society and how it came to be - and could be, and it is about presidency and running the country - and overall, quite philosophical and insightful view on the american condition. I think the other reviewers fail to see the depth of the work.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a touching love story...?, January 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Smithsonian Institution (Hardcover)

Unlike all the previous reviews of this novel I am not going to dwell on the time machine aspect. Instead I would just like to highlight the love story weaved through the text between Gore Vidal and the main character T....as Jimmie Trimble (Gore Vidal's friend whose was killed on Iwo Jima March 1 1945...one of the bloodiest battles fought in the Pacific). But in this time domain Vidal saves his lover.