A Thirsty Evil: Seven Short Stories [Hardcover]

Gore Vidal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1981

From the poignant realisation as an adult of the cruel brutality of childhood in 'The Robin', man then comes face to face with himself as a boy in 'A Moment of Green Laurel': both stories combining the nostalgia and fear that haunt us all in old age. Meanwhile, in 'Erlinda and Mr Coffin', Southern etiquette is unashamedly turned upside down in a tale of amateur theatricals reminiscent of Dickens and Victorian melodrama. Yet it is in 'Three Stratagems', 'The Zenner Trophy', 'Pages from an Abandoned Journal' and 'The Ladies in the Library' (with more than a hint of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice in the latter) that we see Vidal as we know him best: cynical and provocative in these subtle tales of what was known in those days as 'sexual inversion'.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Falling somewhere between the realms of Henry Adams and all of Monty Python, Gore Vidal has for many years served as America's own Tiresias - a seer and a scourge as well as an entertainer of the highest order JAY McINERNEY Vidal's combination of learning, wit and disdain gets into your blood. He can change the way you think - the only definition of a great writer which makes sense OBSERVER --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Gore Vidal is one of the greatest living American novelists & essayists & is the author of the 'Narratives of a Golden Age' series as well as countless other bestsellers. He has written numerous Hollywood screenplays, including BEN HUR, and ran as a Democratic candidate for Congress. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 126 pages
• Publisher: Gay Sunshine Pr (October 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0917342836
• ISBN-13: 978-0917342837
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,156,790 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection and My Introduction to Vidal, August 12, 2000

By 

Anon - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thirsty Evil: Seven Short Stories (Paperback)

This collection is very short, but very much a treat. It is the first work I read of Vidal's and I am very glad I ran into it (I saw it in Bargain Books at Barnes and Nobel, and such a low price on an author I'd been wanting to read was too tempting :-). The first story, "Three Stratagems," is a curious little gem about a hustler garnering the interest of a wealthy man. The atmosphere and narration are absorbing, and what happens at the end when the young hustler is in the rich man's room is truly surprising. "The Robin," is a short and disquieting piece about an old man looking back upon the cruelties of youth. "A Moment of Green Laurel" was definately interesting; as you read you strugle to figure out if the main character is crazy or the memories that haunt him do materialize in the way they do. At the end of the story, he finds himself face to face with himself as a young boy. "The Zenner Trophy" is a touching and aptly written piece. A boy is being evicted from his high school a mere couple weeks before graduation after being caught having never-specified homosexual relations with another student, but it is to be discovered that the closeted teacher sent to give him the news is taken it hard while the boy is seemingly indifferent; a great story on the commentary of the growing strength of each generation. "Erlinda and Mr Coffin," is not the books most entertaining piece, but it is decent anyway. It deals with the internal struggle of an old woman who fears what friens will think because she has a non-white girl staying in her boarding-house/hotel, as well as a dramatic fight between the girl--who has amazing voice-acting abilities--and the opporater of a local theatre. "Pages From An Abandoned Journal," is a fun, interesting story of the evolution of one man from being engaged to a woman, and the events that bring him to self realization. The story ends with him gay-clubbing and talking of his ex-lover, Bill. He meets some very interesting and entertaining characters on the way. The book ends with "The Ladies of the Library," which is a very intriguing piece reported to have many shades of Mann's A Death In Venice (I have not read the work yet, so I can not verify the similarities or their extent.)

This is a great collection, and a gay classic from when homosexuality was still called "sexual inversion."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gore Vidal, our underrated man of letters, June 3, 2002

By 

Curtis Lane (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thirsty Evil: Seven Short Stories (Paperback)

It seems that Gore Vidal never quite gets the attention he deserves. His is one of the sharpest and freshest intellects around, and his writing is as good as one might expect from that description. It is only his essays, however, that seem to get much attention, but I contend that his novels, and this--his only collection of short stories--deserve, no, demand equal attention. Each story in here is well done and a pleasure to read; they are also stimulating to the mind. How often do I have the pleasure of saying I loved every short story in a single collection? It is a rare experience, I assure you. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vidal's only collection of stories, written during the years after "The City and the Pillar", March 9, 2008

By 

D. Cloyce Smith (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thirsty Evil (Paperback)

These seven early stories (surprisingly, Vidal's only collection of short fiction) were originally written between 1948 and 1956 and were published in various relatively small but influential journals. They all post-date the publication of "The City and the Pillar," and it's clear that the controversy and notoriety of that novel allowed Vidal a bit of artistic latitude; three of them deal overtly with gay themes (and a fourth does so more subtly) and all seven have a dark, almost gothic tinge that sets off their post-Edwardian style.

Each story has its own distinctive merits, but my favorite is the first: "Three Stratagems." In the then-closeted gay community of Key West, a newly arrived hustler quickly befriends a widower whose insecurity is undergirded by the unvoiced understanding that the older man desires companionship while the young man's needs are far more basic. But the tables are unexpectedly turned; the fickle pecking order is upended; there are "flaws" (such as unpleasant medical conditions) that trump youth, and the older gentleman casts his catch back into the turbulent seas of a coldhearted society. This story has an unforeseen resonance in the era of AIDS, which has altered and segregated the "scene" in disturbingly similar ways during the last two decades.

"A Thirsty Evil" has recently been re-released with its originally proposed title, "Clouds and Eclipses," and with the addition of a story of the same name, based on a childhood memory related to Vidal by Tennessee Williams about an Episcopal priest. The story was omitted at the request of Williams, who was concerned his mother might recognize the lead character. These stories exhibit a precocious talent for a writer then in his twenties and they are worth revisiting not only for their own enjoyment but also to appreciate the promise Vidal displayed in a genre he inexplicably abandoned.