Washington Dc (Narratives of a Golden Age) [Paperback]

Gore Vidal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 1994 | Series: Narratives of a Golden Age

'History is gossip,' says a protagonist in Washington, D.C., 'but the trick is determining which gossip is history.' It is a trick that Gore Vidal has mastered in his ongoing chronicle of that circus of opportunism and hypocrisy called American politics and which he plays with renewed vigour in this expose of the nation's capital.Young Clay Overbury, Senator Burden Day's assistant, has both a modest background and immense ambitions. Extremely handsome, oozing charm and seemingly dedicated to the Senator's cause, he is also duplicitous, conniving, and disloyal. But Enid Canford doesn't think so: she marries him, so providing the Sanford newspaper dynasty with a direct line to the Senator. Her father Blaise, at first loathing his son-in-law, later learns to love him - for all the wrong reasons. So begins this tale of lust and ambition set in the Republic's high noon. From the late 1930s to Jo McCarthy's reign of terror, Gore Vidal charts the seamy, sleazy side of Washington. Mixing sober history with nakedly Gothic melodrama, he provides an intoxicating cocktail of blackmail, betrayal, sexual ambivalence, lunacy and conspiracy - or, in a word, politics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A lounge lizard look at American politics' - Peter Ackroyd, SPECTATOR 'Superb ... sustains constant interest and more than a little suspense' - WASHINGTON POST

About the Author

Gore Vidal has been at the centre of literary and intellectual life for half a century. He lives in Italy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Abacus Books (April 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349105278
• ISBN-13: 978-0349105277
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,147,056 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

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Gore Vidal, Washington, D.C., April 30, 2009

By 

George I. Juergens (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Although the potential purchaser was cautioned online that this book had no dust jacket, it was still rated by the dealer as in "very good" condition. When the book arrived, it turned out that its spine was cracked from the very top to the very bottom, and the book was barely hanging on to its cover. That's not my idea of "very good" condition. Nor do I think it is the term that most reputable dealer would use.