Screening History (Paper) (Cobe) (William E Massey Sr. Lectures in History of American Civilization 1991) - Softcover

Witty and sweepingly disrespectful...Written versions of history are, in Vidal's opinion, no more to be trusted than movie versions, and a lot less memorable besides being a lot less fun...He relates history on the screen to its influence on, or by, the general concept of events, his personal experience, and his acerbic view of doings in Washington. Unadulterated Vidal and a small gem...On almost every page there is an observation worth admiring, whether it is about Hollywood and television, politics and history, or the paranoia and hypocrisy of the commercialized American dream. -- Herbert Mitgang "New York Times" Vibrant...A reminiscence of Mr. Vidal's first 20 years (1925-1945), with a dual emphasis on the impact of films and of gossipy Washington politics on boy Gore...If the book belongs to a genre, it is the one that includes Eudora Welty's wonderful "One Writer's Beginnings." -- Michael Kammen "New York Times Book Review" includes Eudora Welty's wonderful "One Writer's Beginnings," A delight from cover to cover...A thoroughly enjoyable memoir cum cultural and political analysis. screen to its influence on, or by, the general concept of events, his personal experience, and his acerbic view of doings in Washington.

Vidal intertwines fond recollections of films savored in the movie palaces of his Washington, D.C., boyhood with strands of autobiography and trenchant observations about American politics. Never before has the renowned author revealed so much about his own life or written with such immediacy about the forces shaping America. 26 halftones.