Gore Vidal

[CBStew]

He has written some good stuff.  For instance his Lincoln is a very good read.  However, I just finished his Burr (well, I actually skimmed the last 50 pages) and I found it difficult to read.  Vidal's characterization of Aaron Burr is very snarky.  The book is oddly written.  Different sections of the book are narrated by different persons, one of them being Burr himself.  That voice seems to be what I remember Vidal himself speaking like.  I think that Vidal had great admiration for Burr.  Burr was an incredible character, and he came very near to becoming the president.  In Vidal's version he is a sinister monster, whether Vidal knew that or not.  What we expect to be the dramatic highlight, the duel in which he kills Hamilton, is almost a throw away scene.  His almost invasion of Mexico is a fiasco.  I don't recommend reading this for historical accuracy.  Vidal's Burr is the prototypical unreliable narrator.