Gore Vidal (Cyclopedia of World Authors)

Regarded as one of the most promising novelists to emerge in the period after World War II, Gore Vidal (vee-DAHL) not only created an important body of fiction but also became an influential man of letters, rivaling his contemporary John Updike in the scope and consistency of his work. Born Eugene Luther Vidal to a politically prominent family—he adopted his name “Gore” in honor of his grandfather, Oklahoma senator Thomas P. Gore, and is a distant cousin of former vice president Al Gore—Vidal grew up in Washington, D.C., and has written novels and essays that have the...

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