The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Vidal, Gore (Eugene Luther Jr)
Vidal, Gore (Eugene
Luther
Jr)
(
1925
–
), American novelist and essayist, born at West Point, New York, where his father was an instructor at the US Military Academy. He saw army service during the Second World War, the experience of which was drawn on for his first novel, Williwaw (
1946
). In a Yellow Wood (
1947
) was the story of a Nonconformist army veteran, and this was followed by The City and the Pillar (
1948
), a study of homosexuality, and The Season of Comfort (
1949
), about the conflict between a boy and his mother. In A Search for the King (
1950
), concerning the affection of a troubadour for Richard the Lionheart, he signalled his interest in the utilization of history, often as a means of analysing the present. Novels in this vein include Julian (
1964
), about the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate; Two Sisters (
1970
), which juxtaposes the Roman world of the...
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