false 88886 2 From a delightfully caustic 1965 review of Henry Miller's <I>Sexus</I> ("Arcane words are put to use, often accurately") to a brief response to the homophobic torture and murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998, <I>Sexually Speaking</I> brings together some of Gore Vidal's best essays on sex and sexuality. Although some of the essays are explicitly political, such as the 1979 <I>Playboy</I> article "Sex Is Politics," many seem to be included simply because they mention the sex lives of people Vidal has known. (One doesn't really <I>need</I> an excuse to republish his delicious reminiscences of Eleanor Roosevelt, Christopher Isherwood, or Tennessee Williams; the Roosevelt piece in particular feels somewhat wedged into the present volume.)<p> There are also three interviews: two from the mid-'70s, although written for semi-underground gay magazines, touch upon a variety of political and literary issues; a 1992 conversation finds Larry Kramer practically badgering Vidal to admit that he's a homosexual. As he has throughout his career, Vidal refuses to be categorized on the basis of sexual acts: "I've never applied [these labels] to myself nor have I applied them to anybody else, even when they have invited me to." <I>Sexually Speaking</I> is as entertaining as it is provocative, an interesting supplement to the more comprehensive <I>The Essential Gore Vidal</I>. <I>--Ron Hogan</I> 85780 1999 Gore Vidal: Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings total:33|5:9|4:16|3:6|2:2|1:0| 33 131 54 3 5 0 false false Thu Jul 10 11:17:27 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 11:18:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 06 06:51:52 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 06:52:02 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Mar 12 19:49:55 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 19:50:18 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Oct 24 21:52:08 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 21:52:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 21 23:28:18 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 23:28:18 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Aug 04 19:32:59 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 13:22:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 02 19:15:37 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 19:15:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 10 13:01:34 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 13:01:54 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Apr 13 16:23:06 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 16:23:07 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Mar 31 16:48:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 16:48:00 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Mar 30 16:35:31 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 16:35:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 03 23:13:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 23:13:00 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Feb 07 12:15:39 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 12:15:39 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jan 23 08:38:38 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 08:38:42 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 13 16:13:59 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 16:13:59 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Dec 29 03:22:08 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 03:22:08 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 19:29:14 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 19:29:14 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Dec 07 12:57:18 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 12:57:25 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Dec 05 14:43:50 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 14:43:50 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Thu Nov 13 11:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 11:00:00 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1321631