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Rocking the Boat
Vidal's first collection of essays, gathering many (but not all) of the essays and reviews he had written between 1951 and 1962.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
47 people want to read
About the author
Gore Vidal
422 books1,868 followersWorks of American writer Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, noted for his cynical humor and his numerous accounts of society in decline, include the play
The Best Man
(1960) and the novel
Myra Breckinridge
(1968) .
People know his essays, screenplays, and Broadway.
They also knew his patrician manner, transatlantic accent, and witty aphorisms. Vidal came from a distinguished political lineage; his grandfather was the senator Thomas Gore, and he later became a relation (through marriage) to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Vidal, a longtime political critic, ran twice for political office. He was a lifelong isolationist Democrat. The Nation, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire published his essays.
Essays and media appearances long criticized foreign policy. In addition, he from the 1980s onwards characterized the United States as a decaying empire. Additionally, he was known for his well publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote.
They fell into distinct social and historical camps. Alongside his social, his best known historical include Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as the first major feature of unambiguous homosexuality.
At the time of his death he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and has been described as the 20th century's answer to Oscar Wilde
Also used the pseudonym Edgar Box.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Gore Vidal é um dos nomes centrais na história da literatura americana pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Nascido em 1925, em Nova Iorque, estudou na Academia de Phillips Exeter (Estado de New Hampshire). O seu primeiro romance, Williwaw (1946), era uma história da guerra claramente influenciada pelo estilo de Hemingway. Embora grande parte da sua obra tenha a ver com o século XX americano, Vidal debruçou-se várias vezes sobre épocas recuadas, como, por exemplo, em A Search for the King (1950), Juliano (1964) e Creation (1981).
Entre os seus temas de eleição está o mundo do cinema e, mais concretamente, os bastidores de Hollywood, que ele desmonta de forma satírica e implacável em títulos como Myra Breckinridge (1968), Myron (1975) e Duluth (1983).
Senhor de um estilo exuberante, multifacetado e sempre surpreendente, publicou, em 1995, a autobiografia Palimpsest: A Memoir. As obras 'O Instituto Smithsonian' e 'A Idade do Ouro' encontram-se traduzidas em português.
Neto do senador Thomas Gore, enteado do padrasto de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, primo distante de Al Gore, Gore Vidal sempre se revelou um espelho crítico das grandezas e misérias dos EUA.
Faleceu a 31 de julho de 2012, aos 86 anos, na sua casa em Hollywood, vítima de pneumonia.
People know his essays, screenplays, and Broadway.
They also knew his patrician manner, transatlantic accent, and witty aphorisms. Vidal came from a distinguished political lineage; his grandfather was the senator Thomas Gore, and he later became a relation (through marriage) to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Vidal, a longtime political critic, ran twice for political office. He was a lifelong isolationist Democrat. The Nation, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire published his essays.
Essays and media appearances long criticized foreign policy. In addition, he from the 1980s onwards characterized the United States as a decaying empire. Additionally, he was known for his well publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote.
They fell into distinct social and historical camps. Alongside his social, his best known historical include Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as the first major feature of unambiguous homosexuality.
At the time of his death he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and has been described as the 20th century's answer to Oscar Wilde
Also used the pseudonym Edgar Box.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Gore Vidal é um dos nomes centrais na história da literatura americana pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Nascido em 1925, em Nova Iorque, estudou na Academia de Phillips Exeter (Estado de New Hampshire). O seu primeiro romance, Williwaw (1946), era uma história da guerra claramente influenciada pelo estilo de Hemingway. Embora grande parte da sua obra tenha a ver com o século XX americano, Vidal debruçou-se várias vezes sobre épocas recuadas, como, por exemplo, em A Search for the King (1950), Juliano (1964) e Creation (1981).
Entre os seus temas de eleição está o mundo do cinema e, mais concretamente, os bastidores de Hollywood, que ele desmonta de forma satírica e implacável em títulos como Myra Breckinridge (1968), Myron (1975) e Duluth (1983).
Senhor de um estilo exuberante, multifacetado e sempre surpreendente, publicou, em 1995, a autobiografia Palimpsest: A Memoir. As obras 'O Instituto Smithsonian' e 'A Idade do Ouro' encontram-se traduzidas em português.
Neto do senador Thomas Gore, enteado do padrasto de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, primo distante de Al Gore, Gore Vidal sempre se revelou um espelho crítico das grandezas e misérias dos EUA.
Faleceu a 31 de julho de 2012, aos 86 anos, na sua casa em Hollywood, vítima de pneumonia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 3, 2023
Rocking the Boat (1963) is Gore Vidal’s first essay collection, wherein he sets his erudite mind on varying topics related to politics, theater, and literature. It’s exciting to read essays from his earliest years, comparing their conclusions to his later essays. You can get a sense of how he evolved as an essayist, putting in more of his acerbic wit as he grows more comfortable with the format.
One example of this evolution is the book’s opening essay, “John F. Kennedy: A Translation for the English,” which presents a rather straightforward analysis of the then-newly inaugurated commander-in-chief. Vidal ran for congress in 1960 and was a friend to JFK, which makes the tone of this piece more conciliatory than his later remarks on the age we now refer to as “Camelot.” One striking phenomenon that Vidal points out is the growing ascendency of intellectuals in Kennedy’s orbit, a stark departure from the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Vidal’s take-away is that Kennedy seems to be a genuine break with the past and how it’s all for the better. The Bay of Pigs debacle, which happened months after this piece was published and Vidal comments on in the appendix to this volume, scuttled any of his optimism.
Many of the essays here are as timely as ever. “Closing the Civilization Gap” is a visceral reflection on the barbarism of police violence and the lengths to which society neglects to hold law enforcement accountable for its own crimes. “Love Love Love” comments on the growing trend in popular entertainment, in this case the theater, that abandons substantive emotional investigations in exchange for superficial sentimentality. He also writes passionately about the defense of civil liberties in two pieces focusing on the House Un-American Activities Committee and its retrograde investigations during the McCarthy era. My favorite essay is “Norman Mailer: The Angels are White,” an insightful meditation on the popular writer and the limitations of grasping for authenticity.
Rocking the Boat is a portrait of the essayist as a young man, still finding his voice and developing his talents as a commentator. It makes for fun, engaging, and always enlightening reading.
One example of this evolution is the book’s opening essay, “John F. Kennedy: A Translation for the English,” which presents a rather straightforward analysis of the then-newly inaugurated commander-in-chief. Vidal ran for congress in 1960 and was a friend to JFK, which makes the tone of this piece more conciliatory than his later remarks on the age we now refer to as “Camelot.” One striking phenomenon that Vidal points out is the growing ascendency of intellectuals in Kennedy’s orbit, a stark departure from the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Vidal’s take-away is that Kennedy seems to be a genuine break with the past and how it’s all for the better. The Bay of Pigs debacle, which happened months after this piece was published and Vidal comments on in the appendix to this volume, scuttled any of his optimism.
Many of the essays here are as timely as ever. “Closing the Civilization Gap” is a visceral reflection on the barbarism of police violence and the lengths to which society neglects to hold law enforcement accountable for its own crimes. “Love Love Love” comments on the growing trend in popular entertainment, in this case the theater, that abandons substantive emotional investigations in exchange for superficial sentimentality. He also writes passionately about the defense of civil liberties in two pieces focusing on the House Un-American Activities Committee and its retrograde investigations during the McCarthy era. My favorite essay is “Norman Mailer: The Angels are White,” an insightful meditation on the popular writer and the limitations of grasping for authenticity.
Rocking the Boat is a portrait of the essayist as a young man, still finding his voice and developing his talents as a commentator. It makes for fun, engaging, and always enlightening reading.
March 25, 2009
I recommend this book to anyone who is either a progressive or a conservative in the tradition of Eisenhower or even Nixon. If you've ever wondered what made Vidal a big deal, this selection of essays from the 1960s presents his sharp wit, penetrating intelligence, and detached bemusement long before he became a kind of living cliche. He skewers the red scare, John Birchers, and bad novelists, and even puts Norman Mailer in the hot seat (though he clearly also has admiration for him). The essays are not long but they are also not by any means fluff.
July 29, 2019
A collection of early essays dealing with subjects such as Kennedy, Wallace and play writing for TV. Vidal's ascerbic view of American society makes this collection well worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews