Clouds and Eclipses: The Collected Short Stories

by Gore Vidal

Celebrated for more than fifty years as a world-renowned novelist, essayist, and political figure and commentator, Gore Vidal is less known for the exquisitely crafted short fiction he wrote as a young man. Like the work of Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams, his stories have been overshadowed by the author's triumphs writing in other genres. Still, Vidal's short fiction offers us a portrait of the young artist in the 1940s and 1950s. His subtle and comic tales often center on adolescence and homosexual themes. In Three Stratagems, a middle-aged gay man encounters a male prostitute while vacationing in Key West. In The Zenner Trophy, the star athlete at an elite boys school is expelled for sexual relations with a classmate. These stories were gathered along with five others into a 1956 volume, A Thirsty Evil, and for decades were thought to comprise Vidal's complete short fiction.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature, LGBT, 20th Century, Anthologies, Gay

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2006

About the author

Works 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.

Reviews

[Rowena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great collection of short stories, my first Vidal book in fact, and it definitely exceeded expectations. The stories had very interesting characters, twists in the tale, humour, wit and great use of the language, moral issues were discussed, hypocrisies revealed. I'm looking forward to reading more Vidal.

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Florida authors, James W. Hall was in St. Augustine a few years ago and when I met him I told him I had read all of his books, poetry and short stories. One story I even read twice. He asked with a playful smile, “You didn't get it the first time?” “No,” I explained, “it was in two separate books. I 'got it' the first time.”

These collected stories of Gore Vidal, well, I admit, I did have to go back to re-read a few paragraphs so that I was sure I 'got it.' Vidal is not as easy to read as Jim Hall.

A Thirsty Evil was published originally in 1956 and included seven short stories. Clouds and Eclipses was published in 2005 and included the original seven stories of A Thirsty Evil plus an eighth story, named the title of the book, Clouds and Eclipses.

Vidal’s friend Tennessee Williams, asked him not to publish the story Clouds and Eclipses when the collection was originally gathered for publication. Vidal explains why at the end of this great little collection.

Vidal did not disappoint me at all even though these stories were written early in his career. He still surprised, baffled and used what he’s known for, his biting use of the language.

Some stories, of course, I enjoyed more than others but all of them left me saying out loud, “Ohhh!” Or “ Hum-mm.” And there was even a “Blimey!”

Gore Vidal fans (or not) you can’t go wrong with this collection.

************
Some quotes from Gore Vidal which I thought were quite interesting and being the author, essayist, screenplays writer and celebrity he was, thought you would enjoy these photographs which are seldom seen.

Quotes

A good deed never goes unpunished.

If most men and women were forced to rely upon physical charm to attract lovers, their sexual lives would be not only meager but in a youth-worshiping country like America, painfully brief.

Fifty per cent of people won't vote, and fifty per cent don't read newspapers. I hope it's the same fifty per cent.

A narcissist is someone better looking than you are.

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.

All in all, I would not have missed this century for the world.
The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country - and we haven't seen them since.

It's not enough to succeed. Others must fail.

Television is now so desperately hungry for material that they're scraping the top of the barrel.

Photos
Gore Vidal - October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012


21 Year Old Vidal


Vidal in 1964

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Gore Vidal is less known for his exquisitely crafted short fiction," says the back book cover blurb. And there is a very good reason why: "exquisitely crafted" is an overstatement. A massive one. A humdinger, shall we say. A bigly monstrosity of untruthiness. I've read several of Vidal's novels, and I'm searching as to why he was thought of as a great writer, even winning the National Book Award at one point. But there is one good story here: "Erlinda and Mr. Coffin" which is prime Southern Gothic and it does touch the hem of Capotes trousers, just barely. And just so you know, most of these stories have gay themes and were probably considered edgy when 7 of the 8 appeared in 1956. Vidal had improved by this point over his 1940's gay novel, "The City and the Pillar" in which he unforgivably trashes Capote, no doubt jealous of a true genius of literature. Vidal/Capote/Williams: read all about that catfight in "The Pink Triangle" which has more bitch-slapping than about anything I've ever read.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I catch Gore Vidal at a bad time or are short stories just not his strong suit?

[Marija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially wasn’t aware that Vidal wrote short stories. Eight stories make up this collection and actually they’re rather good, though I did notice that they sort of resemble the tone and style of Tennessee Williams. But this does make sense, as Vidal mentions in his preface that these stories are almost like a response to Willams’s work.

Generally the stories explore themes of innocence, identity, acceptance and sexuality, yet each story shows a different facet of those themes, with each facet building upon the next. As a collection, this is cleverly done.

However for me, four of the stories stand out the most: “The Robin,” “The Zenner Trophy,” “Three Stratagems,” and “Pages from an Abandoned Journal.”

“The Robin” provides a good representation of the thoughts, feelings and impulsive nature of 9-10 year old boys… how impulsive behavior can bring about pangs of conscience and regret.

“The Zenner Trophy” also plays with the ideas of innocence, conscience and regret and mixes it with sexuality, rules and acceptance. I just love this one section where the principal and the student advisor are going over the “just punishment” for the boys’ moment of indiscretion: “[The principal] paused as though expecting some word of approbation from Mr. Beckman; none came for Mr. Beckman was now studying the portrait [of the principal] and wondering to himself what future generations would say when they saw it in the chapel: ‘Who was that ape?’ The irreverent thought amused him and he faced the original of the painting with a smile which the Principal interpreted as applause.” ;-)

“Three Strategems” was actually, according to Vidal, Tennessee Williams’s favorite story in the collection. I think it’s the most reminiscent of Williams’s work. It reminds me of his play, Suddenly Last Summer mixed with André Gide’s L'Immoraliste.

“Pages from an Abandoned Journal” is like that as well, but Vidal adds humor and comedy to the story through the narrator’s interpretation of his daily/nightly excursions and parties. Some of the narrator’s commentary is hysterical. And by coincidence it amused me when, as I began reading, I wrote in the margin that the narrator’s summary of Elliott’s fantastical lifestyle reads like Voltaire’s Candide; two pages later the narrator actually says it himself… that it’s as if he’s “pretending to be a modern Candide.” Hehe! :-) But levity aside, I really liked how Vidal employs irony in this story in association with narrative voice. There’s an interesting dichotomy in terms of the voice of the narrator at the beginning of his journal entries and the journal entries at the end.

This is a very good read and I’m glad that I decided to pair it up with Tennessee Williams’ Collected Stories, which I’m reading next.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seven of these stories were originally published in 1956 under the title A Thirsty Evil. The title story was written at about the same time, but at the request of his friend, Tennessee Williams, it was withheld from publication at that time. Vidal was reminded of this story by a Harvard archivist in 2005, and the collection was republished with its inclusion. These eight stories are a marvelous collection and I feel lucky to have found it by accident at the Friends of the Library book sale last fall.

Although I have his Myra Breckinridge on my wish list, I have not read anything else by Gore Vidal. Even so, I was looking forward to this and was not disappointed. His prose is wonderful. By that I mean that it is interesting, varied sentence structure, which moves along smoothly without having to study it but without its seeming simple and "dumbed down."

Vidal was a young man when these were penned. The stories themselves are varied but seem to reflect his life experience of his early life on the east coast and his opportunity to have traveled in Europe. They have little plot, as is typical with short stories, and focus instead on glimpses of a character in life situations. They are not life situations that I have experienced, but they were very believable.

I have so many books I want to read, but I hope not too much time passes before I find time for a Vidal novel, or even perhaps, one of his non-fiction offerings.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book of short stories to get a taste of Gore Vidal's writing. This being said, I do think I will enjoy his historical fiction novels. As for his short stories, most of them are moments rather than stories and while I had a minor frustration about his choice to not provide the whole story, I actually came to appreciate it. I felt like I was walking into a scenario already in progress, without complete knowledge as to what happened to cause the moment...or how it ends.

Intriguing. 3.5 stars.

My favorite of the short stories is Pages From An Abandoned Journal.

[Sara Fleenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore this collection.

Each story was a portrait of an intriguing character. I felt as if I actually knew these people and not that they were contrived purely for a reader's entertainment.

Before starting this book I was a little wary because of its less than stellar reviews. Upon completion I'm pretty sure some of the reviewers are big Harry Potter fans.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

once i got to the end and discovered the source and full quote of the title, it made sense. Vidal chose not to use the more obvious portion of Shakespeare’s 35th Sonnet, “And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud,” for the title and i agree wholeheartedly. “Clouds and eclipses” better evokes the nature of this set of short stories which reveal facets of humanity that many regard as “stains” but many regard as beautiful - much like clouds and eclipses. though some “cankers” do appear, too.

many of the stories give glimpses into an old world of homosexuality, racial prejudice, and even some darker world-bending fantasy through the lives of the “free-living” in Key West, the problematic retraction of a trophy, the adventure of a small actress, a Somerset Maughamian journal excerpt, and a bit of temporal misidentification, to call forth a few of them. always written with not so much a twist but a wry tilt of the head, squint of the eye, and curl of the lip (a raised eyebrow maybe, too), these brief tales satisfied my neophobic proclivities as well as my anthropological voyeurism. the time period in which Vidal wrote them represented a very different culture than we have now or even when it was published. we get to see things slightly from the outside which can often reveal flaws and facets denizens of said cultures remained blind to but we can see in relief of the light thrown by the characters.

the stories also simply entertain, too. the final story follows the general theme of the others but with the added weight of a true story. apparently, Tennessee Williams asked Vidal not to publish this piece back in the day because a family member of his had experienced this for real. Vidal agreed and stuffed it away for 50 years or more. the story itself unravels expectations almost as it sets them up and ends in relief and dismay. wonderful.

[Ted Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first time to read anything by Gore Vidal. I absolutely loved a collection of short stories. Written in a simple direct style, but nevertheless prose that is both absorbing and elegant, this is to my mind, a little masterpiece. The plot of each story has a twist, which while never explicit, gradually reveals itself. I found the collection hard to put down.

[Rancy Breece · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never realized that Gore Vidal had published any short stories until I stumbled upon this collection. Written with ironic voice, many with a soft focus on sexuality, and in spare prose these stories are both comic and thought provoking. A couple, including the title story, are worthy of a second reading just for the sheer pleasure of seeing a great artist at work.

[Sae-chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For short stories, they didn't punch hard enough. Some of them like The Robin, A Moment of Green Laurel, they were really promising, but then pffft. One sentence, or even one paragraph too many. It spoiled the ending. The Ladies in the Library was the best of the bunch, in my opinion.

[Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vidal in his younger years. Short stories to flex on.

[DANIEL L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting that all his short stories were written while Vidal was traveling with Tennessee Williams in Italy in 1948

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The fools were in possession of the beach today. They sat watchfully beneath umbrellas, admiring the cold and radiant angels who could, they believed, exorcise the graceless shadow of the years and with firm flesh recreate youth and the sense of permanency, or its illusion. I suppose by now I know the hearts of the fools almost as well as I know my own and sometimes I am frightened when I watch their sad courtship of the treacherous angels for I see in them my own eventual fall from beloved angel to deluded monster. I too shall be old. I shuddered as I stepped over the ruined towers of a sand castle: yes, the beach was changed; I wonder, will it change again one day?"

It is impossible to write with a more elegant and concise way, and describe with a precision that it's cruel the anguish of aging and this pathetic need to find the bodies of young people as an antidote to the poison of our own death. This is an excerpt from a story, Three stratagems, which integrates this collection of short stories all written by Gore Vidal, written in the literary youth of the writer, who, in addition to his famous non-fiction, was primarily a novel writer, and not a short stories one.

Seven of these stories had been published before, but Vidal has decided to republish them when a researcher from a U.S. university, working in the archives of the writer, discovered an unknown story, precisely that which gives title to this volume. This is a story written at the same phase of the others, during a time when Vidal lived and travelled with Tennessee Williams, and is based on a childhood story of the author of A Streetcar Named Desire, spent with his grandfather. Williams has asked Vidal not to publish the story because it could be recognized by his mother, and Vidal responded to the request and ended up losing track of the tale.

There are eight notable short-stories, written in a language so beautiful that can make you cry (as in the above excerpt), capable of in half a dozen sentences to create characters and storylines and environments. The topics are diverse, some have a homosexual context, explicit or merely suggested, and it seemed to me that there may be one or other with biographical traits of the writer himself. At least in one of the stories, composed of pages from an abandoned journal, there is a very brief reference to the love of a teenager, Jimmy, whose name and the circumstances of his death in a battle of the Pacific during World War II, are coincident with memories that Gore Vidal told about his first love, in Palimpsest, the first part of his memoirs.

My favourite story is The Zenner Trophy, which tells the story of a student, about to win an award for being an extraordinary athlete, and that is expelled from a private college, for going on homosexual acts with another student. What is admirable in the tale is not so much the story itself, but rather it's very structure and how the language will reveal another truth implied. It is divided into two parts, each corresponding to a conversation. In the first one the dean discusses the case with the tutor of the student, and in the second the tutor communicates to the student his expulsion and accompanies him while he tidies up his things and prepares to leave school and go to meet with the colleague with whom he has an affair. The most extraordinary thing is that the story makes a total reversion of feelings: the student is a little indifferent to his own situation and eager to meet his classmate, while the teacher who is secretly in love with his student, is truly torn with the situation.

[Rachel Swords · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone with two degrees in English, you'd have thought, somewhere along that eight year journey of education, that I would have read/studied something by Gore Vidal. I'd heard his name before, but never knew much about him. The other day I watched the documentary "Best of Enemies" detailing his legendary debates with William Buckley, and their snappy banter had me rolling. The documentary also highlighted Vidal's successful writing career, and so I was intrigued enough to finally seek out his work. But where to start?

With most writers, a safe beginning comes in the form of any possible short story collections they might have compiled. My local library had a decent amount of Vidal's works, including the collection "Clouds and Eclipses." And I have to say, if Mr. Vidal's novels are anything like his short stories, I am in for a very good time and have found a good (new to me) author to catch up on.

"Clouds and Eclipses" consists of eight stories:

Three Stratagems: a story about an older gentleman and the new companion he becomes acquainted with on vacation. Bit odd.

The Robin: out of the collection, this story reads/seems like the one most likely to be published in an anthology for college. It's a bit haunting and sad.

A Moment of Green Laurel: for me, this story felt a bit Edgar Allan Poe-ish. It's not too hard to figure out the twist at the end.

The Zenner Trophy: given how the documentary I saw depicted Vidal's opinions on homosexuality, this story was interesting to read as a result. Some good food for thought.

Erlinda and Mr. Coffin: definitely the most colorful story in the collection. The ending is a rush of revelations, but still entertaining.

Pages from an Abandoned Journal: this story felt disjointed, which was probably the whole point.

The Ladies in the Library: I'm still not entirely sure if I 'got' the ending of this one right.

Clouds and Eclipses: previously unpublished, this story was based on a true anecdote from Tennessee Williams' early life.

This collection is an easy read; I read the whole thing in one day. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for some decent short fiction.

[Justin Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clouds and Eclipses (2006) is the complete short fiction of Gore Vidal, written mostly in the 1940s and 1950s when he was still honing his talents as a writer. While these stories comprise his only short story attempts, they illustrate his deep capacity for character and unique situations. “Three Stratagems,” the book’s opening story, is about a young male prostitute, his interactions with potential clients, and the mishaps along the way. “The Robin” is a poignant tale about two boys whose brief thirst for violence leaves them traumatized; it is a beautiful allegory to the virtues of nonviolence. “A Moment of Green Laurel” has Vidal going into speculative fiction territory, with his lead character meeting a younger version of himself during transitional periods for each of them. Likely his best known short story, “The Zenner Trophy,” chronicles the life of an ace athlete and student kicked out of his school for having homosexual relations with another student, echoing themes from his landmark novel, The City and the Pillar. Vidal veers into horror territory with “Erlinda and Mr. Coffin”, a story about a young girl who is secretly a middle-aged woman who wreaks havoc on a small town. “Pages from An Abandoned Journal” recounts the story of a man in Paris whose glory and reputation have nosedived as a result of debauchery. “The Ladies in the Library,” some lighter fare in this collection, shares a story of older women caretaking for younger men, and the interpersonal conflict therein. Finally, “Clouds and Eclipses,” a story Vidal forgot about until it was discovered by researchers in his papers at Harvard, tells a fictionalized account of the early life of playwright Tennessee Williams, a good friend of Vidal’s.

In all, these stories show a writer figuring out his strengths— light on plot but rich in character, scene, and unique structure. I personally liked “The Zenner Trophy” and “A Moment of Green Laurel” the best, as they showcased Vidal’s ability to tackle the complexity of sexuality and the incompleteness of human memory, respectively. While not essential reading, this collection is a pleasurable snapshot of Gore Vidal’s development as a storyteller.

[Vel Veeter]

n general I tend to avoid collected stories from celebrated or beloved authors under the following circumstances: 1) they aren’t really known for short stories; 2) the stories are almost exclusively from when they were very young. Some obvious exceptions occur. Philip Roth’s stories in Goodbye Columbus are all very good, two being some of the best writing he ever did. But Gore Vidal is known primarily for two things: novels and essays. He did some other things too, sometimes very well like write engaging, but not very literary plays. But no, he’s not known for short stories. In fact, he was published so young, and for a novel, that unless he really devoted himself to the craft of short stories, it doesn’t really make much sense to publish or read his collected stories except in a kind of completionist way. What I mean about the first point is that he established himself young as a novelist, and he wasn’t out there scrapping, both because he grew up rich and in a famous family, but also because of the early success. The same goes for Norman Mailer, who didn’t grow up rich, but did hit it big with novels early, and his short fiction is sometimes fine, but never great.

Anyway, this collection is about what you would guess from a collected stories that is 150 pages, and only covers about 5 years of a 60 year writing career. It’s interesting; there’s promise; and none of the stories are very much good.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gore Vidal's collection of short stories that was re-issued when Tennessee Williams was dead long enough for Gore to include the tale about TW's childhood. As Gore honestly points out in the foreword, he was traveling around with TW some summer when they both decided why not write some short stories. In later years, an archivist at Harvard phoned GV to say "hey, we found an unprinted story." And here we are.

Gore puts forth the collection with about as much "happy accident enthusiasm" as the stories seem to have been written. What I commend him for -- in addition to being a perpetual genius with an incredible command of language and wit -- is the variety of these stories. Perhaps the only commonality between them is the way Vidal sets them up as these self-contained little clouds that we wander through and then exit. The plots are very simple - if there at all - the characters are incredibly real - and the dramatic circumstances are unusual -- ranging from a would-be kept boy looking for the right sugar daddy, to a teacher who's forced to expel a student for what is clearly "lewd" (albeit monogamous romantic) homosexual behavior, to two boys learning an awful life lesson when they find a fatally wounded bird and put it out of its misery.

I can't say I "recommend" this book -- though you could tear through it in one sitting -- as much as I'm impressed its yet another thing Gore did. Simul-reading it alongside JULIAN -- which is just a monster -- makes it all the more remarkable to think both works (and the countless others) came from the same man. I am, of course, just a slight fan.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable collection by Gore Vidal. Some stories are more like musings, or remembrances...more "moments" than actual stories. In these, the story has no clear end, it's more like he uses a moment in time (such as, a walk down an old street after a party) as the backdrop to express his personal feelings and thoughts on a given subject. Some of the stories in this book read like the thoughts of somebody who's people-watching, which I liked, as I myself am an observer of people in general. Others were more traditional. All were pretty interesting, but I can't say that any particular one really stands out to me...which is why I'm only giving this book three stars. It was good enough, however, for me to try Gore Vidal again, a different book.

[Janice Hussock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read Vidal's historical fiction, Burr and Empire, in the past and loved it. When he recently died,literary critics wrote that his short stories were perhaps better than his fiction. I was intrigued so I borrowed this collection from my local library. The stories have certain common elements, characters with wealth who attend elite private schools and universities, esp. Princeton and Yale. Washington, D.C. society is a frequent element.

These stories are true gems. Reading them is so pleasurable. Vidal surpassed my expectations.

My next reading is to find a copy of what is considered Gore's best novel, Julian, historical fictin about the Roman Emperor who tried to return the Roman Empire to pagan worship shortly after Constantine

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure that I'm sold on Vidal but, particularly in light of the fact that these 8 short stories are the only ones he ever wrote, this is a great collection.

I really admire his unwillingness to give the reader all the facts; and I love that there are obvious typos throughout. Clearly either his editor or Vidal himself thought that the strength of name would distract people from caring too much.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction A-Z Book "V": Clouds and Eclipses by Gore Vidal

This is my first experience with Vidal, and I think I'd be interested in going on to his longer fiction. There's a coldness in regard to character in some of the stories that I found off-putting, but Vidal has a definite style that I liked overall. The stories range in tone and type, and it's interesting to see the hints toward questions of sexuality that Vidal was putting forward in the 50's.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams spent a summer in Italy together, which precipitated the stories in this volume, one of which has never before been published. It's fascinating in part due to Vidal's egotism - he seems determined to prove he can out-write Williams in that writer's own milieu, the short story of domestic drama.

So the stories collected here have a distinctly Williams tone, but with the occasional searing wit that is Vidal's signature.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, a decent collection. The stories are of uneven quality, some, such as "Zenner Trophy" are of good quality while "Three Strategems" and "Erlinda and Mr. Coffin" leave something to be desired. That being said, the quality of the writing throughout is superior, and it is clear while Vidal is revered for his prose.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting set of stories. Some fairly subtle, some adorned with quasi-twist endings that struck me as kinda bizarre. Overarching theme of the hypocrisy of polite, conventional society underpins all the works present. Ahead of its time for dealing with homosexuality, though it's never addressed by name exactly.

[Powells.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due to the rediscovery of the previously unpublished title work, all eight of the short stories by one of America's most highly regarded contemporary writers are now gathered together for the first time.
Recommended by Jack, Powells.com

[Morgan Wills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Gore Vidal is such an amazing writer. My favorite was the Ladies in the Library. The only downside--I wanted more! I wanted a full novel on each story. But alas, that's the short story blues.

[renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories are fabulous. Often short stories don't seem to have an ending to them. These all have a point and what a wonderful point they have. They're all well written and I was quickly taken in by each story.
I am now on a journey to read many many more of Vidal's work.

[Nitya]

Vidal's stories start in the middle, end in the middle and have no resolution. I can't make up my mind if I like them or not.
However I'm spending a lot of time thinking about them after I finish reading the short stories!