Book review - "Plampiset" by Gore Vildal

Vidal is one of the best writers of the twentieth century and very witty and erudite on himself, so it's a lay down missaire that this autobiography is going to be a good one. Its familiar, though, if you've read his essays, where he often reminisces about his famous grandfather,the blind senator Gore, his semi relation Jacqui Bouvier Kennedy and acquaintance Jack. At times he even spills over to essay speak, like when talking about his friendship with Anais Nin. This isn't to say the book isn't enjoyable, just familiar.

Vidal's life falls into key chapters/encounters - his adored but distant dad, his hated mother, family weddings with JFK, romance with Jimmie, school, army, back in New York, notoriety with The City and the Pillar. Writers often deride the use of the "Rosebud" device, where a character is explained by one event from his or her childhood. But interestingly that's what Vidal offers for himself - the death of Jimmie, his childhood sweetheart, they meet as young teenagers, had one more encounter later on, then he died in World War Two (is this why Vidal is always so harsh on FDR for pushing America into war?)

My favourite sections were the ones concerning Vidal's time in Hollywood - where he obtained some decent credits, notably Suddenly Last Summer - and his political career in the early 60s. This book has been hailed as a classic but there are too many holes and irritations to fall into that category for me: for instance, Howard Austen, Vidal's life partner, is only mentioned every now and then; Vidal's inflated sense of his own importance gets wearisome at times (eg I made X author popular by recommending him to Y publisher), as does his attitude towards sex ("this is how I like to do it"); like Noel Coward, his good opinion clearly can be bought with flattery and/or a job offer (for instance, he's bitchy about so many writers and movies but Without Honour, a film in which he has a role, is described as a "charming fable"); At times it ambles, goes back in time for essay-like reminiscences, then forward in time to a sort of diary of what he's up to in the mid 90s, and it feels like a rush job.