When a mortician appears on television to declare that death is infinitely preferable to life, he sparks a religious movement that quickly leaves Christianity and most of Islam in the dust.Gore Vidal's deft and daring blend of satire and prophecy, first published in 1954, eerily anticipates the excesses of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and the Heaven's Gate suicide cult.-Print ed.

The novel is set in the harsh and unforgiving environment of the Aleutian Islands, a remote and windswept chain off the coast of Alaska. Against this backdrop, Vidal weaves a tale of suspense, survival, and human drama.The story follows a small crew aboard the U.S. Army freighter "Williwaw" as they navigate the treacherous waters of the North Pacific Ocean. As they sail through the fog-shrouded channels and icy seas of the Aleutians, they are pursued by a mysterious and deadly enemy—the wi...

In "In a Yellow Wood," readers are likely introduced to the protagonist, who may be facing a pivotal moment in their life. The title itself suggests a sense of transition or uncertainty, as the phrase "yellow wood" evokes images of autumn, change, and reflection.Central to the narrative could be themes of self-discovery and personal growth. The protagonist may find themselves at a crossroads, grappling with questions of purpose, fulfillment, and the pursuit of happiness. As they navigate t...

Conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. and liberal author Gore Vidal exploded onto the political scene during the presidential conventions of 1968 when they debated 11 times on ABC News as a part of the network's convention coverage. Their debates were fiery and combative and they infamously blew up at each other during their penultimate debate in Chicago. The debates, the subject of the new documentary film "Best of Enemies," have not been shown or transcribed in their entirety since th...

Robert Holton removed several dark hairs from his comb and wondered if his hairline was receding. He squinted for a moment at himself in the mirror and decided that he was not losing his hair, not yet anyway. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and put on his shoes. He started to tie the laces of the left shoe when he began to think of his dream. He had many dreams: of flying through the air, of walking in empty rooms, of all the standard things that psychiatrists like to hear about. U...

Someone turned on the radio in the wheelhouse. A loud and sentimental song awakened him. He lay there for a moment in his bunk and stared at the square window in the wall opposite him. A sea gull flew lazily by the window. He watched it glide back and forth until it was out of sight. He yawned and became conscious of an ache behind his eyes. There had been a party, he remembered. He felt sick. The radio became louder as the door to his cabin opened. A brown Indian face looked in at him. “H...

If you like some of the series we’ve been publishing, you’re in for a treat this time. We have a new Smith Sisters story by Veronica Leigh, a Sexton Blake story by Hal Meredith, a Johnny Liddell novel by Frank Kane, and a Jules de Grandin story by Seabury Quinn.I don’t want to slight our non-series contents—it’s quite an all-star lineup, with tales such modern masters as Aeryn Rudell and Vinnie Hansen (courtesy of Acquiring Editors Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman), plus classics b...

Gore Vidal—novelist, playwright, critic, screenwriter, memoirist, indefatigable political commentator, and controversialist—is America's premier man of letters. No other living writer brings more sparkling wit, vast learning, indelible personality, and provocative mirth to the job of writing an essay.This long-needed volume comprises some twenty-four of his best-loved pieces of criticism, political commentary, memoir, portraiture, and, occasionally, unfettered score settling. It will stand...

Master storyteller Gore Vidal's 1952 classic.The fast and furious hedonistic world of the jet-set commuting between the glamour centres of Europe is the setting for this famous novel by one of the twentieth century's most remarkable writers.Philip Warren is a personable young American who moves amongst the international demi-gods of wealth and status in search of himself and a future which will satisfy his part cynical, part romantic outlook.

Williwaw first published in 1946, is the notable first novel of a young Gore Vidal, who during World War II was a first mate of a supply ship stationed in the Aleutian Islands. The story revolves around the small ship and her crew as they battle both the elements in the Bering Sea and the mounting tensions between some of the crew members. An intense wind—williwaw—strikes the ship, damaging the craft as she struggles to make her way back to port.

Master storyteller Gore Vidal's 1947 classic.Robert Holton has returned from Europe and settled into a solitary existence working for a New York stockbroker. He suppresses memories of nights of love in Florence as he tries to succeed in the city, but when Carla turns up he has to choose between conventionality and the fraught path of love.

From the poignant realisation as an adult of the cruel brutality of childhood in 'The Robin', man then comes face to face with himself as a boy in 'A Moment of Green Laurel': both stories combining the nostalgia and fear that haunt us all in old age. Meanwhile, in 'Erlinda and Mr Coffin', Southern etiquette is unashamedly turned upside down in a tale of amateur theatricals reminiscent of Dickens and Victorian melodrama.Yet it is in 'Three Stratagems', 'The Zenner Trophy', 'Pages fr...