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bookcrazylady45's review against another edition
4.0
Gore Vidal was large on the world stage as an articulate, handsome, upper class, writer, actor, screenwriter, politician..a true renaissance man. It was known by 1950 that he was a homosexual, he was upfront about it. His second novel was all about it. He lived for over 50 years with a man. But through all of that, with huge parts of himself in his novels, his television appearances, his writings in general...and then the biographies and autobiographies...his sex life was not front and center and detailed. I just read Scott Bowers' book about the sex lives of the famous and little about Gore's sex life was exposed. This book tells it all and Scott Bowers fills in all the information he left out of his own book. A must have book for anyone who is a Gore Vidal fan.
nelsonminar's review against another edition
3.0
I've been fascinated by Gore Vidal. Not his own writing but him as a persona, a public intellectual. Particularly one with heterodox opinions on homosexuality.
This book starts out as a sort of trashy expose on Vidal's sex life and personal relationships. (The big revelations are that he liked to pay young men for sex and that he claimed to be a total top; not so shocking, but amusing enough.) This part of the book is really poorly written and edited. Page after page of meandering paragraphs, each paragraph often containing two or three unrelated anecdotes strung together as non-sequitors. Each little story is interesting enough but they don't come together coherently.
Surprisingly, the book gets a lot stronger when it moves past the gossip-rag stuff in to Vidal's conception of himself and homosexuality. Both his own personal life and his public writing and speaking about homosexuality. Vidal's a complicated man, and apparently somewhat of a miserable self-loathing man, and Teeman brings this out with insight and compassion. Even the parts where Vidal has degenerated into foul drunkenness, the author finds interesting and sympathetic things to say.
Totally worth a read if you want to know more about Vidal or are fascinated by this pre-gay-lib version of the public homosexual. Just bring some patience for a book that doesn't quite hold together.
This book starts out as a sort of trashy expose on Vidal's sex life and personal relationships. (The big revelations are that he liked to pay young men for sex and that he claimed to be a total top; not so shocking, but amusing enough.) This part of the book is really poorly written and edited. Page after page of meandering paragraphs, each paragraph often containing two or three unrelated anecdotes strung together as non-sequitors. Each little story is interesting enough but they don't come together coherently.
Surprisingly, the book gets a lot stronger when it moves past the gossip-rag stuff in to Vidal's conception of himself and homosexuality. Both his own personal life and his public writing and speaking about homosexuality. Vidal's a complicated man, and apparently somewhat of a miserable self-loathing man, and Teeman brings this out with insight and compassion. Even the parts where Vidal has degenerated into foul drunkenness, the author finds interesting and sympathetic things to say.
Totally worth a read if you want to know more about Vidal or are fascinated by this pre-gay-lib version of the public homosexual. Just bring some patience for a book that doesn't quite hold together.
komet2020's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the most cogent and well-written books about Gore Vidal that I've yet read. It sheds considerable light on his personal life, philosophy, and thoughts on a host of subjects. Gore Vidal, for those of us who have read deeply of his works, watched him debate his critics or hold court on TV over the decades and dazzle his audiences with his wit and supreme intellect, was a larger-than-life force on the world stage. Mr. Teeman is to be congratulated for the amount of work he put into this, his debut book, as well as for interviewing scores of people who knew Gore Vidal best (e.g. his half sister Nina Straight and nephew Burr Steers; and the actresses Joanne Woodward, Claire Bloom, and Susan Sarandon).
For me, as a long-time Gore Vidal fan, this book was heady stuff. Sobering, too, because this book made me acutely aware of Vidal's emotional side, which helps to explain what a complex figure he was. Acerbic, funny, and a master mimic. (These qualities I witnessed first-hand in September 2000, when I went to see Vidal speak at the Smithsonian and later had the honor of having him autograph my copy of his last novel, "THE GOLDEN AGE.") And for those people who were lucky enough to win his trust and respect and be counted among his closest friends, they were granted access to the Gore Vidal who had a big heart and gave financial support to friends who had fallen upon hard times.
While Gore Vidal was with us, I gave little thought to his private life. To be truthful, I wasn't particularly curious about it, for his public persona engaged my full attention and interest.
Novelist, award-winning playwright, social critic, political activist, Hollywood scriptwriter, and one of the greatest essayists of the last century, Gore Vidal bestrode the world like a Colossus. What saddened me in reading this book was learning how sad and tragic the last few years of Vidal's life were, as he battled illness, alcoholism, and coming to terms with the death (in 2003) of his longtime companion, Howard Austen, with whom he shared a full, rich, and engaging life (in the U.S. and Italy) for 53 years.
For Gore Vidal fans and other readers who want to understand the man and his legacy, this book comes highly recommended.
For me, as a long-time Gore Vidal fan, this book was heady stuff. Sobering, too, because this book made me acutely aware of Vidal's emotional side, which helps to explain what a complex figure he was. Acerbic, funny, and a master mimic. (These qualities I witnessed first-hand in September 2000, when I went to see Vidal speak at the Smithsonian and later had the honor of having him autograph my copy of his last novel, "THE GOLDEN AGE.") And for those people who were lucky enough to win his trust and respect and be counted among his closest friends, they were granted access to the Gore Vidal who had a big heart and gave financial support to friends who had fallen upon hard times.
While Gore Vidal was with us, I gave little thought to his private life. To be truthful, I wasn't particularly curious about it, for his public persona engaged my full attention and interest.
Novelist, award-winning playwright, social critic, political activist, Hollywood scriptwriter, and one of the greatest essayists of the last century, Gore Vidal bestrode the world like a Colossus. What saddened me in reading this book was learning how sad and tragic the last few years of Vidal's life were, as he battled illness, alcoholism, and coming to terms with the death (in 2003) of his longtime companion, Howard Austen, with whom he shared a full, rich, and engaging life (in the U.S. and Italy) for 53 years.
For Gore Vidal fans and other readers who want to understand the man and his legacy, this book comes highly recommended.
lonesomereader's review
5.0
Getting under the covers with Gore Vidal is a terrifying prospect when thinking about the last time I saw him appear live on television. It was when David Dimbleby interviewed Vidal after Obama’s election in 2008. The elderly Vidal was haughty, argumentative and made no sense. Since he was such a vocal and frequent presence on television throughout his life, Tim Teeman references this incident in the book as the nadir of Vidal’s many public appearances due to his evident mental and physical decline. The appearance was particularly embarrassing in relation to thinking about a time when I’d seen him several years before give a reading at a PEN event in London. After the event people were mingling in the corridor chatting away when Vidal’s long-term partner Howard came bursting through clearing a path with a walking stick and grumbling “Make way! Make way!” as Vidal followed behind him strutting with his nose held high like an imperial statesman while everyone looked upon him with awe. People surrounding him practically bowed in respect. Looking past his status and accomplishments, consider portraits of the tall masculine intellectual stud in his heyday and the prospect of slipping in bed with Vidal is much more enticing. I was ambiguous about wanting to go there, but now that I’ve read this insightful, entertaining and admirable biography I’m glad that I did. In this book Teeman disentangles Vidal’s complicated position on sexuality while constructing a history of his erotic life. In doing so he creates an important portrait of one of recent gay history’s most controversial figures. 'In Bed with Gore Vidal' prompts us to challenge our assumptions and ask vital questions about how we define sexuality on a personal, social and political level.
Read my full review at LonesomeReader review of In Bed with Gore Vidal by Tim Teeman
Read my full review at LonesomeReader review of In Bed with Gore Vidal by Tim Teeman
kat2112's review
4.0
My creative writing professor knew Gore Vidal; they had a professional relationship that produced the book [b:Views from a Window: Conversations with Gore Vidal|88906|Views from a Window Conversations with Gore Vidal|Gore Vidal|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1266469640s/88906.jpg|85800]. Vidal is one of those people who seemed to interest me from a distance - I'd see movies in which he co-starred, and to this date I've only read one of his novels. My husband read his memoir, [b:Palimpsest|8715|Palimpsest|Gore Vidal|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347438777s/8715.jpg|11643], and enjoyed it. He had read parts of the book to me, and the memory of that made this book easier to understand.
Not that In Bed With Gore Vidal is difficult to read. I found it well researched and it kept my interest through the end. The title may mislead readers, who might expect a juicy tell-all along the lines of a Kitty Kelley-penned biography. Teeman does divulge Vidal's sexual history, but more than you read of personal and professional relationships, in particular Vidal with himself coming to terms with his roles in literature and Hollywood. Throughout the book Teeman reports that Vidal asserts he is not homosexual but homoerotic, and that "there are no homosexuals, just homosexual acts." This view would put him at odds with gay activists, and certainly there are people within Vidal's circle who would argue this point.
Teeman interviews a number of people closest to Vidal, including Susan Sarandon and Scotty Bowers (whose book I have read - definitely a juicy tell-all), and draws from Palimpsest and other Vidal works. If you aspire to study Gore Vidal more, this is a good resource.
Not that In Bed With Gore Vidal is difficult to read. I found it well researched and it kept my interest through the end. The title may mislead readers, who might expect a juicy tell-all along the lines of a Kitty Kelley-penned biography. Teeman does divulge Vidal's sexual history, but more than you read of personal and professional relationships, in particular Vidal with himself coming to terms with his roles in literature and Hollywood. Throughout the book Teeman reports that Vidal asserts he is not homosexual but homoerotic, and that "there are no homosexuals, just homosexual acts." This view would put him at odds with gay activists, and certainly there are people within Vidal's circle who would argue this point.
Teeman interviews a number of people closest to Vidal, including Susan Sarandon and Scotty Bowers (whose book I have read - definitely a juicy tell-all), and draws from Palimpsest and other Vidal works. If you aspire to study Gore Vidal more, this is a good resource.
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