JaneConsumer
09-19-2008, 12:55 AM
Not strictly historical fiction, this contemporary novel portrays the gay experience in the post-Depression U.S. It's a classic and it shocked the American public when published.
According to a biography (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/vid0bio-1) of the author, "critics loudly condemned what they regarded as the book's immorality. The New York Times refused to review Vidal's subsequent books for almost a decade; some publications even refused to print his name, much less review his books. Another novel completed in Guatemala, A Season of Comfort, disappeared in the face of a virtual blackout by the mainstream press."
You may read the full review here (http://fuzzyhistory.com/2008/09/18/the-city-and-the-pillar-by-gore-vidal/).
According to a biography (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/vid0bio-1) of the author, "critics loudly condemned what they regarded as the book's immorality. The New York Times refused to review Vidal's subsequent books for almost a decade; some publications even refused to print his name, much less review his books. Another novel completed in Guatemala, A Season of Comfort, disappeared in the face of a virtual blackout by the mainstream press."
You may read the full review here (http://fuzzyhistory.com/2008/09/18/the-city-and-the-pillar-by-gore-vidal/).