Vidal

1973 · 126791 — New York: Random House 1973. First edition of this classic novel. Octavo original cloth. Association copy inscribed by the author on the half-title page "Valerie -- love -- Gore." The recipient Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket jacket laminated by Vidal. Jacket design by Jack Ribik. Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated—and misunderstood—figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804 while serving as vice president Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis Alexander Hamilton and killed him. In 1807 he was arrested tried and acquitted of treason. In 1833 Burr is newly married an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist named Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler. Together they explore both Burr's past—and the continuing civic drama of their young nation. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series which spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to post-World War II. With their broad canvas and sprawling cast of fictional and historical characters these novels present a panorama of American politics and imperialism as interpreted by one of our most incisive and ironic observers. "A novel of Stendhalian proportions. . . . It is probably impossible to be an American and not be fascinated and impressed by Vidal's telescoping of our early history. . . . Always absorbing" The New Yorker. Random House hardcover