GORE VIDAL (1925-2012) was an American writer of novels, essays, screenplays, and stage plays, and a public intellectual known for his patrician manner, epigrammatic wit, and polished style of writing.

As a novelist Vidal explored the nature of corruption in public and private life; the polished, erudite style of narration readily evokes the time and place of the story, and perceptively delineates the psychology of the characters.