Since the publication of his first novel Williwaw (Eskimo for “storm at sea”) in 1946, Gore Vidal has been one of America's most successful writers as well as one its most outspoken public figures. Author of more than 20 novels, including The City and the Pillar, Myra Breckinridge, Burr and Lincoln, plus books of non‐fiction, plays, and screenplays, Vidal has been active for 60 years. A measure of this fame is illustrated here by the 12 websites and 17 academic theses/dissertations in which Vidal is the main figure. He is even parodied in, for example, an article by John Wells in the Spectator, and is the model for characters in a number of novels such as “Ariel Lavalina” in Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans. In 2006, he appeared in an edition of The Simpsons – fame indeed!
In his Foreword to this, the first comprehensive bibliography of Vidal since Stanton (1978), Jay Parini writes:
There is something exhilarating about a good bibliography of a major writer, one that takes the measure of this writer in his or her full complexity and amplitude, listing and annotating the obvious publications as well as those that have dropped unnoticed into the deep, dark well of literary history. That is, it puts the whole writer before us. We can see the splashes and waves this writer has made in the world, as his or her work has been published, translated, adapted, criticized, admired, ignored.
Or parodied. In this seductive world of “total bibliography”, Gore Vidal: A Comprehensive Bibliography sets a new standard, a new benchmark for scholars to aim at.
In his annotation to the aforementioned bibliography, Joshi himself comments, “Sound and thorough bibliography, but hampered by the clumsy format of the G. K. Hall bibliography series, whereby all material is listed in chronological sequence, thereby making it difficult to identify significant works of criticism”. We shall see how Joshi does better, but while a chronological sequence is adopted for the Books and Pamphlet category, I did miss a time line or other chronological approach.
Divided into three sections – Works by Gore Vidal; Gore Vidal in Translation; and Works about Gore Vidal – the bibliography cites all of his books, contributions to books and periodicals, theatrical plays, television plays, screenplays, adaptations of his work into various media (films, recorded books, e‐books, etc.), and interviews. Of particular interest, and the feature that raises this “comprehensive” bibliography above most others in this genre, is that the compiler identifies an immense amount of comment and criticism that Vidal has received in monographs, scholarly essays, newspapers, book reviews, and elsewhere.
Within each section there are numerous subdivisions, generally arranged alphabetically by author. All items are annotated, placing Vidal and his work in context and assessing each work's significance. All editions and reprints of his monographic work are noted. There are three indexes: a name index; an index of titles of work by Vidal; and an index of periodicals to which Vidal has contributed, or been featured. It was interesting to note that Library Journal featured over a score of Vidal's works. The running entry number, though, is a cumbersome feature. Thus under “Walcott, James” follows: III.B.i.97, F.33.y, 36.aa, 52.dd. Unpicking the first (of four?) references goes: Works about Gore Vidal – News Items and Encyclopedias – News Items – number 97, the annotation to which reads: “Account of the second appearance of Vidal and Norman Mailer on ‘The Dick Cavett Show’ (see I.I.iii.31)”. This latter reference is to: Works by Gore Vidal – Vidal in the Media – Filmed or Taped Media – number of entry in chronological sequence. The Roman number “one” in upper case, “I”, is not to be confused with the capital letter “I”! In places, “z” is followed by “aa”, “bb”, etc. – another barbarism! A running number would have been easier on the reader, though I have some sympathy with bibliographers with this problem. A faceted classification, for which a mixed notation is meaningful, can make for easier revision, and this compiler does provide a full explanation, but it does look ugly and makes for hard work.
This criticism excepted, the layout and guidance to this bibliography is admirably clear and there is an excellent introduction for those of us who need an outline to the complexity of Vidal's work – he used a number of pseudonyms. This work will do much to promote the study of this prolific and controversial author, and will be of benefit to students and scholars of American literature and politics.
