Last Empire Essays, 1992-2000

From AudioFile A prolific writer of novels, literary criticism, and social criticism, Vidal is considered by many to be one of the great American writers of the late twentieth century. Given Vidal's complex prose and acerbic wit, it is a daunting task to read this work. Dan Cashman performs this text in an excellent fashion. He deftly handles the pauses, parenthetical remarks, and asides in each essay and never falters on the many names and foreign phrases. Vidal excoriates John Updike, a biographer of Mark Twain, and most contemporary political figures, and Cashman clearly communicates Vidal's contempt. Cashman seems to understand the text so well one might think Vidal is reading his own work. M.L.C. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine From Library Journal Beginning with essays about Edmund Wilson, Isabel Potter, Isabel Bolton, and Dawn Powell is a subtle launch, since many listeners haven't thought about these literary luminaries since college, if ever. But soon more familiar names and events from literature and politics ignite sparks of interest: Bill Clinton, FDR, Al Gore, Sinclair Lewis, Charles Lindbergh, Harry Truman, Mark Twain, the Bill of Rights, World War II, and the war on drugs. Whether describing events the public witnesses through the news media lens (one chapter is titled "Birds and Bees and Clinton") or as legend (Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage), Vidal's perspectives are neither ordinary nor vernacular. The result is a satisfying intellectual workout for those who missed his original works in issues of The Nation, New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the like. This, Vidal's ninth collection, picks up where his 1993 National Book Award for Nonfiction winner, United States: Essays, 1952-1992, left off. Narrator Dan Cashman's neutral and unbiased tone is the perfect trumpet for Vidal's snappy vocabulary and literary allusions. Recommended, but repackaging will be a must the original box is flimsy. Judith Robinson, Univ. at Buffalo, NYCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.