Gore vidal | Caligula scenes

Gore Vidal has been one of America's most diverse voices of more than half a century. Author of more than 20 novels, hundreds of essays and several plays on the screen and stage, Vidal is perhaps best known for the eloquent and witheringly sarcastic political commentary that has made him a darling of the American left.

With reliable scholars attack on right-wing figures such quixotic scion of a privileged political family, Kennedy and friend of playwright Tennessee Williams, has invested in a unique position in Norwegian political and intellectual life.

This recording from 2009 Key West Literary Seminar consists of an hours long conversation between Vidal and Jay Parini, his literary executor, a poet and theater critic. Vidal discusses the influence on his work as a historical novelist, his vision of the American educational system, and his admiration for figures including Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. George W. Bush, as his server last week in the office, the target for particular disdain, as Vidal levels a litany of complaints, accusing his administration of "the shredding process," Bill of Rights, and strive to make it go national pastime. "In a question and answer session, Vidal discuss measures to bring Tennessee Williams's final play for the audience, as well as his feelings for disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.