Live from Golgotha

by Gore Vidal

Hardcover, 1992

Status

Available

Call number

PS3543.I26

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Random House (1992), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 232 pages

Description

Timothy (later St. Timothy) is in his study in Thessalonika, where he is bishop of Macedonia. It is A.D. 96, and Timothy is under terrific pressure to record his version of the Sacred Story, since, far in the future, a cyberpunk (the Hacker) has been systematically destroying the tapes that describe the Good News, and Timothy's Gospel is the only one immune to the Hacker's deadly virus. Meanwhile, thanks to a breakthrough in computer software, an NBC crew is racing into the past to capture--live from the suburb of Golgotha--the Crucifixion, for a TV special guaranteed to boost the network's ratings in the fall sweeps. As a stream of visitors from twentieth-century America channel in to the first-century Holy Land--Mary Baker Eddy, Shirley MacLaine, Oral Roberts and family--Timothy struggles to complete his story. But is Timothy's text really Hacker-proof? And how will he deal with the truth about Jesus' eating disorder? Above all, will he get the anchor slot for the Big Show at Golgotha without representation by a major agency, like CAA 1,896 years in the future? Tune in.… (more)

Media reviews

The Independent UK

No, the author himself was the issue. Once something of a hero of mine, he has long since set my teeth on edge with his unseemly patrician preenings and posturings (his sainted grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore of Oklahoma, has become a particularly intrusive pest of Vidalian folklore), with his

smug determination, in recent collections of essays, to be the smartest alec on the block and, above all, with that ongoing cycle of clumpish historical novels which sound the way James Michener, say, might sound after taking a course in creative writing. My heart also sank when, flicking through this novel's pages, I immediately lit on the profanity 'Jesus Christ]

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User reviews

LibraryThing member fyoder

Vidal's extreme antipathy towards Christianity appears to have softened somewhat since Julian as he here presents St. Paul as a loveable operator who is keeper of the holy rolodex and master of the followup letter. Read this and you may not be able to read Paul's letters in the New Testament in

quite the same way again. While there's a lot going on with regard to time travel, networks wanting broadcast rights to the crucifixion, and visits from an astrally traveling Shirley McLain, it's the portrait of Paul and his uneasy relationship with Timothy, the narrator, that really make this book memorable.

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LibraryThing member branful

This is a real SF, featuring time travel via quantum technology. TV news crew shooting live from Golgotha.

LibraryThing member ehines

More or less the Last Temptation of Christ minus the religiosity and told from a rather bitterly cynical point of view (a la late Twain).

LibraryThing member IsotropicJoseph

Sacrilegious, punk, scathing, sharp, but ultimately forgettable, and pointless. The perfect book to read on the beach in the summer or when you really want to piss off a Catholic on your Goodreads list.

No, that's not totally fair. Parts of the story are rather clever and memorable. The polished

obsidian stone, for example.

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LibraryThing member keebrook

a great read for the Christmas season. Vidal uses his usual wit and unblinking irreverence to turn the story of St. Paul on its head and into a funky dark satire reminiscent of Christopher Moore’s Lamb.

or did he tell the Real Story? quo vademus?

we can never be sure because of the presence of one

or more hackers who may or may not be erasing and changing the course of history by altering history “tapes.” St. Timothy begins seeing and receiving visitors (he calls them “kibitzers”) and visions from the future via a Sony television set and at certain times and locations. Chet from GE wants him to anchor a “live” broadcast from Golgotha on the day of Jesus’s crucifixion but other people have different ideas about that. along the way, out protagonist Timothy meets some colorful people -Shirley McLain, Oral Roberts, and Mary Baker Eddy to name just a few- and the ending is a surprisingly satisfying twist that even Judas wouldn’t see coming.

time travel, homosexuality, corporate politics, espionage, and Barum & Bailey-style showmanship/grifting represent the story of the birth of Christianity- quo melior?

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LibraryThing member dbsovereign

Jesus meets history and decides to erase all mention of his name. Vidal gets to poke a lot of fun at Christianity in the process.

LibraryThing member cvalin

I can't believe this book isn't more popular, but I suppose most Americans probably consider it blasphemous. Vidal is at his best here, and at his most irreverent. Not for the easily offended (especially when it comes to Christianity).

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