Publication
Random House, c1990.
Series
Status
Available
Description
"Wicked and provocative...Vidal's purview of Hollywood in one of its golden ages is fascinating." —Chicago Tribune In his brilliant and dazzling new novel, Gore Vidal sweeps us into one of the most fascinating periods of American political and social change. The time is 1917. In Washington, President Wilson is about to lead the United States into the Great War. In California, a new industry is born that will transform America: moving pictures. Here is history as only Gore Vidal can re-create it: brimming with intrigue and scandal, peopled by the greats of the silver screen and American politics, from Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the author's own grandfather, the blind Senator Gore. WithHollywood, Vidal once again proves himself a superb storyteller and a perceptive chronicler of human nature's endless deceptions. From the Paperback edition.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member rcss67
For me this book seems rushed and crammed. I love Burr and Licoln, two portrayals that wil stay with me forever, but it seems as if Vidal was too concerned with the polemics and not enough with the delineation of believeable characters in his latter books in the series.
LibraryThing member pierthinker
Gore Vidal's Narrative of Empire series of historical novels is the work that will take him into history when all his other accomplishments are forgotten. Vidal brings historical personalities into his story like no one before him - not just celebrity walk-ons, but full-blooded characters in his
Hollywood covers the period from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s and rather than focusing on the major events of this time (America's entry to the First World War, the League of Nations, Prohibition, etc.), although he does cover these and often in some detail, he chooses to zero in on the political details of how men become Presidents and then retain their power and how lesser men hang on to their coattails, scooping up whatever crumbs of power and money they can. Hollywood also shows how the new technology of the cinema was able to transform America from a loose group of disparate communities based on Old World nation states to become a united nation with a common set of values: a real concern was the possibility of a political or even civil reaction by German-based communities in America to joining the War on the Allies side, which was offset by Hollywood propaganda that brought these communities into an American outlook rather than an historical German one.
This is 'House of Cards' for the history set and is highly recommended.
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narrative with emotions, motivations, thoughts, deeds and words as pertinent to the story as any of his fictional characters. In fact, Vidal's fictional characters - loosely, the familial progeny of Vice President Aaron Burr - are really just the framework on which the real historical characters sit and act. Vidal seeks to show how America has developed a political and ruling class every bit as imperial, privileged and elite as anything Ancient Rome or Victorian England came up with.Hollywood covers the period from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s and rather than focusing on the major events of this time (America's entry to the First World War, the League of Nations, Prohibition, etc.), although he does cover these and often in some detail, he chooses to zero in on the political details of how men become Presidents and then retain their power and how lesser men hang on to their coattails, scooping up whatever crumbs of power and money they can. Hollywood also shows how the new technology of the cinema was able to transform America from a loose group of disparate communities based on Old World nation states to become a united nation with a common set of values: a real concern was the possibility of a political or even civil reaction by German-based communities in America to joining the War on the Allies side, which was offset by Hollywood propaganda that brought these communities into an American outlook rather than an historical German one.
This is 'House of Cards' for the history set and is highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
This is probably less confusing if you have read the other books in the series. The cover of my copy says 'Hollywood : a novel of America in the 1920s' and doesn't mention a series. I find myself struggling through political machinations of Washington DC in 1917. This is not at all what I was led
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to expect. Show Less
LibraryThing member ladycato
I read this for research, and while I did find some relevant material, this was not a particularly enjoyable read. First of all, very little of the book is actually in or about Hollywood; it's centered in Washington, D.C. on political shenanigans. The cover quote also says it's a novel about the
This is very much a literary fiction novel with lots and lots of talking, virtually no action, and sexual escapades all around, though nothing graphic. The cast is wide and I found it difficult to track who was who because there was a constant barrage of new names. The actual depictions of history is fantastic, though. Vidal captures the sense of the time with fine details and everything is well-paced. Characters are well-done, too, and quite strong through dialogue alone. While this was definitely not my sort of book, I can see why Gore Vidal was such a big name in the field.
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1920s, while in fact 3/4 of the book takes places in the late teens, depicting America entering the Great War and the developments around that.This is very much a literary fiction novel with lots and lots of talking, virtually no action, and sexual escapades all around, though nothing graphic. The cast is wide and I found it difficult to track who was who because there was a constant barrage of new names. The actual depictions of history is fantastic, though. Vidal captures the sense of the time with fine details and everything is well-paced. Characters are well-done, too, and quite strong through dialogue alone. While this was definitely not my sort of book, I can see why Gore Vidal was such a big name in the field.
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Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780345370853
Original publication date
1990