This is a very interesting book if you've always wanted to laugh at Teddy Roosevelt or you're interested in the media. Having read Lincoln, it's nice to see John Hay again, back as a lead, and the new heroine is also engaging. The story wanders around more than in Lincoln, balancing among old money, politics and journalism, which is educational but harder to follow.

If the following excerpt has any meaning for you, you should read Gore Vidal:[Henry Adams speaking] "(Henry Cabot Lodge) is one of nature's Iagos, always in the shadows, preferring evil to nothing...""And nothing to good." (John) Hay made his addition to the indictment. "So if Cabot's Iago, McKinley must be his Othello.""No, no." Adams was firm. "After all, Othello trusted Iago. I think it most unlikely that our Ohioan Augustus trusts - or even notices - Cabot. No, I see Theodore (Roosevelt) in

This is the second book from Gore Vidal's "Narratives of Empire" that I've read, and like the other one, Burr, I enjoyed it very much. All of the books in this series feature real figures from history set against a background of real historical events, meticulously researched by Vidal -- a respected American historian.Empire is set around the turn of the 20th Century, and chronicles various events -- the assassination of President McKinley, the capture by the U.S. of the Philippines, the ascende...

As time permits, I'm going back through my "started-not-finished" shelf, and adding brief notes to some of the books there to explain why I didn't finish them. This particular book was recommended and loaned to me by my landlady back in 1988. I'd heard of Vidal, but never read any of his work.What totally turned me off here was protagonist Caroline's matter-of-fact decision (which she carried out) to seduce another woman's husband --no wrestling with conscience involved, just a straightforward a...

Gore Vidal is one of my favorite writers of all time. He's the smart guy who speaks circles around you with his vocabulary but doesn't lord it over you. First and foremost, he has always made me laugh. His satire has velvet teeth and I've admired his ability to say it as he wishes. Mixing well researched history with his own creative license has always kept me coming back for more.

I read 50 pages and put it away. Every sentence is built on sarcasm. The story is confusing, with way too many characters too quickly. Not for me.I read other reviews on GR and see now that I disagree with almost everybody in this one. Maybe I was too hasty, but there are too many books to spend time on one you don't enjoy.

It’s rare for a male writer to fully develop the moral complexity of his female characters, rarer still in a writer of Vidal’s pre-feminist generation. The development of Caroline Sanford is masterful.So many male writers are satisfied to turn their female characters into objects. I’ve been working on a couple blues pieces (with my acoustic) and have become aware of how universal the problem is in that medium—poor, African American, male songwriters in the Delta objectifying the women in their s...

This is the only book I've read by Gore Vidal; some of his other books have pretty good reviews.I thoroughly enjoyed Gore's portrayal of the United States at the turn of the century, circa 1900. As you read this book you quickly begin to see how Gore views this country; as an Empire that refuses to call itself an Empire. We got there in a unique way, but in the end that is what we were becoming in the early 1900s, and indeed what we became.I only gave 3 stars, to be honest, because I am comparin...

Gore Vidal's Empire, another installment in the Narratives of Empire series, advances the story to the turn of the century. America has just won the Spanish-American War and is flexing its muscles as a world power abroad, while Theodore Roosevelt inaugurates a period of progressive reform domestically. Caught in the whirlwind of politics and upheaval are sisters Caroline and Blaise Sanford, who inherit a failing newspaper and turn it into a massively successful tabloid, becoming archrivals to Wi...

Fantastic novel. May be my favorite of all Vidal's historical fiction. Vidal is wickedly funny while describing historical events with his keen insight.

Towards the end of the book, Gore Vidal's fictionalized Henry Adams says, "The republic is dead; long live the empire" which is a succinct way of summing up the last 100 years of American policy; Vidal fictionally traces the rise of the American Empire and the imperial presidency, especially how the media can create not only a war, but a president as well. History has been far kinder to Theodore Roosevelt (and Taft, too, actually) than Gore Vidal was to them in Empire. The line is also reminds m...

Another brilliant entry in Narratives of Empire. John Hay, TR, William Rnadolph Hearst, Henry James, and my hero, Henry Adams. It can't get much better than this. And, of course, Caroline and Blaise. Like the other entries in the series, Empire had me running to the internet to look for people I should know and forgot about, like Payne Whitney and Mrs. Jack. (I'm a sucker for NY high society!) I was pleased to see William McKinley treated with some dignity as the greatest president since Lincoln...

Never a dull moment in Gore Vidal's novel, "Empire" which takes place mostly in Washington, DC at the turn of the 20th century. For starters, Mr Vidal's characterization of William Randoph Hearst is something to marvel at. At a time where the term, fake news, has become popular, Mr. Hearst's brilliance, lack of morals and willingness to make stuff up to sell newspapers and himself is almost in the same league with President's Trump's ability to write his own narrative with little or no facts. Mr...

Some books are loved for their intricacy of plot, others for their depth of character. The star of this novel is the setting – not so much a place as an era. In America at the dawn of the 20th century you could get anything you wanted if you had the money, the connections, and good looks. Half-siblings blaise and Caroline have all three in abundance, and their upbringing in France sets them up to be fascinated observers--hungry outsiders ready to swallow American society whole. Amoral and brilli...

I am listening to the Gore Vidal series of historical novels out of order. If you have a choice I wouldn’t discourage you from doing it in the proper historic arrangement since the characters in one book do occasionally carryover to the next. In the case of this book one of the main characters is John Hay who is well known as the assistant to Abraham Lincoln. After that prominent role he went on in politics and in this book is the close associate of President McKinley and Roosevelt. He spent mos...

Empire explores the politics of expansion. America, England, Russia, France, Germany, and Japan are competing against each other towards the control of Asia. The book started out on a high note with very many characters being introduced in the first thirty or so pages. Even though I was delighted by the historical information, I was disappointed with the drag that was the story. It gets too tiresome. Up until the assassination of President Mckinely, we see nothing much going on. Afterwards, the

Very good book however I have the distinct feeling that Lincoln is the high water mark of this series. Vidal is less of a historian in Empire and more of a critic of American history. His personal beliefs seem to be more overt as the series progresses. Not that I necessarily disagree with Vidal regarding the nature of American politics, in fact quite the opposite, its just that the author's ideas are so strongly represented that I feel as if I am being crowded and boxed in to a similar viewpoint...

It's difficult to rate this novel as it was terribly uneven. The first chapter was simply awful. The overarching story of America during a turbulent period of growth, on the other hand, was fascinating. I enjoyed the more personal subplot of Caroline and Blaise, rival half-siblings from France. There was a huge cast of characters, many of whom were real people; characters walked in and out of the plot, some recurring, others not. Conversations could last for pages while significant events such a...

One book like a river and hymn to freedom for a woman who decides to take her life with courage and determination. Nothing of caricatural in this story; as always, Gore Vidal is not a manifesto. Suddenly, all these characters in American society are gaining in thickness. The author discusses them with generosity but without complacency. If the book would often benefit from less going into detail, it remains no less a story very endearing and incarnate.

Vidal juggles characters and historical facts so adeptly that a clear picture emerges of this crucial moment for the nascent American empire.While the picture is clear however, one must never forget that Vidal shows only one half of it (or maybe 0.01%). If you don’t have money or influence you won’t appear in one of these Narratives of Empire novels. They tell the story of the players: the naughty rich who, according to Vidal and aside from the occasional crazed anarchist , were solely responsib...