Political Animal

£20.24 £26.99

Political Animal

Name: Political Animal
Brand: Monash University Publishing
Price: 20.24 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

Gore Vidal on Power

Written by Heather Neilson

£20.24 £26.99

Out of stock

The late Gore Vidal occupied a unique position within American letters. Born into a political family, he ran for office several times, but was consistently critical of his nation’s political system and its leaders. A prolific writer in several genres, he was also widely known – particularly in the United States – on the basis of his frequent appearances in the various electronic media. In this groundbreaking work examining the central theme of power throughout Vidal’s writings, Heather Neilson focuses primarily on Vidal’s historical fiction. In his novels depicting American history and those set in ancient times, Vidal evokes a world in which deliberately propagated falsehood – ‘disinformation’ – becomes established as truth. Neilson engages with Vidal’s representations of political and religious leaders, and with his deeply ambivalent fascination with the increasingly inescapable influence of the media. She asserts that Vidal’s oeuvre has a Shakespearean resonance in its persistent obsession with the question of what constitutes legitimate power and authority.

Heather Neilson holds a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Oxford for a dissertation on the subject of the uses of history in Gore Vidal’s fiction. She has been a coeditor of the Australasian Journal of American Studies, and president of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. She has previously taught at the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia. Dr Neilson is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of New South Wales, Canberra campus.

ISBN-13: 9781921867682
Publisher: Monash University Publishing
Imprint: Monash University Publishing
Publication date: 1 December 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 260
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
Language: English