Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. An intimate, authorized yet totally frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925–2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s Empire of Self digs behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal’s colorful career to reveal the complex emot The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s EMPIRE OF SELF Empire of Self is full of life and humor." Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal by Jay Parini book review. The best parts of “Empire of Self” are the brief interludes between chapters, when we are in the moment with Gore Vidal and his friend Jay Parini. An intimate, authorized yet frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925-2012), one of the most accomplished, visible and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century. Doubleday, 2015, 480 pp. Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal Kindle Edition by Jay Parini (Author) From Charles McGrath's review of Jay Parini's Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal: “Every time a friend succeeds, something inside me dies,” Vidal famously said, and the phrase has been pressed into service as the title for the British edition of Parini’s book. The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s EMPIRE OF SELF probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. Buy Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal Reprint by Jay Parini (ISBN: 9780345805836) from Amazon's Book Store. Click to read the full review of Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal in New York … Through his historical fiction, his reviews, and his eloquent and acerbic essays on U.S. foreign policy, Gore Vidal became a prolific and widely read commentator on American life. Empire of Self may stay the hand of the Great Eraser.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “An admiring but unblinkingly honest portrait of the self-mythologizing, self-aggrandizing literary titan and TV celebrity.” —The Daily Beast “Parini precedes each chapter with a vignette, a focused memory from his own experiences with Vidal. An intimate, authorized, yet frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925-2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century. Purchase. An intimate, authorized yet totally frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925–2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s Empire of Self digs behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal’s colorful career to reveal the complex emot This is only one of many similar stories in Empire of Self, a wonderful and moving new biography of Gore Vidal by his longtime friend Jay Parini, an accomplished novelist and critic himself. Empire of Self is full of life and humor.” —Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying and Fear of Dying "Gore Vidal was a giant on the American scene, in the American century, equally at home with Hollywood and Broadway stars, Washington politicians, famous writers and … By Jay Parini . But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la … Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal . Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal Paperback – September 20, 2016 by Jay Parini (Author) Much more weighty and concerned less with personal imperfections and a great deal more with having a high self-esteem. Empire of Self is full of life and humor.” —Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying and Fear of Dying "Gore Vidal was a giant on the American scene, in the American century, equally at home with Hollywood and Broadway stars, Washington politicians, famous writers and … An intimate, authorized, yet frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925-2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century.The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underly --Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying and Fear of Dying (forthcoming) "Gore Vidal was a giant on the American scene, in the American century, equally at home with Hollywood and Broadway stars, Washington politicians, famous writers and European aristocrats. In America the book is entitled, Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal. Jay Parini’s new biography, Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal, doesn’t shy away from reporting such open paranoia or any of the other unsavory aspects of Vidal.