# Gore Vidal's Palimpsest: A Life Unfolding, Then and Now Gore Vidal, a titan of American letters, was a writer who consistently pushed boundaries. His life and work were a complex tapestry, a palimpsest in the truest sense – layers of experience and evolving thought, written over and rewritten, yet always revealing the profound beneath. While his novel *The City and the Pillar* initially shook the literary world with its candid portrayal of a same-sex encounter, it was his later memoir, *Palimpsest*, that offered a more intimate, though still famously unflinching, look at his journey. The recent discussion by the Left Bank Books Gay Men's Reading Group shines a light on how Vidal's personal narrative, much like his fiction, offered a nuanced and often controversial exploration of identity, society, and the human condition. Vidal’s early career was marked by an almost immediate splash. His 1948 novel, *The City and the Pillar*, depicted a passionate weekend between two high school boys, Jim Willard and Bob Ford, and the subsequent emotional fallout. The novel’s raw honesty was electric, but for Vidal, the story was never truly finished. He revisited and revised the ending multiple times. An updated paperback version in 1950 brought subtle changes, followed by a more significant revision in 1965, and further tweaks in a 1995 reprint. This iterative process underscores Vidal’s restless engagement with his own narratives and, perhaps, with the societal currents that shaped them. ### Unpacking the "City and the Pillar" Revisions: Evolution or Erasure? *The City and the Pillar* charted Jim Willard's journey through the burgeoning, yet largely hidden, gay subcultures of the post-war era. We see glimpses of life within the merchant marines, the glitz and artifice of Hollywood, and the vibrant, sometimes precarious, world of New York City. Jim himself is presented as handsome, athletic, and capable of passing as heterosexual, yet he grapples with his burgeoning self-acceptance following an idyllic, clandestine encounter with his friend Bob Ford in the woods. The novel, particularly in its earlier iterations, delved into some rather bewildering theories about the origins of homosexuality. These included the idea of it being an arrested stage of adolescent development, or even a societal response to the perceived dominance of women in American culture. These hypotheses, often expressed through the dialogue of characters at a New York cocktail party, painted a picture that, to modern eyes, can appear as a form of gay misogyny, offering explanations that were psychologically suspect and ultimately unconvincing. It’s telling that by the time Vidal published his 1965 revision of *The City and the Pillar*, these passages were entirely excised, suggesting an evolution in his own thinking or a response to growing awareness of their problematic nature. By the time Vidal turned forty, he had already solidified a core belief that would resonate throughout his work: the rejection of a fixed "gay personality." In many ways, Vidal was an early proponent of social constructionism, challenging rigid identity categories long before they became widespread concepts. The original draft of *The City and the Pillar* depicted Jim dreaming of both men and women, but the pivotal encounter with Bob Ford led him to a clear, decided preference. This evolution, the shedding of earlier, more speculative theories, is a testament to Vidal’s intellectual rigor and his commitment to evolving thought. The various endings of *The City and the Pillar* are particularly fascinating. The original conclusion, and one of the revised versions, presented a tragic confrontation. When Jim attempts to make advances towards Bob, he is cruelly rebuffed, leading to a violent struggle where Jim strangles Bob to death. This was a shattering, bleak ending, and one that critics found too grim. Vidal, it seems, heeded this criticism, but perhaps not in the way one might expect. In a subsequent revision, Jim, after a fight, pins Bob down and rapes him – a conclusion only marginally less harrowing than the original. A third ending, found in a 1960 paperback, offered a slightly softer, though still fraught, resolution. Jim incapacitates Bob, leaving him unconscious, then gently places him on the bed, a tender gesture amidst the turmoil. ### *Palimpsest*: A Memoir of Self-Discovery and Enduring Love It was in his 1995 memoir, *Palimpsest*, that Vidal truly opened the layers of his life for public examination. The memoir is a non-linear journey, flashing back and forth in time, recounting his life from birth to his later years. It’s a rich vein of gossip, anecdotes, and sharp observations about the luminaries he encountered and the historical currents he navigated. Central to *Palimpsest*, and indeed to Vidal’s personal narrative, is his enduring love for Jimmy Trimble. They met as boys at St. Albans school in Washington D.C., and Vidal identified Trimble as his “other half.” Their affair lasted for approximately two years, until they were fourteen. Despite their separation as Vidal moved through various boarding schools and into adulthood, Trimble remained a profound presence in his life. They last saw each other at seventeen, and Vidal would later describe Trimble as the greatest love of his life. Vidal’s engagement with philosophical ideas, particularly Plato’s *Symposium*, provided a framework for understanding his own attractions. Plato, through the character of Aristophanes, posits a myth of original three sexes – male, female, and hermaphrodite – who were later split in two. This myth suggests a primal yearning for reunion, a deep-seated desire to find one's lost half. Vidal, a voracious reader and keen interpreter of philosophical texts, found in this myth a resonance with his own profound connection to Trimble. Crucially, *Palimpsest* marks a significant shift in Vidal’s personal acceptance of his identity. While he had previously explored diverse sexualities and questioned fixed categories – much like Alfred Kinsey’s research at the time – he ultimately concluded that primary sexual attraction is innate and immutable. For Vidal, this meant acknowledging that his fundamental attraction was to men, and that Jimmy Trimble was the individual who had, in a profound sense, made him whole. Vidal considered himself exceptionally fortunate to have found his true counterpart, even though Trimble’s life was tragically cut short. ### Vidal's Enduring Legacy: Honesty, Wit, and Social Commentary Gore Vidal’s career was a masterclass in intellectual honesty. He famously stated and wrote exactly what he thought, regardless of the personal or professional cost. This unwavering commitment to his own truth, while earning him immense respect, also invited controversy. His novel *The City and the Pillar*, for instance, was so controversial that newspapers refused to even carry advertisements for it. His experiences also led him to explore different creative avenues. During the closing stages of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy, anticipating a potential invasion of Japan. Later, driven by economic necessity and a desire to explore new mediums, he moved into writing original dramas for live television during its “Golden Age” in the 1950s. This work caught the attention of Hollywood, launching a new career as a screenwriter. Vidal’s disillusionment with the administration of John F. Kennedy marked a turning point, pushing him further into his role as a sharp, critical commentator. His essays, often published in the *New York Review of Books*, established him as a formidable literary critic, introducing American readers to talents like the Italian novelist Italo Calvino. His satirical novels, such as *Myra Breckinridge* and *Myron*, were brilliantly savage in their depiction of a transsexual heroine, showcasing Vidal's unique ability to blend humor with incisive social critique. He was a master of the witty, sardonic observation, a natural commentator on the absurdities he perceived in politics and society. While some critics perceived him as cold, his approach to writing his memoirs in his later life revealed a deeper emotional landscape. Vidal’s insights into sexuality were remarkably prescient. He argued passionately that homosexuality is a natural facet of the human condition, neither a sickness, a sin, nor a crime, despite societal attempts to categorize it as such. “Homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality,” he asserted, a statement that challenged the prevailing puritanical attitudes of his time. This radical honesty extended even to a proposed television series for the History Channel, which was deemed too avant-garde and subsequently shelved, a loss for educational programming. Gore Vidal was, truly, sui generis – unique. He was a man of wide-ranging intellect, a sharp wit, and an unyielding commitment to his own vision. His life was a testament to the power of words, the complexities of identity, and the enduring search for connection. His voice, once silenced, leaves a void that will not easily be filled, but his writings, like the layers of a palimpsest, continue to offer profound insights into the human experience.