Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal was an American author who was best known for his political commentary and television appearances. Born in 1925, Vidal rarely had any kind words for his nation, often referring to the United States as a decadent empire ruled by a militaristic dictatorship. Vidal died in 2012 at the age of 86. +Biography Gore Vidal was born to Eugene Luther Vidal and Nina Gore at West Point in New York.

The best place to start is the Peter Cutler Sargent II series, the earliest of Gore Vidal's multi-book series: it opens with Death in the Fifth Position (1952) and runs to 3 books across 1952–1954, ending with Death Likes It Hot (1954). Gore Vidal's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Gore Vidal has 208 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1946 and 2023. 151 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Nation series with 22 books — and 57 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Gore Vidal's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Peter Cutler Sargent II (1952–1954, 3 books), Narratives of Empire (1967–2000, 7 books) and Myra and Myron (1968–1974, 2 books), plus 2 more.

This guide splits Gore Vidal's 208 books into 6 named series and 57 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Nation (22 books, 1991–2009); Icons of America (20 books, 2003–2013); Narratives of Empire (7 books, 1967–2000); Peter Cutler Sargent II (3 books, 1952–1954); Myra and Myron (2 books, 1968–1974), plus 1 further series.