The Telegraph has an interview with Gore Vidal, who, at the age of 81, has a new memoir out entitled Point to Point Navigation. Vidal is always quotable, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Below are some gems.
On academia: “If you want to meet someone who really hates literature, then just talk to an academic.”
On the concept of the auteur: “I remember all these terrible hacks in Hollywood coming up and telling me, ‘I’m an auteur, you know.’ And I would say, ‘I always knew you were by the way you parted your hair.’”
On the decline of literary fame: “To speak of a famous writer is like speaking of a famous speedboat designer. The adjective is inappropriate to the noun.”
Of course, Vidal’s quotability comes at a price. The notoriously litigious author makes clear that “the only thing that I react really violently to is being misquoted.”
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Read the interview with Gore Vidal
