OFFTOPIC--Live From Golgotha

[joeallonby]

on 7/3/03 9:28 AM, Elainemmbell at aol.com at Elainemmbell at aol.com wrote:

Thanks to you folks, I've had a wondrous reading year -- you introduced me
to Murakami, Abe, DeLillo, Flanagan, and inspired re-readings of Pynchon,
Nabokov, 
Tanizaki, and Orwell.  Your comments and debates have informed my own work;
your arguments and internecine battles have amused me on my worst days.
Witnessing your personal accomplishments (Cyrus, Quail, e.g.) has helped me
press on...

Recently I read Gore Vidal's Live From Golgotha and wondered where Vidal
stands in your pantheon?  I'm of several minds about his work, immensely
impressed with concept, not always thrilled with execution.  Anyone have
thoughts on this? 

Thanks, and have a liberating 4th of July, ye of every political stripe &
star!
Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
(860) 523-9225 

When I was in high school, "Burr" introduced me to a revisionist
appreciation for the American Revolution and inspired me to read deeper.
Despite his apparent lack of reverence for Washington (based on fact), Vidal
inspired me to look into the character of the founding fathers. He humanized
them. Maybe that was not his intention.

On this troubled Fourth of July, I suggest that you all raise a glass with
me to Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson.

They were all very flawed men.

They were human beings.

But between them, they wrote the blueprint for the greatest experiment in
human history.

To this day, we hold their truths to be self-evident.

All men are created equal. And endowed by their creator with certain
inalienable rights.

I don't give a flying fuck about their personal failings.

They were courageous giants.

Peace,
Joe



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