Extremely well written. Vidal places interesting characters at the center of interesting historical times. The resulting story is engaging and insightful into social animal human nature.

Consider me scorned. I thought Gore was sincere when he swept me away. Burr left me panting. It had balance, it was quick but solid. I nearly swooned.

Now? Washington D.C reeked of hyperbole; a kiss and tell where Vidal begs with glee, look at me. The novel is a settling of scores poised between ludicrous coincidences. A moldy snapshot of cocktail parties and dirty deeds. It is a Jackie Collins for the Beltway. Now I'm not so sure. If Gore comes a knocking, I'll gird myself, stay dressed, but above all, remain polite.

There has been a lean towards a third star this evening. I don't think the addition would be fair. ( )

Set during the last years of FDR's presidency through that of Truman, this is a look at politicians and life in Washington DC and the intersection of politics and the press. James Burden Day is a powerful conservative senator, his assistant, Clay Overbury, is a charming up and coming handsome man whose eye is set on the presidency. Blaise Sanford is a wealthy and powerful publisher with two children: Enid who marries Clay, and Peter who eventually edits a left-wing newspaper. Enid marries Clay but the marriage is filled with affairs and alcoholism. Divorce is not conducive to getting elected so Clay and this father-in-law Blaise attempt to confine Enid in an institution.

Peter comes across as a major character in the story touching the lives of all. The story is true Vidal style; humorous, cynical, and interesting with a backdrop of real characters. All in all, a good read about a time in American history that is not commonly seen in novels. ( )

Dirt in the capital. Really?! Vidal is perfect for this kind of historical novel. ( )

A novel of pre-war politics and the dawn of the American Empire. Three men, the son of a newspaper tycoon, an aging but hale senator and the senator's poor but ambitious aide cross from the corridors of power on Capitol Hill to the drawing rooms of power in the surrounding city. Titanic events in the world at large dwarf them, but they are at the heart of the political and cultural elite and the poison and futility of politics is matched by their squalid family dealings.

It won't come as a surprise to a modern reader, wheeling and dealing, the back-biting and back-stabbing, the scandalous private behaviour of public moral stalwarts, the cynical manufacturing of an imaginary politician for an unscrupulous and hollow man to inhabit. If anything, we expect worse in this day and age. We expect, nay demand greater depths of depravity plumbed by our corrupt overlords. Nonetheless, this is an accomplished, poised and insightful novel. What surprised me was the reserve of the prose. I expected wit and venom in every word, but Vidal confines the verbals to dialogue or reported speech or the thoughts of our protagonists, and this certainly gives the novel a literary gravity without sacrificing the odd scathing phrase. ( )