Mr. Perfect

July 31, 2000
Vidal's latest historical novel, which focuses on the FDR, McCarthy and Korean War periods, is like a gathering of Washington, Hollywood and New York gossip columnists--all of whom are Vidal personae arguing American politics and culture among themselves. Vidal even turns up as a character from time to time to remind us of his own role in 20th-century art and artifice. Raised in the house of his grandfather, Oklahoma senator Thomas P. Gore, Vidal did in fact know many of the top players in the midcentury American game; thus the novel's details of unromantic affairs, political shenanigans and history-shaping manipulations are rendered believable. Narrator Walker is wonderful. She has a deep, sexy, expressive voice reminiscent of Lauren Bacall, at turns amused, ironic, sardonic, sometimes even serious. At the end, Vidal himself narrates, waxing philosophical on the end of the century and his life during that time. Because this four-tape abridgement of a 720-page book often leaps across chronology, it sometimes takes a minute for listeners to orient themselves, but it's worth the effort. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Forecasts, July 24).

The weekly dinner meeting of four friends starts with mundane conversation but soon turns into a list of what attributes would make up the perfect man. Moving from pragmatic to racy, the tenor of the list changes and is picked up by the press. But soon what started as fun turns to fear when one of the women is murdered. A sassy and brash story is given a like reading by Laura Hicks. Her brusque interpretation of the characters leaves one craving sympathy for any of these people, who have such a frightening future awaiting. The one who receives her softest and kindest sounds is, unfortunately, the villain of the piece. The brash, sassy, sexy story itself is what keeps the listener attached to the headset. J.P. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine