Vince's Reviews > Myra Breckinridge

Reading any work by Gore Vidal, I am always amazed at how well it stands the test of time. Many of the references in Myra Breckinridge are dated (and certainly would have been at the time of its publication as well), and yet the themes of the story still ring eerily true today. Sexual politics, gender roles, the nature of celebrity – all of these ideas play out today much as they play out in the novel. In particular, the quest for celebrity in the book calls to mind reality television stars of today.

The novel, presented primarily as a series of diary entries, is, on the surface, the story of Myra Breckinridge as she moves to Hollywood to receive her rightful inheritance as the widow of one Myron Breckinridge. While there, she gets tangled up with an Academy that teaches young people to be stars and uses these students as pawns in her game to shift ideas about gender and sex.

The novel has a light, satirical tone, but do not let that fool you. Myra Breckinridge is a dark and thought-provoking tale, as shocking today as it certainly was upon its release in 1968. One should be able to pause between chuckles to really explore what Vidal is presenting. For just as Myra is a larger-than-life comedic character, her ideas about the world are large and important and intriguing.