It is a risky (and risque) business becoming 'Woman Triumphant' - exercising total power over men like Rusty Godowski. Rusty just wants to be a Hollywood star like everyone else at Buck Loner's academy, but now that Buck's niece, Myra Breckinridge, has arrived, the curriculum is taking a wildly strange turn. Willing to risk all to be superb and unique, Myra means to prove to her old friend Dr Montag that it is possible to work out in life all one's fantasies - and survive. 'From Myra's fist appearnce on the page she was a megastar', explains her creator, Gore Vidal. Myra caused a second furore when she returned in Myron to battle it out with her eponymous alter ego, a drab little man fallen into marriage and a job in Chinese catering. Theirs is a contest of hormonal roulette, with glorious Myra off on time-travelling missions of mercy back to 1948 to try to change cinema history and to introduce her own radical theories of popuation control. Meanwhile Myron tries desperately to stay in the present as inconspicuously as Mrya will allow.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Falling somewhere between the realms of Henry Adams and all of Monty Python, Gore Vidal has for many years served as America's own Tiesias - a seer and scourge, as well as an entertainer of the highest order. Jay McInerney
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Gore Vidal wrote his first novel, Williwaw at the age of nineteen while overseas in World War II. Since then he has written plays, short stories, essays, films and television scripts and has been a Democratic activist.
--This text refers to an alternate
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Worldreels
Format:Paperback
Some of the past reviewers went to take an aspirin and swallowed the whole bottle. Myra was but an amusing story that posed the deep question of what part one's sexuality plays in defining one's ultimate identity. If a guy should discover half way through life that he wanted to be a she-read this book before whacking it off. The amputation solved nothing for Myron. Myra had hoped she'd evolve into a new, superior species but discovered that a lovely woman's body didn't erase her loneliness. Myra did claim a temporary uniqueness but Vidal's heavy handed ending decapitated that idea.
The sequel Myron was a totally different cup of tea. Since by then there were no characters the reader could identify or sympathize with, a comic book quality emerged which did very little beyond illustrating the amusing war of the sexes. You needn't be a sadist to enjoy this book but it wouldn't hurt. I suppose some of Neal Gabler's (LIFE THE MOVIE) questions regarding psuedo reality and life imitating art were also illustrated here-but don't expect any clarification.
Format:Paperback
The incomparable Gore Vidal wrote this book in the middle of the sexual revolution of the late sixties. He managed to write a book that is a profound statement on the women's movement on the brink of political madness; revealing the madness of patriarchal society during the Vietnam years while it began to embody the intimate criminal mentality of its enemy at the edge of its success. This book is still, more than thirty-five years later, ahead of its time. Myra Breckinridge is a symbol of America at this tumultuous time--a time that has not only not ended but is being ignored for the benefit of going backward to the Commie-hunter fifties culture, where it is seemingly safe from critical scrutiny. The sexuality, the artistry, the marketplace, the spirituality, and the narcissism that goes from the ridiculous to the sublime--defining the time in which is what written--is all here in this novel, in a way that is not only brilliantly entertaining but non-stop funny.
Vidal was the favorite writer of my baby-boomer parents when I was a child. And like my grandfather, who can tell me all the dirty little secrets of my parents generation without them even being aware, Vidal, with his unmatched artistry and biting wit, reveals all, with a talent for weaving stories that has been unmatched. Who is Myra Breckinridge? A better question would be who ISN'T?
An incredible novel.
Format:Paperback
As part of her plans to conquer Hollywood, Myra Breckinridge arrives at her late husband Myron's uncle Buck's drama academy to stake her claim. She turns heads and wreaks havoc all in her efforts to get where she wants to be. Myra takes no prisoners in any venture, especially in terms of sex. When Buck confronts her with the lack of evidence of her marriage to Myron and of the demise of Myron, Myra is forced to reveal her true nature. Ultimately Myra gets what she wants, but not in the way she planned, after a hit-and-run accident nearly destroys her. Challenging the 1960s' attitudes about gender and sexuality, "Myra Breckinridge" is not as scandalous now, but it's still shocking and campy. This is #23 of the 100 Best Gay and Lesbian Novels, as selected by the Publishing Triangle. Picking up several years after "Myra Breckinridge", "Myron" finds the banal man living with his wife in a nice California town, when suddenly he finds himself inside the movie "Siren of Babylon", during its filming in 1948. Myron struggles to find out what's happening to him as well as figuring out a way back, but the revitalized Myra is determined to seize control of the body they share and conquer the Hollywood of 1948, thereby recreating the world according to her wishes. Even more outrageous than its predecessor, "Myron" is loads of fun and showcases Vidal's wit, intelligence, and wild imagination.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too late to be shocked, but still enjoyable...
I supposed had I actually read the book when it was first published, then I would have been able to appreciate the shock value of the story. Read more
Published on May 24 2002 by "taiyindotnet"
5.0 out of 5 stars
my all-time favorite book
This book is hysterical and Myra is the greatest "woman" who ever lived. Every woman should have her style and confidence. Read more
Published on Aug 1 2001 by Lurlene Lumkin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once upon a time, when there was no such thing as PC....
It's wonderful to go through the various reviews and realize that this book, written in part in 1968 and then, the "sequel", in 1973, stirrs the same controversy it did... Read more
Published on Feb 15 2001 by Itamar Ronen
5.0 out of 5 stars
MYRA LIVES!
Who could have expected this from the author of Lincoln, Burr, and all those other dry, dry historical speculations? Read more
Published on Aug 30 2000 by G. Stanton
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good book but DO NOT READ ANY OF THESE OTHER REVIEWS!
The worst thing you can do with this book is read the storyline before you pick it up! The "twist" is the essence of the book and the reviews which revealed this twist... Read more
Published on Feb 29 2000 by Kazza
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bewildering
Myra Breckenridge is a vicious novel. I did not see any humor in a novel about a transexual who sexually harasses her male student, sodomizes him, and then steals his girlfriend by... Read more
Published on Aug 24 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Myra is a dish!
This book is great. It's outrageous and funny. It's also quite deep and meaningful.
Published on July 10 1999
2.0 out of 5 stars
Funny 1/2way Thru, Then Turns Vicious
Not being a particular fan of transsexuals, I still found this book to be insulting to them. Every character in this book is despicable, the story goes nowhere, and even though it... Read more
Published on Jun 14 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
witty & outrageously funny book
Vidal's Myra Breckinridge is one of the most insightful books I have come across in all of my extensive reading. Read more
Published on May 3 1999
3.0 out of 5 stars
I THINK I KNOW WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Confusing patchwork of letters, memos, grade reports, oddball documents...seems to suggest gender dysphoric teacher identifies with attractive young female student and wishes he... Read more
Published on Mar 26 1999
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