Discover products with sustainability features this Earth month
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows.
Buy New
-26% $27.86
FREE delivery Friday, April 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: Akin03
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

  • United States: Essays 1952-1992

Follow the authors

Get new release updates & improved recommendations
Gore Vidal
Follow
Gore Vidal
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

United States: Essays 1952-1992 Hardcover – May 18, 1993

by Gore Vidal (Author)
Previous page
  1. National Book AwardWinner, 1993
Next page
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$27.86","priceAmount":27.86,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"27","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"86","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Ix%2FfEbBh97NkdG9ZOyVhAFNT5B7iY5OkUj3f9wKbG3m8uXj70%2F3Gx5kwKVyVqhallDLjlX%2FFwm7XCpiqEidh2eVUObFTpha3ICbAPR4zP3Uf5%2B%2BMbNBl7Vz7crbpNXRFwBtUPp08zF7cODppOJ0accyQWvlsFfA%2Bs06k4dcwuOqpqm9rRb4oFT0f5qTrCrHH","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$28.66","priceAmount":28.66,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"28","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"66","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Ix%2FfEbBh97NkdG9ZOyVhAFNT5B7iY5OkWO%2FCyb2C4AvGgafPYS2%2BU%2BiUjKwYxCLGrTHX64ZzOL9RKbO%2F5A1o6JFpsl5O1DQaKKQ%2FPGGI6GDC6cnVSi9I1m3kp23I%2F0iPOxfiM5FGvYHO2xvcOIuOly28H6wc4z44Dq0rCQMeICskQ2%2B%2BU4GI%2Fw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}, {"displayPrice":"$9.95","priceAmount":9.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Ix%2FfEbBh97NkdG9ZOyVhAFNT5B7iY5Okuqe8B4FeOrmIUsvkI4LdAMr5pKgEJI4%2Bpf8fDzstVATggcaYrrfJfYhjbhActqT%2B2jTR0JcjxbBfUhlWc%2BEoAn5kylaFFaIyg6rsUVc7SaHNIbvszjKULlebpPOO%2BvnodrobKayOnK2Dn5Pd%2BxlYGgx5gbq%2BjTSi","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":2}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From the age of Eisenhower to the dawning of the Clinton era, Gore Vidal’s United States offers an incomparably rich tapestry of American intellectual and political life in a tumultuous period. It also provides the best, most sustained exposure possible to the most wide-ranging, acute, and original literary intelligence of the post—World War II years. United States is an essential book in the canon of twentieth-century American literature and an endlessly fascinating work.


From the Trade Paperback edition.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    1295 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Random House
  4. Publication date
    May 18, 1993
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 2.75 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0679414894
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0679414896
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Similar items that may deliver to you quickly

Page 1 of 1 Start over
Previous set of slides
  1. The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
    Gore Vidal
     
    Paperback
    $12.91
    Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 17
    FREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon
  2. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated
    Gore Vidal
     
    Paperback
    $8.59
    Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 17
    FREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon
    Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
  3. Burr: A Novel (Vintage International)
    Gore Vidal
     
    Paperback
    $14.60
    Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 17
    FREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon
  4. Empire: A Novel (Vintage International)
    Gore Vidal
     
    Paperback
    $14.00
    Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 17
    FREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon
  5. Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia
    Gore Vidal
     
    Paperback
    $12.99
    Get it as soon as Friday, Apr 17
    FREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon
Next set of slides

Customers also bought or read

Page 1 of 1Start over
Previous page
  1. Book cover The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
    The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
    Paperback
    $12.91
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  2. Book cover Burr: A Novel (Vintage International)
    Burr: A Novel (Vintage International)
    Paperback
    $14.60
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  4. Book cover Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America
    Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America
    Hardcover
    $24.10
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  5. Book cover Hollywood
    Hollywood
    Paperback
    $14.79
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  9. Book cover The Golden Age: A Novel
    The Golden Age: A Novel
    Paperback
    $14.51
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  11. Book cover The World of Yesterday
    The World of Yesterday
    Paperback
    $18.37
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  12. Book cover Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal
    Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal
    Paperback
    $18.00
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  13. Book cover Buckley vs. Vidal: The Historic 1968 ABC News Debates
    Buckley vs. Vidal: The Historic 1968 ABC News Debates
    Paperback
    $22.04
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  14. Book cover The Lover
    The Lover
    Paperback
    $11.64
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  16. Book cover Lincoln: A Novel (The American Chronicle Series)
    Lincoln: A Novel (The American Chronicle Series)
    Paperback
    $16.98
    Delivery Apr 21 - 24
  17. Book cover The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form
    The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form
    Paperback
    $12.09
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  18. Book cover American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804
    American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804
    Paperback
    $18.67
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  19. Book cover Arguably: Essays
    Arguably: Essays
    Paperback
    $12.12
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  21. Book cover Baldwin: A Love Story
    Baldwin: A Love Story
    Hardcover
    $20.21
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  24. Book cover The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I
    The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I
    Paperback
    $14.91
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  26. Book cover Kant: A Revolution in Thinking
    Kant: A Revolution in Thinking
    Hardcover
    $27.91
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  27. Book cover Six Memos for the Next Millennium
    Six Memos for the Next Millennium
    Paperback
    $9.99
    Delivery Fri, Apr 17
  30. Book cover Tenth of December: Stories
    Tenth of December: Stories
    Paperback
    $10.19
    Delivery Apr 28 - May 14
Next page
Loading...

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This hefty volume will need strong binding: it contains 114 essays and over 1300 pages of Vidal's barbed opinions, articulate insights, intellectual observations, and more "correctionist" opinions. These pieces represent two-thirds of the essays Vidal has published over 40 years and fall into three categories: literary, political, and personal. Why the other one-third was omitted or why these particular ones were gathered at this time is not clear. If the aim is a "complete works," then why not include the other third and divide them into three physical volumes with proper editing? Such a collection would be worthwhile. Because Vidal's essays are always provocative, full of interesting facts, and have the immediacy of a conversation, this collection might be of interest to both public and academic libraries. Libraries on a tight budget can remember that the essays have appeared previously in such publications as the New York Review of Books.
- Nancy Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"In 114 essays written over a period of forty years, Gore Vidal has shown himself to be a masterly, learned, and percipient observer of an unparalleled range of subjects. United States: Essays, 1952?1992 assesses such diverse matters as modern French fiction, the Kennedys, underappreciated writers like Thomas Love Peacock, and the American attitude toward sex. He writes tenderly of authors and people he cherishes-Eleanor Roosevelt, Tennessee Williams, William Dean Howells. Whatever his subject, he addresses it with an artist's resonant appreciation, a scholar's conscience, and the persuasive powers of a great essayist."
--Citation for the 1993 National Book Award

"Gore Vidal, essayist; so good that we cannot do without him. He is a treasure of the state."
--R. W. B. Lewis, New York Times Book Review

"Gore Vidal is the master essayist of our age, and we should thank the gods that we still have him to kick us around. Long may he flourish."
--Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

"A marvelous compendium of sharp wit and independent judgment that confirms his status as a man of letters."
--Publishers Weekly



From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 18, 1993
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 1295 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679414894
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679414896
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.92 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2.75 x 9.5 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #652,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Gore Vidal

    Gore Vidal

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Gore Vidal has received the National Book Award, written numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays. He has been a political activist and as Democratic candidate for Congress from upstate New York, he received the most votes of any Democrat in a half-century.

    Photo by David Shankbone (Photographer's blog post about the photo and event) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Gore Vidal

    Gore Vidal

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Related books

Page 1 of 1Start Over
Sponsored
Previous page
  1. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939-1945
    The Art Front: The Defense of French Collections 1939-1945
    4.44.4 out of 5 stars21
    $49.99
  2. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays
    Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays
    4.84.8 out of 5 stars906
    $12.40 List:$17.00
  3. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Complete Works of Carl Jung: Psychological Types, Psychiatric Studies, Essays on Analytical Psychology & others (Grapevine Press)
    Complete Works of Carl Jung: Psychological Types, Psychiatric Studies, Essays on Analytical Psychology & others (Grapevine Press)
    4.44.4 out of 5 stars88
    $29.99
  4. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Antigone - A Clear, Modern English Translation for Students and Readers
    Antigone - A Clear, Modern English Translation for Students and Readers
    3.83.8 out of 5 stars22
    $9.95
  5. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Geography Trivia Uncovered Facts: 404 Fascinating Things You Need to Know about Our World
    Geography Trivia Uncovered Facts: 404 Fascinating Things You Need to Know about Our World
    4.24.2 out of 5 stars8
    $10.90
Next page

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
134 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book's content engaging, with one noting it covers a long span of national events. The writing quality receives positive feedback, and customers appreciate its informative nature, with one mentioning how it expanded their understanding of the world.
AI Generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

12 customers mention content, 10 positive, 2 negative
Customers find the content of the book engaging and worth reading, with one customer noting it is smart on many fronts.
United States: Essays 1952-1992 (1993)...Good idea for a book of essays, good topics, but badly written, hard to read, not clear interesting...Read more
The huge volume contains essays on a range of literary, political and cultuarl topic....Read more
typical Vidal great reading and informative recommend to anyone interested in history all his books are worth the read this one is one of the bestRead more
Vidal has great mind and writing skill. This is a great read.Read more
8 customers mention writing quality, 7 positive, 1 negative
Customers praise the writing quality of the book, with one noting it provides a great way to know the author as a writer.
...THE SPECTRUM YOU FIND YOURSELF ON, THERE IS BRILLIANCE HERE AND WONDERFUL WRITING. AS I SAID, A TRUE MASTER.Read more
Vidal has great mind and writing skill. This is a great read.Read more
...The writing is delightful, and fortunately, easily understood by anyone with at least an eighth grade education.Read more
...When Vidal was on, his writing was sublime.Read more
5 customers mention informative, 5 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book informative, with one review noting how it covers a long span of national events, while others mention how it expanded their cultural and political understanding.
typical Vidal great reading and informative recommend to anyone interested in history all his books are worth the read this one is one of the bestRead more
This book affirmed many of my liberal principals and genuinely grew my knowledge politically, societally, nationally, internationally, and the...Read more
Before Hitchens there was Vidal. Great stuff! The essays cover a long span of national events and a mixture of topics....Read more
The huge volume contains essays on a range of literary, political and cultuarl topic....Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Harriet Boe
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gore Vidal great essayist and America’s Nostradamus
    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2020
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This book affirmed many of my liberal principals and genuinely grew my knowledge politically, societally, nationally, internationally, and the impact of oligarchy and corruption in this country. Broadened my knowledge culturally in relation to the world of literature and the arts and In general expanded my purview of the world perhaps altered my view philosophically a trifle. I was always an admirer of this writer.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Donald Antaky
    5.0 out of 5 stars GORE VIDAL ESSAY, BRILLIANT POWERFUL COMMENTARY, AN AMERICAN MASTER.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2013
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    COVERS AMERICAN HISTORY AND POLITICS ACROSS A WIDE SPECTRUM. VIDAL IS FEARLESS AND REGARDLESS OF WHICH SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM YOU FIND YOURSELF ON, THERE IS BRILLIANCE HERE AND WONDERFUL WRITING. AS I SAID, A TRUE MASTER.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Christopher Monell
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting yet bewildering
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2019
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I confess I am not that familiar with Gore Vidal. I was thirteen when Myra Breckinridge appeared in bookstores. No, I didn't read it then, and still haven't, but I do remember it being discussed. It was only after seeing the film Best of Enemies that I put GV on my must read list. I enjoy reading essays. I bought United States: Essays, 1952-1992, but put it aside as I am currently reading his collection of essays that were published in the Nation, 1958-2005, which is also available in a Kindle edition. These are a page turner. It may interest you to know that GV used the expression " the 99 percent" as early as 1992.

    I have the Nation collection, for whatever reason, on my Nook. In comparing the two collections, I discovered that many of the Nation essays appear in the United States collection under different titles, and with the text altered. Did GV take the time to re-edit previously published material? There is no mention of this in the New York Times review. For example, the 1981 essay "Some Jews and the Gays" in the Nation collection appears in United States under the title "Pink Triangle and Yellow Star." (Nation 1981). Not exactly truthful, is it?

    This is not a Nook vs Kindle issue. Neither is it an issue of Kindle vs print edition. I just think readers should be made aware that there are essays in the United States collection that do not necessarily appear as originally published. I find this bewildering as I am now considering buying the Kindle edition of the Nation collection just to have the two collections under the same roof as they really are two separate publications.
    17 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Rogier F. van Vlissingen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Especially the political commentaries should be required reading for anyone in politics.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Many of Vidal's insights are as relevant today, or even more so... where is the I.F. Stone weekly of today? Vidal's political essays should be viewed in the context of his Biography of the USA. Nothing will get you closer to understanding these US of A as a living entity.
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Paul Ehrmann
    5.0 out of 5 stars jewel like writing, sparkling wit
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2012
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    The huge volume contains essays on a range of literary, political and cultuarl topic. It is witty, wonderful stuff and Gore Vidal was a treasure and this book is a great way to know him as a writer.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • itsjustamovie. com
    5.0 out of 5 stars The past isn't dead, it's not even past
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2021
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    From ancient Rome to modern Washington, Vidal takes on the world's of literature, politics and life in the nuclear age.
    Helpful
     Report
  • RCFGunkle
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Vintage Verbal Feast
    Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This is a huge collection of articles published over the years in many journals and magazines that show Vidal at his ponderous, pontifical and entertaining best. Vidal is best taken in squirts, but this is a firehose of fun. You have to like him to love it, which I do!
    6 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • MJ
    5.0 out of 5 stars The best interpreter of America in the post war era
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    He is the sharpest and most trustworthy unbeliever in the philistine post war era of America. so smart on so many fronts.
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • cévennes
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Master
    Reviewed in France on July 8, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    For anyone who lived through this period, incomparable commentary from one who did too.
    For those who did not, read it and learn.
    No one does it better than Gore Vidal.
    Keep it on your bedside table and pick it up when you wonder what the world is coming to.
    Report
  • Dennis Brown
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bedtime reading.
    Reviewed in Canada on July 25, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Good example of Gord Vidals work and wit. Not an easy read but one that is more than worthwhile.
    Report
  • Nick
    5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Gore Vidal we need him now more than ever.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    You can imagine what Gore Vidal would think of Trump...and Vice versa ! This is a Wonderfully Compelling collection of Gore's essays, generously laced with his usual withering & hilarious critiques of the "United States of Amnesia"... Do yourself a favour and purchase !
    Report
  • Elizabeth M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gore Vidals "United States". An important large book
    Reviewed in Canada on June 11, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Prompt book a good price clean and looked new. Very satisfied.
    Report
  • S Wood
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Peoples Patrician, or The Clever Bugger
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2009
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    United States is a collection of Gore Vidals essays that were written up to 1992. The book is a hefty tome, 114 essays over 1271 pages (806 grams if your hard of holding), divided into 3 sections: (1) State of the Art - on American writing, (2) State of the Nation - on American politics (3) State of Being - of which I am not quite certain what the theme is.

    The essays are exemplars of their kind, abounding with his caustic humour, intelligence and world weary despair at the direction that the U.S. has taken both home and abroad. The first and second sections contain the best essays, his knowledge and intelligence regarding American letters is immense and his political writing is as always sharp and entirely lacking in any delusions of American grandeur. Spades are always called spades but in a wonderfully funny and erudite manner.

    I thought there were a couple of weak essays in the third section (I dont think travel writing is Vidals forte) but otherwise the quality is consistently high. I was also left thinking that it would have been to the collections advantage if the sections were dispensed with and the essays simply put into chronological order. It would have been of interest to see how his essay writing had developed over time, and there being some overlap in a few of the essays subjects and themes the element of repetition that on occasion appears would be dispersed somewhat.

    Apart from those minor quibbles, it is an amazingly readable book - perhaps best read an essay or two at a time though the "one more before lights out" factor means that I was all to often merrily reading away into the small hours. A book that is very good company.
    Report
See more reviews