I Told You So: Gore Vidal Talks Politics: Interviews with Jon Wiener Paperback – Illustrated, 26 Mar. 2013

Gore Vidal has been a beacon of truth and wisdom throughout his life and he did so from inside the cocoon of privilege. In addition, a marvelous author and these interviews bear testimony to these claims. A truly great man and an excellent read.

I enjoyed the whole book.

Scaringly contemporary - just replace a few names with current leaders and you notice that not only has nothing changed, things have got significantly worse. Beautifully written, sharp, witty, deliciously cruel.

Fascinating, as is all of Gore Vidal's books.

Brilliant

I have a confession to make. I am a Gore Vidal fan. For almost 20 years, I have read deeply from his novels and essays, and derived much insight from the TV and radio interviews he had given throughout his career. He was our Oscar Wilde and the gadfly of the American system, or as he often called it, "the American Empire."Here in this slender book are excerpts from 4 different venues, spanning from 1988 to 2007, where Gore Vidal spoke at length (both publicly and in one-on-one interviews) about: "the history of the American Empire, the rise of the National Security State, and his own life in politics, both as a commentator and candidate."Vidal led such a rich and varied life. He was one of the first of the Second World War generation to publish a best-selling novel (1946). Hailing from a patrician background, Vidal grew up in Northern Virginia and Washington DC, where his maternal grandfather was the first Senator from Oklahoma and his father (a West Point graduate and one of the U.S. Army's first pilots) was an advisor to FDR on aviation matters in the 1930s.After his Army service and the publication of his debut, best-selling novel "WILLIWAW", Vidal reached a crossroads in 1948 with the publication of his third novel, "The City and the Pillar" which dealt directly with the theme of homosexuality. In this book, Vidal admits that he had the opportunity to run in 1948 for national office in New Mexico, where his family had political connections. But in order to pursue what might have been a sure political career in either the House or Senate, Vidal would've had to disavow "The City and the Pillar", which Tne New York Times roundly condemned. Well, Gore Vidal "took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."For the reader of this review, I'd like to leave you with these reflections from Gore Vidal: "If you want, let's say, to deny the people certain rights, keep them ignorant of the Bill of Rights. If nobody understands who we were, we won't question why we are what we are. ... [I]t's to the interest of the oligarchs --- the national security statespersons --- KEEP THE PEOPLE IGNORANT."

Vidal tells it like it is, namely, that since Truman launched the National Security State and the Cold War, our government has funded itself and its favored corporations with illegal wars, a Cold War, and with the demise of the USSR, a war on "Terror", which Vidal likens to a war on dandruff. These "wars" have drained our economy and bankrupted our nation, where these billions could have given us all free health care and a fine education had we chosen to continue the Republic and forgo an unconstitutional road towards Empire. And Vidal writes with a satirical tongue unmatched since the days of Juvenal and Horace. He was one of our best and wittiest writers, and was one of the few with courage to tell us the truth, something he notes that the media, owned by the corporations profiting from the real government welfare system, has never done. Every American should read this book and become knowledgeable about what is really going on the United States of Amnesia!!!

I Told You So, Jon Wiener's collection of conversations with the late writer Gore Vidal range from 1988 to 2007, yet in many ways they are as timely now as they were then. Vidal weighs in on a range of topics, focusing on politics, the National Security State and the American Empire. This book brings Vidal vividly back to life and makes me long for his fearless point of view. This book is a good introduction to Vidal's worldview for readers new to him and something to keep longtime readers satisfied until Jay Parini's long awaited biography of Vidal is released in October 2015

This is a good book if you are interested in Vidal's ideas and beliefs, although some of them are far-fetched.I often think he is the left wing version of the right wing nut. Many of the things he says have to be hyperbole.I have read several books he has written about himself and his life. Other than Kalki, a truly creepy book, I can't say I have read any of his other books.

It says I can't post this unless I barf out 20 more words, 7 to go. The one compliment I received that I truly treasured is when someone told me I was a hybrid of Bugs Bunny and Gore Vidal. I wish I could live up to that assessment, and I will keep trying.

Very good, I am 83 and it certainly got my grey cells going. Thank you John Scriven