RaveThe IndependentHe does not narrate his life; he reviews it. He quotes from diaries, letters and books, even enlisting the support of his own essays and fiction, The result is something quite novel and wonderfully appealing, a critical biography of himself ... A natural crowd-pleaser and devout gossip, his memoir is mainly an enchanting set of stories about household names ... There are some lapses into mere self-regard - he wastes an entire page of expensive deckle-edged paper on a reproduction of the 1964 bestseller list to prove that his novel, Julian, was a number one seller - but mostly the book is given an appealing fluid strength by its very haughtiness ... Vidal\'s life might even be his greatest work.
