I love me some Gore, but this a fragmented mess. He's really up in years, so I won't criticize further.

This was very enjoyable and interesting. I like the non-linear writing style here. It gives the recounting over to the different subjects, and not to following the order of time (and thus we have the title of the book, I think).

Gore Vidal is a name-dropper. He's a talented writer, with wicked and incisive views on most any subject you care to name . . . but he can't stop trying to impress readers with his constant name dropping. And in doing so, he totally turns me off.

The writing is as eloquent as ever, as Vidal contemplates his final years, those who have passed before and the America he leaves behind. Though this second memoir is billed as taking up where Palimpsest left off, Vidal can’t resist revisiting many of the stories and themes of the first book and thus, at times, this second memoir feels somewhat of a condensed retelling of those memories. We learn a little more of Vidal’s relationship with Howard Austen but there is nothing to match the overwhelming senses of loss for Jimmie Trimble as laid bare in Palimpsest.

Gore Vidal fue un intelectual, escritor, ensayista, guionista y periodista estadounidense. "Navegación a la vista" es la segunda parte de su autobiografía, escrita ya siendo un octogenario y tras la muerte de su pareja durante los últimos cincuenta años, el escritor Howard Auster.
Ya de vuelta de todo, relata recuerdos y anécdotas en forma de pequeños ensayos, como si estuviésemos conversando con él, por lo que cae en algunas repeticiones. Hay mucho de su conocido egocentrismo pero también muestras de su aguda ironía, conocimiento y elegancia. Tuvo una vida intensa y se codeó con lo más granado del panorama social internacional, tanto del mundo de la política, como de la literatura, el cine o la televisión. Críticas feroces a Truman Capote, las políticas norteamericanas (siempre próximo a los demócratas) y anécdotas con los Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Greta Garbo, Fellini y un largo etcétera. Una lectura muy disfrutona.

Touching, poignant, and cleverly outlined. Vidal takes you through history as seen through the visionary's purview.

I was intrigued by a man that accomplished more than most can even dare to claim. I enjoyed the snippets of Jackie, Greta, Howard, and Tennessee while it never felt over-wrought or forced.

The reason why he kept a framed picture of John F. Kennedy alone was worth the price of the book.

It is too late now, but thank you Mr. Vidal for your contribution to our culture (your progressive voice is and will forever be missed).

OK, it's Gore Vidal. You know exactly what you'll be getting and whether you will enjoy it or not. This is his last memoir and much of it is about death. The death of his partner Howard, of friends and literary rivals, and his own death, which he know will be soon. His reminiscences of Howard are often sweet, and it's clear how much he misses him. The wit is still there, the deep knowledge and the trenchant political views. Also still there is the need to take political statement one step too far so that he is provoking not persuading, the name-dropping that lets us know he was on vacation with Paul Newman or gossiping with Princess Margaret, and the pettiness. He seems intent on having the final word with anyone he ever quibbled with, which means pages about whether he sat next to Jack Kennedy at a particular horse show or sat behind him. It was 40 years ago; it doesn't matter and you don't have to convince the world.

But as I said - you know whether you'll enjoy hearing his voice or not. I did.

Reading Gore Vidal, even when its scraps like these is always a joy. Little in the way of through narrative, just his jaundiced observations of the world. It was a fitting book to read in the final days of the 2016 election.

A poignant memoir of late life, aging, infirmity, and the long, slow physical decline and death of his longtime companion Howard Austen.

This is not a blow-by-blow sequel to Palimpsest; that material was already covered in the NYRB essays collected ultimely in United States.

A slim and subpar follow-up to Palimpsest. Half of the information is the same, Vidal doesn't write anything in chronological order (i.e. "point to point"), and one can tell he had one foot out the door. Still contains a lot of gems concerning his connections to socialites, politicians, artists, friends and enemies. Again he continues to shore up his legacy through disputing the false writings of others against him. This book almost functions like a TL;DR Gore Vidal memoir, which may appeal to those not wanting to read the fuller accounts.

I had the opportunity to see GV speak to this book at the 92nd Street Y in NYC... and I'm glad I was there. For 30 years my friend Peter from Holland told me I should read Gore Vidal, and I never did, even though American history was one of my chosen topics for my final high school examination, not to mention, I ended up living there. The personal story is as important as his books and essays, for simply he lays it on the line in all of his books, and if you get into reading Gore Vidal as deeply as I have these last 10 years or so, you cannot escape having to read his auto-biographical work as well. Palimpsest was positively enthralling, and the present volume is well... a fitting cauda to the whole thing, all the while events seem to vindicate him as one of the chief, and arguably funniest and most human prophets of the end of the American era.

Vidal starts with his views on the future of the novel which got me wondering about the future of memoirs. Since books like this are not usually converted to film, sadly, it may be the memoir that publishers drop from their lists.

Later in the book Vidal writes of Paul Bowles who's agent needs celebrity names and corresponding anecdotes in order to shop a memoir, which Bowles will reluctantly write. Celebrity anecdotes are not problem for Vidal, who has plenty of names (of both US and European royalty) to drop. From lunch in Thailand with Barbara Cartland to dinner with Princess Margaret to being airbrushed out of his proximity to JFK and being cryptically greeted by his widow in an elevator, this book meets any agent's celebrity anecdote quota.

The book's totality is more than any of its name-dropping parts. Vidal's interesting life, view of the world, and literary style make it a worthwhile read.