- Oh, Gore Vidal? I thought he was a hairdresser.

- No, that's Vidal Sassoon.

- That sounds wrong. Vidal Sassoon was a poet. I think he drove an ambulance and collected arms and legs.

- You're thinking of Siegfried Sassoon. Actually, I may have mixed him up with Wagner. Didn't he marry someone called Siegfried? Is that a woman's name in Germany? Doesn't sound like one.

- Oh yes, I remember now, Wagner was one of the top Nazis. He was the guy who parachuted into England to assassinate Churchill but they caught him and he wrote operas in jail.

- You sure about that?

- Well, you can google it.

- Oh no, I believe you. I know you like reading about history.

READING ABOUT HISTORY

Everybody pretty much loves Burr but I found my desire to know the real truth about the American Revolutionary period died a little bit on every page and I parachuted out of this big old book even before p 100. You can tell you ain't into it when you'd rather wash the dishes by hand than pick it up again. It was beginning to destroy my desire to read and that cannot be tolerated.

I'm not sayin this is a bad novel nor nothing like that. It wasn't bad, it was just kind of blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

WOW! Thank you Matt Carton for the recommendation--this did not disappoint! I read a lot of historical fiction and this ranks VERY highly in my personal canon. The breadth and scope are absolutely staggering. I have a considerable amount of U.S. history schema, but I learned and re-learned so many different things about early U.S. history, many substantive and other trivial. Like many others, I learned about Aaron Burr as a piece of bar trivia, then learned a little more through the show "Hamilton", but this was a real learning experience. A lot of Burr's traits in "Hamilton" are reflected in "Burr" (e.g. he didn't have a strong political backbone), though Burr was so much more complex a figure than I could have imagined. Hamilton is a critical figure in the book, but he doesn't play a particularly large role and his exploits and character are very consistent with the way that Lin Manuel-Miranda portrays him in "Hamilton".

There is so much to praise about this book that I don't know where to start, but the description and build-up to the Burr-Hamilton duel (again, one of the few historical moments that I *did* know coming into the book) were so dramatic, well described, tragic, and quite nuanced.

Other things on my mind:
- The Burr Conspiracy: WOW. How had I never learned about this before? Burr may not have been guilty of treason, but his behavior was highly suspect. Still, Thomas Jefferson sounded like a serious douchebag. No wonder so many of the alt-right idiots and libertarians idolize him.
- Thomas Jefferson: so much to unpack about TJ. I appreciated that Vidal wrote in the afterword that he appreciated Jefferson more than Burr, but because the novel is written from Burr's perspective (through Schuyler), he is portrayed as a Machiavellian, duplicitous asshole.
- Charlie Schuyler is the narrator and his perspective is not reflective of the author, but I do wonder why Vidal opted for Charlie to be anti-abolitionist, anti-black, and anti-immigrant? Since Charlie is one of the only characters who was not based on a real historical character, this was a conscious choice that I thought was a little strange.
- Davy Crockett's cameo was LOL funny
- My mind was blow to learn that Helen Jewett and Ms. Townsend were real people
- The descriptions of the Founding Fathers were so authentic and vivid. You don't read about George Washington's pear-shaped body and big booty in American history textbooks, that's for damn sure! The only one of the Founding Fathers who came across as a fairly normal human being was James Madison. Who knew that he was so awkward? He sounded a lot like Steve Carrell in "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" (again, things you don't read about in American history textbooks!). Since Burr and Madison were so close, I was interested to learn more about Burr's response to Madison siding with Jefferson during the treason conspiracy trial. I'm sure that Burr acknowledged the political complexities, but that must have hurt.

Gore Vidal is a brilliant writer. I am definitely revising my list of "people alive or dead to invite to a dinner party" to include him. I liked "1876" a lot, but my friend Matt Carton was correct that "Burr" is a necessary pre-requisite. "Burr" is significantly better as a book, even more thoroughly researched (which is astounding), and the plot flows beautifully. I knew what would happen in the end because I read "1876" first, but it was really nicely established.

Fantastic book, required reading for any history buff or Hamilton buff.

In the first of his “Narratives of Empire” novels, Gore Vidal tackles Aaron Burr, the disgraced Vice President remembered for killing Alexander Hamilton and plotting to sever the western United States into an independent kingdom. He frames Burr’s story through a hoary narrative conceit, with hack journalist Charlie Schuyler (not, Vidal assures us, of the Hamilton-related Schuylers) befriending an antiquated Burr in 1830s New York, hoping to coax from him his life story. Namely, whether or not he’s the father of Martin Van Buren; whether Burr involved Andrew Jackson in his western adventure; whether he'll disclose the "despicable opinion" that triggered his duel with Hamilton; whether he can discredit even George Washington’s sainted reputation. He is, as one character remarks, “the sprightly skeleton in many a celebrated closet!” Vidal’s sympathy for scoundrels shows in his rich, compelling portrait of Burr, elevating him from "the villain in your history” to the dark antihero of the American Founding. This Burr is a brilliant, idealistic, intrinsically gifted, albeit amoral and overreaching operator, whose ambitions and survival instinct match the new Republic better than its platitudinous self-image. Vidal contrasts Burr’s amorality and scheming with scathing portraits of his peers, from Washington (an inept, priggish would-be dictator) to Hamilton (a striving near-sociopath who despises everyone, including Washington) and Thomas Jefferson (a horse-abusing, slave-owning Caesar posing as a republican). Much of this is arch, clever and funny (among other delights, there’s a riotously cruel caricature of Vidal’s arch-rival, William F. Buckley, tucked into a subplot); occasionally, the novel insightfully probes the verities of historical myth (per Vidal’s vivid contrast of the Revolution’s ennobling rhetoric with its squalid, inglorious reality), image making (how the achievements of Burr, Benedict Arnold and James Wilkinson are obliterated by their transgressions) and the raucousness of 19th Century politicking (one chapter recreates an Election Day riot in New York). At worst, it’s merely cynical, asserting that all politicians are self-promoting crooks and all pretenses of decency a charade - sophomoric “insights” unworthy of such a perceptive novelist. Vidal’s idea of irony is contrasting the honest wenching and drinking of his scabrous protagonists with the prudishness of others, unhelpfully implying that all America’s problems would be resolved if our statesmen just got laid more often. Like its protagonist, Burr is smart, cynical, wryly amusing…and, occasionally, too clever by half.

So entertaining! Burr goes back and forth between Charlie Schyleur's story and the memoirs that he is writing for Aaron Burr. In his afterward he notes that although fictional the story was largely based on true events, with the only fictional character being the narrator himself, who was infact inspired by an author of the time. An interesting historical novel that spans decades of America's early political days. A little bit of Washington, a little bit of Jefferson, a little bit of Andrew Jackson. Don't mind if I do. Having recently read Washington & Hamilton by Chernow I found this an interesting perspective (although being historical fiction I took it with a grain of salt as compared to Chernow's biographies). However, all books left me with the impression that Jefferson sucked.

Once you really get into a Vidal novel there's no going back! This book manages to juggle two interwoven storylines beautifully, counterposing the rough-and-tumble early republic with the fast-paced Jacksonian landscape of 1830s Manhattan. I can't even begin to fathom how much research went into writing this, given the precision with which the author casually references nineteenth-century newspaper articles...and yet the whole thing moves effortlessly through Aaron Burr's colorful, if immensely tragic, life. I went into this with the anti-Burr tendencies that most people who have heard of him probably have. However, by the end, the reader comes to realize that while perhaps no hero, the protagonist has been severely maligned by history. Ever the contrarian, Vidal takes shots at nearly all the Founding Fathers through the lens of an aged Burr, painting a rather different picture of the era than standard textbooks would lead one to imagine. As always, the dialogue is delightfully acerbic and highly quotable. The parallel narrative structure, which I first encountered in his novel "Julian," finds its highest form here, occupying perhaps 30-40% of the book. In addition to furnishing vital commentary, Charlie's story is engrossing in its own right, tracking his course from timid journalist to assertive and wily writer. While Burr narrates his story to Charlie, Charlie's story is, in effect, the story of getting the story. A fantastic primer to the age and a brilliant character story.

I am slightly surprised to find how long it took me to actually get through this audible book which I supplemented by also following along with the Kindle version. I started out thinking this Book was going to be a superb five star effort but as it went on and on I began to think it was of a somewhat repetitious three star overstatement. Thus I come to the four-star conclusion at the top of the page!

I have left some notes and comments that predominate in the first half of the book. The author possibly claims this book to be more historical then fictional and that is a claim that I will have to leave to the discernment of others more familiar with history. I found it to be A generally enjoyable satire although slightly longer than I think was necessary.

My most significant criticism of the writing style which combined the story of a person who was working with Aaron burr to write his biography mixed in with some actual segment switch we’re purported to be Aaron burr‘s actual autobiography. The change of the point of you from one aspect to another I found somewhat confusing. The one point of view was written as Partially speculative while the other was presumably the reality from the point of view of Mr. Burr. And depending on what you think about the historical reality here, both are subject to some question. I suppose this issue has been written about significantly by other more knowledgeable reviewers.

I think I have additional works by Gore Vidal on my future reading list and this taste of his work leads me to generally look forward to those in my future.

What I knew about Aaron Burr was that in a duel he shot and killed Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury and pictured on the $10 bill. That is a pitiful amount of knowledge and if I had ever been told more about Burr, it is in that part of the brain marked "irretrievable." For pete's sake, Elizabeth, Burr was Vice President of the United States. Further, the electoral votes in the 1800 election were tied between Jefferson and Burr and the election was decided by the House of Representatives. Burr is not just this obscure fellow about whom there is likely a trivia question.

There are two first person narrators: 1) Charlie Schuyler, the only fictional character in the novel, is a clerk in Burr's law office; and 2) Burr himself. Burr dictates his memoirs to Charlie, which begin in the Revolutionary War, carry us through the 1800 election and the duel, and for a few years after. They are dictated in the mid-1830s, long after Burr was a mover and shaker in US politics. Charlie also has a life and through him we get to see a bit of New York City of the period, and to a lesser extent, Washington DC (called Washington City).

Our introduction to Burr is on the day of his second marriage in 1833.

The astonishing day began when Colonel Burr came out of his office and asked me to accompany him to the City Hotel where he was to meet a friend. As usual, he was mysterious. He makes even a trip to the barber seem like a plot to overthrow the state. Walking down Broadway, he positively skipped at my side, no trace of the stroke that half paralyzed him three years ago.

I came to understand the plot reference. Politics is a dirty business and we should disabuse ourselves that it is dirtier now than then.

Burr definitely had a perspective not taught in schools - at least not when I was in school. For example, Burr thought Washington not an especially good general and that he had a big butt. He also did not think highly of Jefferson. Vidal himself, in the afterword, says All in all, I think rather more highly of Jefferson than Burr does; on the other hand, Burr’s passion for Jackson is not shared by me. Although the novel’s viewpoint must be Burr’s, the story told is history and not invention. I was glad to read this latter, that this is not invention.

Vidals' prose is quite readable, but I must admit this reads somewhere between fiction and nonfiction. Some of Burr's "memoirs" are dense and even tedious in parts. Politicians have such egos! Chronologically, this is the first in Vidal's Narratives of Empire series. This was interesting enough that I want to read the others, though I have no immediate plans to do so. For historical interest, this gets 4-stars, but for readability it is more like the top of my 3-star group, not quite crossing that 4-star threshold.

I started this book 9 (Nine!) years ago. Just couldn't get into it, but sons had both read it and liked it, so I was determined to finish it (someday), so I left it on my nightstand. Then, after I finished all 700+ pages of Hamilton, I decided to remain in the era and finally get the darned thing out of my bedroom*. While it was extremely dry in some places, it was an easier read than Hamilton was, and shorter, although still a dense 564 pages.
Of course, Burr and Hamilton had different views on many things, which might have been more interesting to someone who actually studied the time, rather than someone who read both books to say she got them read. But it helped keep me going, especially with Burr.
*For the record, I have lots of books on my nightstand. Burr was likely there the longest, although I haven't done carbon testing on any of the others.

It was much easier to read this than a lot of biographies of the founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson comes across as the tricky politician that he probably was as did Hamilton as the uptight and conflicted personality who deserved better. Madison seemed as lifeless as he probably was even though his contribution in the debates on the constitution seems to have been truly epic. Epic but bloodless.

I usually don’t like historical fiction because it is the most pretentious of genres, but this was the perfect follow up book to The Hamilton Scheme by William Hogeland.

Gore Vidal seems like a writer that my parents’ generation would read, or maybe buy and then not read, like John Updike or Leon Uris. (I distinctly remember a copy of Exodus with a torn dust jacket on my dad’s bookshelf.)

The book is blisteringly funny especially when talking about the Founding Fathers from Burr’s point of view. Washington is an ineffectual general and in need of physical comfort and being surrounded by yes men. Jefferson is a cowardly hypocrite. Hamilton is a serial adulterer, tool of the elite, and constantly in search of a father figure. Madison is diminutive and celibate until Burr fixes him up with Dolley. We also meet future and past presidents Adams, Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, and Harrison. Jackson comes off the best by far.

I knew about Burr 360 no-scoping Hamilton, related in great detail here. But I didn’t know anything about the Burr Conspiracy, so that was really interesting to learn about.

Aside from Hamilton, the other major villain in the Burr story is James Wilkinson, who could use some 360 no-scoping himself. I remembered him from my reading on the Indian Wars as someone who worked behind the scenes to undermine and even physically harm General Anthony Wayne during his campaign through Ohio. (Again, I highly recommend Autumn Of The Black Snake.) Turns out that was just the beginning of his perfidy and double crossing.

The plot of the book is that the narrator is a clerk in Burr’s law office who has also decided to write the story of Burr. What he’s going to write and who he’s going to write it where the main tension lies, but it’s really just a structure to hang dazzling set pieces and stories on.

One thing I found enormously confusing is Mr. Vidal’s decision to give the narrator the same last name as the maiden name of Hamilton’s wife (Schuyler). The book explains that the narrator is not from their family multiple times, but it’s an odd choice and makes me think I’m missing something. Or maybe Mr. Vidal thought that it would sail over the heads of 99% of readers.

Another odd thing is there is a character who feels out of place because he is usually seen out with an underaged male prostitute. I found out later that this character is intended to be a stand in for William F. Buckley. I suppose that’s one perq of being a novelist. You can make thinly veiled characters of people you don’t like, so that you and your arty friends can have a hearty laugh about it.

This book felt very timely because the politics of the late 18thC/early 19thC make this year’s election seem positively genteel.

Recommended, especially if you like books with an arch tone and an unreliable narrator. There is a funny line or insightful observation on almost every page. Not sure if I’m going to keep reading through the historical series, but if I run across one of the books I’ll definitely pick it up.

For all of us who love reading American history but can enjoy fictional portrayals of famous people, Gore Vidal's novel is a godsend. Published in 1973, he obviously draws on the cynicism of that time to show our nation's archvillain, Aaron Burr, as a hero in his own right. Set in the 1830s, an elderly Burr tells his version of America's revolutionary and early national eras. In Burr's ironic tales we hear Vidal as well. He was a killer combination, an excellent writer who knew how to do his research. A great book that you need to read all the way to the last sentence. If you love history and you have yet to read this book, do yourself a favor.

Fascinating to have Vidal’s acerbic wit at play among all the founding icons, exposing their human foibles and bringing them to vivid life. Great dissenting views in this Burr — but really the essence of being American and in Vidal’s mordant hands, provides a tremendously entertaining perspective. The great assembly of fact behind each characterization surely must have inspired Chernow in his Hamilton bio. And is really the pop precursor to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant musical. As I read the story here, much is backed up in history and in that alternate bio of his dueling opponent. In many ways he puts the “founders” through their paces, surprising us with their stumbles. If you like some spritz in your juice, this “Burr” happily provides.

(Vidal via “Burr” deliciously places a healthy offset and constraint to the heroic treatment or idol worship of his contemporaries that many historians and biographers convey. The book is full of those canny if snide asides for which Vidal is known.)