Saturday 10 May 2008

Spectator 180th Anniversary Blog
 

The latest culture as recommended by our staff

Peter Hoskin

Pete suggests


GALA EVENT: A conversation with Gore Vidal

20th May, 2008

Debate Details


The debate will take place at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR.

Doors open at 6pm, May 20th, 2008. The debate starts at 6.45pm and finishes at 8.30pm.

NB: this event is NOT included in the season ticket.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR SPECTATOR READERS: Come and enjoy a pre-debate drink with the Editor, Matthew d'Ancona, and attend this exclusive debate held at the Royal Geographical Society's Ondaatje Theatre. The Spectator have formed an alliance with Intelligence Squared, joining our magazine and online elements with this dynamic debating forum. Tickets are strictly limited for Spectator readers, so we would recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.
Tickets are £35 per person.  To reserve your place email info@intelligencesquared.com or call 0207 575 1812, quoting SP5.

Gore Vidal

Giant of American letters, Gore Vidal is a novelist, essayist and playwright whose career spans six decades. Outspoken critic of the American Establishment, he has been a unique presence on the stage of politics, history and culture, many of whose key figures he has known. He first came to attention with his 1948 novel The City and the Pillar which outraged mainstream critics as the first major American novel to feature unambiguous homosexuality.

In addition to a major sequence of seven novels about American history, and such satirical novels as Myra Breckinridge and Duluth, he has written dozens of television plays, film scripts, and over a hundred essays, gathered in several volumes published between 1962 and 2001.

A renowned wit, his sayings include:

"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail."
"A narcissist is someone better looking than you are."
"Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies."
"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half."

Melvyn Bragg

Broadcaster, novelist and writer, Lord Bragg is perhaps best known for the LWT arts programme The South Bank Show, which he has written, edited and produced since 1978. He is also known for his many programmes on BBC Radio 4, including Start the Week, which he presented for ten years, In Our Time, and The Routes of English, a history of the English language. He is a Labour life peer.

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