The Best Man

By Gore Vidal

Book Overview

THE STORY: The New York Post describes the plot as follows: ...William Russell, the ex-Secretary of State, is a wit and scholar with high liberal principles, beloved of the eggheads and suspected by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B001MSK4GY
• Release Date: January 1960
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Boston
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"The Best Man" indeed wins

This script is just as timely today during the current election climate as it was when Gore Vidal first penned it back in the 60s. Yes...as with all writings, some material is a bit on the dated side, (especially the references to women before the women's right movement of the 70s) but all in all the same truths hold up today as they did back then. A good read. By chance the other night, I also happened to catch the film version with Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson. It was faithful to the script and very good.

A little dated but still excellent

There were a ton of great political movies made in the early and mid 1960's and this is the basis for one of the best. Originally a Broadway play, it was made into a movie starting Henry Fonda and a young Cliff Robertson. (I highly recommend the movie.) It's the story of two very different men vying for the nomination of their party for President. One is moral and intellectual and the other, well, not so much. The dialogue is outstanding and has certain expectations of the reader. Younger readers may have to keep Google on stand-by. But it flows well and builds towards a great surprise ending. One caveat: It is a play, not a novel.