One Book, Two Editions, Four Decades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                                                                 

           When Gore Vidal's novel, "1876," came out,  commercially apt, in 1976, it made the cover of "TIME Magazine" on March 1, 1976. I was all of 21, and my literary critic senses were already active,  so,  of course, I just KNEW it was the Literary Event of that Spring, and was determined to read it.  Interestingly, my father had acquired a copy of the original hardback edition (whether purchased himself, or borrowed from someone,  I cannot recall, though he gave the book to me when finished, and I returned it to him,  when done, after which it vanished)  and, on a first reading, while I felt the story was interesting, it really did not blow me away; but,  then, neither had "Burr."  Though I always did honors level work in History when in school, it never inspired me to pursue any aspect of it, including law and  government, as a profession, so my interest and insights were very insular, at this tender age.

                Recently,  I think it was "The Week" magazine that made a  list of  the "Best American Political Novels," three of which caught my eye--Vidal's "1876" (read), Allen Drury's "Advise And Consent," (read), and a book I remember being in our house while growing up, in paperback--"The Last Hurrah," by Edwin  O' Connor, which I feel I should read.  When I read what was said about "1876," I thought maybe it was time for me to read it again.  And so, I did.

                 Darlings, what a difference four years makes.  Using a structure comparable to Dickens' "Martin Chuzzlewit," the novel consists of the observations of one Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler, who has returned to 1876 America, and Washington D.C.  in particular, accompanied by his now grown daughter, Emma, now known as the Princess d'Agrigente.  She is widowed and, while in her Thirties, time is  running out.  It is Schuyler's intention to display her among Washington society, in order to find a suitable rematch for her, as he realizes he will not be around forever, and would like to live to see her settled.

                  But Life has a way of  altering plans.  Emma  turns out to be more spirited and independent than the American women around her; no surprise, there, when one spends one's early years, in Paris.

But where the novel gets really interesting, and blew me away, was when it gets into all the American hoopla surrounding Presidential election of that year, and its contenders,  Democrat Samuel J.  Tilden, and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes.

                 And guess what, girls?  All the machinations are not that much different from today.  Le plus ca change,  le  plus meme chose.  This novel is  richly tapestried, filled with characters Vidal is able to come alive,  and  is probably the most Dickensian of his books ever written.  

                  Vidal  went on to corner the market on American Historical Fiction.  James A. Michener did the same,  internationally, but his straightforward, pop fiction style, paled in comparison to Vidal's more skilled literary craftsmanship.

                     If you have not read "1876," girls,  I strongly urge you to.  If you have, it is worth a reread.

                     It will remind you ours is not the first time for such political chicanery.