Gore Vidal was a renowned American author and public intellectual known for his acerbic, epigrammatic wit. Born into an upper-class political family, he was the grandson of U.S. Senator Thomas Gore. Vidal's novels and essays interrogated the social and sexual norms he perceived as driving American life.

As a novelist, Vidal explored the nature of corruption in public and private life. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), was controversial for its dispassionate portrayal of a male homosexual relationship. In the historical novel genre, his work Julian (1964) recreated the imperial world of Julian the Apostate. The social satire Myra Breckinridge (1968) examined the mutability of gender roles and sexual orientation.

Vidal was heavily involved in politics, running for office twice as a Democratic Party candidate. His political and cultural essays often focused on U.S. history and society, especially critiquing its militaristic foreign policy. His essays appeared in publications like The Nation, New Statesman, and Esquire.

As a public intellectual, Gore Vidal engaged in topical debates on sex, politics, and religion, sometimes resulting in notable quarrels with other intellectuals such as William F. Buckley Jr. and Norman Mailer.