Vidal says, "Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult." Such is certainly the case with [Matters of Fact and of Fiction], which presents the many glittering facets of a truly witty mind. Some will object to his recurrent use of epithets such as the "Great Golfer" and the "First Criminal" to refer to recent Republican presidents. Others will object to his incurable habit of name dropping, his penchant for sweeping generalizations, and his petulant tone of self-righteous superiority. Still others will object to feelings of being left in the dark as Gore recounts some of the cute goings on of his past in "Some Memories of the Glorious Bird and an Earlier Self," an essay full of obscure allusions to events in his personal life.

In spite of these blemishes, the book holds up because its author is a man of wit...