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"Visit to A Small Planet" (1957) Summary and Analysis
Vidal reflects upon the impact of television and the movies on literature, even on playwriting, and finds the outlook not sanguine. For one thing, declining literacy rates mean that publishers now seek more than ever "the crudely recollected experiences of non-writers" rather than the polished works that come from a skilled writer and form a body of work "to be enjoyed by the common reader in continuity." Vidal estimates that the impact of the visual media has been to atomize any fixed set of common experiences or reference points that form the basis for readership of the novel.
A man who becomes a werewolf in Manhattan, Vidal's first play, has, he hopes, been consigned to the dustbin of history. His second, presented to Tennessee Williams in 1948, was declared one of the...
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This section contains 233 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
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