Washington, D.C.

Gore Vidal's sixth Narratives of Empire novel traces the lives of three men whose ambitions collide in Washington, D.C. from the New Deal era through the McCarthy period: a powerful conservative senator with presidential aspirations, a pragmatic congressional aide willing to do whatever advancement requires, and a newspaper tycoon who understands that image and money matter more than principle. Through this triangle Vidal dissects how American political culture corrupts even those who enter it with genuine conviction.

Grover Gardner brings the required gravitas to Vidal's sharp, unsentimental portrait of political Washington, giving the novel the authority of historical distance without sacrificing its satirical edge. His command of the period and the ensemble of ambitious, flawed characters reflects long experience with serious literary fiction. At just under fifteen hours, this is a substantial listen that rewards attention to Vidal's carefully constructed ironies.