Rumors for sale (The Epic of Creation Book 13)

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An historical novel of truly epic proportions 20 October I didn't realise that Gore Vidal was what is called a revisionist when it came to his historical novels, but it only makes me want to pick up more of his books because revisionists tend to give us an alternate view of history that differs from the history that is written by the winners.

This book is one of those examples: For thos An historical novel of truly epic proportions 20 October I didn't realise that Gore Vidal was what is called a revisionist when it came to his historical novels, but it only makes me want to pick up more of his books because revisionists tend to give us an alternate view of history that differs from the history that is written by the winners.

For those who are not familiar with Ancient Greek literature, Herodotus is known as the Father of History, but he is also known as the Father of Lies, most likely because of his portrayal of the Persians who were the enemies of the Greeks. However, Herodotus' Histories is not strictly a history text but rather an anthropological text in which he describes a number of cultures that existed around the Eastern Mediterranean during his time.

A large section of his book deals with the Egyptians in which we learn a lot about Egyptian culture such as the fact that they practised circumcision that we may not have otherwise known. However, in the end, it appears that Herodotus' purpose is to demonstrate that the greatest of the civilisations is that of the Greeks. Vidal tries to overturn that belief by writing from the point of view of a Persian diplomat, Cyrus Spitama. The novel begins near the end of Spitama's life, when he is posted to Greece as a diplomat. Here is spends his time discussing politics and philosophy with Anaximander, which is interesting because when most of us think of Greek philosophers, we think of Plato who had not been born at this time and Socrates who makes an appearance in the story, but is described as a pest with a big nose.

In a way Spitama, who was raised a Zoroastrian and believes in a dualistic world, namely a world in which equal but opposite powers are forever struggling for control, on a search for truth and meaning in life. His travels, as he tells them to his Greek friends, have taken him to India, where he met with the Buddha, and as far abroad as China, where he met with Confucius. There is little to no discussion of Greek religion in this book, namely because it is generally accepted that Greek religion was fairly primitive at the time. Instead we have discussions on philosophy with one of the pre-Socratic philosophers, as well as an exploration of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

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It should be noted that, with the exception of Zoroastrianism, all of these religions are not strictly religions, but rather philosophies. It should also be noted that there is an acceptance that the old polytheistic religions such as the one that Zoroastrianism superseded in Persia were considered primitive, and that a movement forward involved moving away from a world of conflicting deities, to a world with either one, or no, deities. Zoroastrianism has been considered to be the foundation religion from which the major monotheistic religions of today arose, however I tend to disagree.

It is noted by some commentators that there is a problem with Spitama being Zarathustra's grandson in that it is now suspected that he lived a lot earlier than he did in this book. I tend to fall into the position that Zoroastrianism had probably been around in Persia for a while and in fact it was probably introduced to Persia when the empire expanded to the northeast , but became popular after the fall of Babylon and the freeing of the Jews.

Vidal seems to consider that the 4th century BC was a period in which there was a lot of expansion in human knowledge. It was during this time that Buddhism developed in India, moving away from the pantheistic Hindu religion, Zoroastrianism superseded the older Persian polytheism, as well as seeing the collapse of the Neo-Babylonian empire. Greece was also developing a democratic political system as well as a system of philosophy, ethics, and rudimentary scientific ideas.

I believe we even have encounters with the Jews in this book, but it has been quite a while since I read it that I am not able to say for sure though it is on my list of books to read again. If this is the case, then it is another break from Herodotus, who for some reason, seems to completely ignore this rather important people who would end up having an even greater impact upon our culture though I explore the reasoning behind this in my commentary on Herodotus. I wish to finish off with another comment on Zoroastrianism, and that is how many of us do not realise the significant impact that it has had on our culture.

As well as enhancing the popularity of monotheistic religions in that there is only one god that mattered because the other god as out to destroy us , it also introduced the concept of dualism, and that is the eternal struggle between good and evil. It was not the idea that existed beforehand, and is not the actual Christian or Jewish position. Previously, evil was present, but weak, and this has taken hold to some extent with Christians who actually understand the bible, not so much that God is more powerful, but rather that love extinguishes evil much more than evil extinguishes love.

Yet, despite all this we are still a dualistic society, and the modern church preaches not only on a Platonic background of heaven and hell, but on a dualistic notion of good and evil. Satan is everywhere, and if we don't watch out he will ensnare us and destroy us, despite the Bible telling us that love will always triumph over evil. While the bible warns us about indulging in evil, the concept of love, and of evil as being selfish, has become blurred to the extent that we end up living in fear of the real world, or we align ourselves with those who seek to destroy the freedoms that we have fought so hard to obtain.

Creation is my most favourite novel on the subject of an ancient history, and not because it had opened my eyes to some antediluvian clandestine truths but because of its freewheeling stylishness. But I am not deaf. This is a magnificent novel by Gore Vidal. I had read a translation of it many years ago. However a few weeks ago Vidal was in Toronto and that was how I began looking at the novel again.

For those Iranians who were angry at the movie , this book works as a relief. The narrator is an imaginary Cyrus Spitama, who Vidal describes as the grandson of Zoroaster Zarathushtra. I have to add that Zoroaster lived somewhere between to years ago. Recent studies are in favour of , includi This is a magnificent novel by Gore Vidal.

But the good thing of this historical novel is that it reveals the lies of Herodotus, the well known Greek historian whose lies were often used against Iranian civilization. It is interesting to note that Cyrus Spitama is of a mixed marriage between an Iranian father and a Greek mother, something that was very common in those days. Feb 08, Felisa Rosa rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: This is not one of my favorite books of all time, but I am giving it five stars anyway because it truly is amazing.

Vidal's grasp of history never fails to impress me. Creation is a long rambling journey across the fourth century B. C as viewed by Cyrus Spitama, a Persian diplomat and the grandson of Zoroaster. Vidal breaks several of the cardinal rules of fiction, and the book can seem a little exhausting at times; the lengthy conversations about ancient Greek politics would have been more inte This is not one of my favorite books of all time, but I am giving it five stars anyway because it truly is amazing.

Vidal breaks several of the cardinal rules of fiction, and the book can seem a little exhausting at times; the lengthy conversations about ancient Greek politics would have been more interesting if I had a more in-depth understanding of Grecian history. That said, Gore is at his gossipy best when he delves into harem politics, and his vivid descriptions of Cathay, India, and Persia give life to an era too often blandly summarized. View all 5 comments. This and Julian may be my favorite novels by Vidal, not that I've read them all yet.

Creation postulates, within the realm of plausibility, a character who, in the course of his lifetime, travels from Persia to India to China to Greece and meets such luminaries as Zoroaster, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius and Herodotus. It is done amusingly, but seriously enough that a reader unfamiliar with the period might be inspired to pursue a more serious study.

View all 4 comments. Oct 30, Tom LA rated it it was amazing. Hey Petra thanks for the like: As full of himself mr. Vidal was, this book is such a masterwork! I'd like to read it again sometime. Sep 01, Emerson Grossmith rated it really liked it. One of my favourite books on Iran and history. I first read this in when I was travelling in India. I had heard of the book before I began an around the world trip in and picked up a dog-eared copy in New Delhi. It had a profound effect on me because most of ancient history came from the Greek side of things primarily from the "Father of History" Herodotus.

Vidal took a different tact and wrote this book from the Persian side of history and rightly so. I don't know why Old World his One of my favourite books on Iran and history. I don't know why Old World historians and ancient Near Eastern folk always favour the Greek side of things--there are two sides to a coin after all.

We don't necessarily need to read everything from the victors side of things do we? Most Old World historians view has been skewed by reading Herodotus' histories. After a few years of Near Eastern archaeology, I finally got my chance to go to Iran and did so in Naturally, I was attracted to the many Achaemenid, Sassanid and Zoroastrian sites, as well as, the many Safavid and Qajar architectural masterpieces. Later, I went to see the movie, "" and I was appalled at the portrayal of Xerxes the Great shamelessly wearing next to nothing and at the bronze monkey-faced "Immortals" who looked like a bunch of freaks.

I had seen images of the real "Immortals" on a staircase leading up to Darius' apadana at Persepolis--they did not look like monkeys at all. Incidentally, the "Immortals" were mercenaries and they probably had Greek mercenaries within their flanks. Their portrayal in the film was a travesty of the worst kind and really a pile of BS probably the directors had Greek script writers. Read "Creation" it is worth it. Mar 14, Scriptor Ignotus rated it it was ok Shelves: I expected to love this book, but Gore Vidal somehow managed to take an amazing concept for a story and turn it into one of the dullest books i've ever tried to slog through.

The narrator has little depth, despite his unnecessary verbosity, and neither do most of the people he encounters, despite their being some of the most influential people in world history. It is obvious that Vidal did an extensive amount of research for the book and attempted to include every sliver of informatio I give up. It is obvious that Vidal did an extensive amount of research for the book and attempted to include every sliver of information he learned.

I give him credit for his learning, but the result here is a book that is not story-driven enough to be a good novel, nor deep or informative enough to work well as a work of nonfiction. Apologies to anyone who enjoyed it. May 29, Perry Whitford rated it it was amazing. In many ways, Creation can lay claim to being the mother of all historical fiction novels. What a period Vidal chose to write about, he couldn't have picked a more fertile time!

With a canny choice of first person narrator, and only a little economy of the accepted truths about one or two of the characters, we get to see Pericles, Xerxes, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates and Zoroaster to name just a few. That's a weighty bunch of statesmen and philosophers if ever there was one! Persian diplomat Cyrus In many ways, Creation can lay claim to being the mother of all historical fiction novels.

Persian diplomat Cyrus Spitama, grandson of Zoroaster and childhood friend of Xerxes, is our guide as he journeys across the ancient world, from Babylon to Athens, across India and China and back again. He meets all those luminaries mentioned above and many others, allowing Vidal to examine the actions and beliefs of each. I think you need to have an immense ambition aligned to a vaulting self-confidence to take all these giants of world history on in turn, and in the same book too. Vidal tells it his own way as well; the Greeks in particular take something of a pasting as Vidal shows them how they may have looked to the Persians, like little more than pesky flies buzzing around the foot of an elephant.

I love the Greeks, so this was a tough pill for me to swallow while reading this, but I had to admit he made a convincing case. No one grinds an unconventional axe quite like Vidal. Add to the epic scope of the narrative the fact that it's written by Gore Vidal - so every sentence is sinuous, every dialogue sophisticated - and what more could you want? This is an essential novel. This is a well-informed and ambitious historical novel set in 5th century B. During the reign of Darius and Xerxes and the Persian-Greek wars. The book is in the form of a chronicle of the life of Cyrus Spitama, a grandson of the prophet Zoroaster.

It takes the form of a narration of his life story to a young Democritus. Starting with the death of Zoroaster and his early life at the persian court, the book then chronicles his travels to India where he meets Gosala, Mahavira and the Buddha and C This is a well-informed and ambitious historical novel set in 5th century B. Starting with the death of Zoroaster and his early life at the persian court, the book then chronicles his travels to India where he meets Gosala, Mahavira and the Buddha and China where he meets the Taoist philosophers and Confucius.

With the narrator being a male associated with the ruling class of persia and also a grandson of Zoroaster, the focus is mainly on the political interactions and religious and philosophical ideas. The writer doesn't go deep into them but still manages to be thought provoking. I loved the humorous tone adopted in the narration. The one downside is the name-dropping. I had a hard time keeping track of all the Greek, Persian and Chinese names. Mar 10, Nathan "N. I recall once that Gore Vidal included this title on a list he provided some interviewer one supposes, given the vagaries of memory of Books Which Everyone Ought To Read.

And don't quibble with me about who is and who is not included in "everyone" because, well, either it includes everyone or it's slightly hyperbolic. Nor please to quibble about the "ought" because I have really no patience nor tolerance for those who say there is only an is and never an ought, even if patience and tolerance a I recall once that Gore Vidal included this title on a list he provided some interviewer one supposes, given the vagaries of memory of Books Which Everyone Ought To Read. Nor please to quibble about the "ought" because I have really no patience nor tolerance for those who say there is only an is and never an ought, even if patience and tolerance are virtues one ought to bring with one into any exchange of views, opinions, knowledges, and things of this nature.

Feb 16, Fede rated it liked it Shelves: Burgess Well, he did a good job. Set in the 5th century B. After the invasion of their hometown Cyrus and his Greek mot 'Vidal has said that he wanted to read a novel in which Socrates, Buddha and Confucius all made an appearance: After the invasion of their hometown Cyrus and his Greek mother move to king Darius' court, where the boy finds himself struggling to survive the deadly wars between factions and usurpers; but he also befriends Darius' heir, Xerxes, a youth of his age whose lifelong affection will change his existence.

After years of careful plotting Queen Atossa, mother of Xerxes - unforgettably portrayed by Vidal in all her glory and ugliness: From the Nile to the Indus river, hundreds of cities and lands belong to Cyrus' closest friend. Although not a Zoroastrian, Atossa is fascinated by the intelligent youth, a perfect friend and councilor for her son: Cyrus is therefore entrusted with delicate diplomatic missions during the Greek wars and starts to travel all over the empire.

He gets involved in the Persian wars and the resulting crisis of Xerxes' reign; he tells us about the intrigues of exiled tyrants and plotting generals; he unravels the secret aims of ambiguous politicians; and he travels to lands so remote and mysterious that their simple existence is no more than an abstract notion for the Great King himself. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Vidal makes a paistaking report of the events as well as a perfect depiction of the ancient world: Cyrus' time is a crucial era. An era of religious, philosophical, historical transition and revolution.

Being Zoroaster's grandson, the Persian-Greek youth is seen as a spiritual heir by the prophet's followers. Although he is not in the least interested in being a religious leader nor a philosopher of any sort, Cyrus is determined to find out the truth about the origins of the world and the meaning of Evil, the only questions still unsolved by all the religious and philosophical beluefs of his time.

During his travels he meets the men who will shape the future of mankind's thought: Vidal's true aim is to show how their paths were restlessly intertwining, twisting and turning, widening or narrowing but basically coexisting. Cyrus is the man who is in search of an answer. He gets acquainted with any man who supposedly has found his own, just to realise that none of them is either right nor wrong. At the end of his life, Cyrus understands that the only answer possible lies in the question: Then we are finally told the truth As always, Vidal is a perfect researcher as well as a great story-teller.

The depiction of the main characters and settings is impeccable and there is no hindsight of any sort - the greatest flaw of much historical fiction. Vidal's characters do not speak, think, drink, eat like actors playing in a movie; they are men and women of their time, and also their portraits are as vivid and realistic as possible. So, even though I must say that I preferred "Julian" - Vidal's historical masterpiece about the Roman emperor known as the Apostate - this book is one of the best examples of good historical fiction, written at a time in which this genre was not exactly popular.

All those who are interested in ancient history will appreciate the thorough research that lead to this important achievement in Vidal's 'serious' work. On the other hand, it will be a pleasant surprise for those readers who are only acquainted with his outrageous satires, such as 'Myra Breckinridge' or 'Duluth. It is often remarked upon that the sixth century B. But what if these disparate persons were all linked by one figure, like an ancient six degrees of Kevin Bacon?

In his sumptuous historical novel Creation, Gore Vidal proposes a character: Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, who becomes familiar not only with legendary Persians Darius, Xerxes or Greek Democritus, Socrates, Herodotus , bu It is often remarked upon that the sixth century B. Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, who becomes familiar not only with legendary Persians Darius, Xerxes or Greek Democritus, Socrates, Herodotus , but also all three of the "vinegar tasters: Vidal is a devastatingly witty writer, and also goes to great pains to fill out his vision ancient world with character and detail.

The narrator has a plethora of pithy remarks throughout the book, which make it easy to breeze through this rather lengthy book. Although Vidal himself considers this his one of his top few great novels, maybe his greatest of all, it has its share of flaws. Another problem is the excessive inquiries into the intrigue of the various political systems of Persia, Greece, India, and Cathay, or, as we now know it, China.

While some of these scenes are compelling, often one gets lost amidst too many similar sounding ancient names; and I think I speak for many people when I say that the politics of obscure ancient Chinese lords is not as interesting as the philosophical investigations with Master Li and Confucius, although one could argue that political intrigue and Confucianism go hand in hand.

Finally, the ending chapters to drag a bit, and the novel has no real conclusion, so there is a slight drop-off in quality at the end, although it's interesting to note that Vidal continues introducing new characters and producing detailed descriptions right up to the end, when, for example, we hear of Sophocles for the first time. As for the praiseworthy aspects of the book, Vidal does much more good than bad in this vast book.

His prose is elegant and highly readable, a significant accomplishment when spread over so many pages without much of a dip in quality. Putting aside the narrator for a moment, most of the principle characters are well constructed and interesting, and the dialogue between them, philosophical or otherwise, crackles. Actually, the discussions with the Eastern sages, except perhaps Confucius, are briefer than I expected, but still highlights.

The Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius become three-dimensional figures before us, not just names in history books, enigmatic figures people quote to sound mysterious or mystical, but "real" human beings. That in itself is a significant accomplishment. Indeed, there is much to love about Creation, and I highly recommend this "crash course in philosophy," as Vidal called it.

Nov 12, Simon MacKintosh rated it really liked it Shelves: The world was not always as small as it is today. Perhaps, in the future, when man travels beyond our planet, our world will grow again, but for now it is probably as small as it will ever be. The reality of these times becomes the fantasy The world was not always as small as it is today.

The world Vidal portrays stretches from Sicily in the West to China in the East, from the central Asian plains in the North to Egypt and the Gangetic Plane in the South, boundaries a year or more apart. His protagonist, Cyrus Spitama, travels from one end of this world to the other in the service of four successive Persian Emperors. As Spitama travels across this world, he is caught up in its politics, trade and culture.

Wherever he goes, he pursues an interest in the religions he encounters, and their visions of the world. He is at best a half-hearted evangelist, more interested in exploring other religions than proselytizing his own. Like any believer, he stays true to his own religion. He leaves it to his nephew Democritus to draw the inevitable conclusion that, if all religions insist they are the only true religion, the only reasonable conclusion is that all religions are false. But Vidal has obviously done his homework on the history of the times and, like all good historical fiction, he integrates his fictional characters and events seamlessly with the known events and characters of the time.

The book is particularly strong on the details of the Persian court and its relationships with the Greeks. To those of us educated in the Greek version of events, it is refreshing to see the other point of view. Vidal brings realism to this side of the story by showing us that the Greece of Pericles and Socrates, the Greece of heroes and philosophers, the Greece that provided the foundation of Western society, had the same back-stabbers, manipulators, bullies, self-interest, conniving, deceit and petty squabbles as we see in our own world and our own governments.

Integrating the reality of the historical detail and the fantastical spread of Vidal's geography makes this an engrossing book. Mar 05, Joel Judge marked it as to-read Shelves: OK, confession time, I started reading Creation, but just could not, no matter how hard I tried, get into it. Creation was the first book I've really started and did not finish. This is not to say that it was a bad read, I'd be the first to admit that maybe I was having an off week, but it was just way too complicated for me, it was giving me a massive migraine. I like historical fiction but I also want an engaging story.

I found the prose, too far up it's own proverbial to be enjoyable. I don't OK, confession time, I started reading Creation, but just could not, no matter how hard I tried, get into it. I don't want to have a dig at Gore, as Julian is one of my favourite reads, but unfortunately I found Creation tedious.

I might try and give it another go in a couple of years time, but I think I'll require a solid month of meditation before I pick-up the book again. I can't rate it with any stars as I failed to finish it and so giving it a rating would be unfair. Aug 21, Shirin rated it did not like it. The book has great sense of humor and some rare fine discussions between characters, which I can assume they come from the author's own personality.

However, I really disliked the book. The story didn't attract me at all and I had hard time finishing it. There was absolutely no historical reference in the story plus some parts the author intended to make the book so close to hollywood movies. Sorry to who ever liked the book, it's just a personal idea. Yet only in the pages of Denise Kiernan's The Last Castle will they come to know George Vanderbilt, the bookish heir who began Biltmore in his 20s, and his determined widow, Edith, who kept it alive as a working estate and a time capsule of the Gilded Age.

In the pages of The Last Castle , Kiernan serves up a true tale of American excess, generosity, and perseverance. Kiernan makes Edith and George Vanderbilt, among the wealthiest Americans at the time, feel like living, breathing human beings navigating life's obstacles in this magnificent book. And she tells the story of how one fiercely devoted woman was able to save the home her husband loved. Inside the Private World of the White House. In her well-researched and captivating book, Denise Kiernan tells the fascinating story of how a phenomenally wealthy Vanderbilt scion transformed a rural North Carolina town by building the ultimate rich man's folly and reveals the eccentricities, heartaches, and even money problems of these Social Register denizens and their friends and employees.

The Life of an American Style Legend. A passionately researched family saga of death and divorce, suicide and sickness, fortunes gained and lost, spanning two world wars and set at the crux of the Gilded Age yielding to the modern era, The Last Castle is ultimately a story of fortitude and survival. A stunning and important achievement.

Kiernan's research is prodigious And she doesn't leave out the juicy bits from the family history: Kiernan brings a deft eye for detail and observation to a very different kind of story. Biltmore is an ideal vessel for an exploration of our worship of affluence and social cachet, and more importantly, the American myth of classlessness. It's grounded in Kiernan's years of globe-trotting research and yet also immediately relevant to the topics that clog social media in Reigning royalty of the Gilded Age, Edith and George Vanderbilt, and their lifetime of financial excess, ruins, scandal, and perseverance come alive on these pages.

With plenty of famous characters sprinkled throughout, there is enough action and history to keep readers engaged and eager to turn the pages Kiernan fans and those new to her work are sure to devour this latest volume. Kiernan evokes the grandeur of Biltmore House Tell us what you like, so we can send you books you'll love.

Sign up and get a free eBook! Price may vary by retailer. Add to Cart Add to Cart. Edith Dresser was fifteen years old when her grandmother, Susan Elizabeth Fish LeRoy, decided that she and the Dresser children would leave their Rhode Island home for the Christmas season.

The year was Seasonal migrations from Newport to New York were common among their privileged set, and the allure of the great city on the Hudson still drew their grandmother into its predictably casted embrace. Grandmother was a woman at ease in the world of drawing rooms and calling cards, one who appreciated both the ritualistic behaviors and increased social diversions that New York could be counted on to provide. Now Grandmother, in turn, had become all that constituted home and family to Edith, her three sisters, and brother.

Grandmother had arranged to rent a house at 2 Gramercy Square, a very respectable—if not ultra-fashionable—address for the family. Its next-door twin, 1 Gramercy, had been the last home of the noted surgeon and professor Dr. More salaciously, he earned some notoriety as a disruptor of all that was good and pure in the world of medical instruction when he promoted the idea of using human cadavers to instruct up-and-coming clinicians. His good works and surgical brilliance kept his reputation intact, even though the good doctor was known to have disguised himself as a laborer and visited graveyards to retrieve recently unearthed teaching aids.

Around the corner on the south side of Gramercy Square, at No. The building had been purchased by the actor Edwin Booth, who could currently be seen as Brutus in a production of Julius Caesar.

The newly founded Players Club would house an impressive library of theater history, as well as collections of paintings and autographs. The four-story brick house was Italianate in style, with cast-iron railings gracing its small balconies and floor-to-ceiling parlor windows. Susan, the oldest, was now twenty-four, and two years older than LeRoy.

Natalie was nineteen and Pauline, the baby, was still just twelve. The family would be together, nestled in this house across from the gated park. From outside those parlor windows looking in, one might have seen four young ladies and one young man living the kind of gleaming nineteenth-century life envied by scores of less fortunate citizens of the time.

A closer inspection of their lives, however, revealed signs of difficulty and strain, like scuff marks hidden beneath the smooth veneer of a freshly polished parlor floor. They were five siblings, separated in age by twelve years; joined, as so many other families of the time were, by tragic loss. It was not an easy road. The Fish-LeRoy family was exceptionally well known in New York circles where names carried the weight of history and bore the shackles of expected romantic pairings. It would serve Edith in future times when money could not. George Warren Dresser was of New England stock, educated at Andover, and hailing from a line of teachers, farmers, and lawyers.

Aunty King welcomed George into her home in Newport, where he was free to call on her sister. Then George headed south to war along with classmates, volunteers, and countless immigrants just arrived from places like Ireland and Germany. George rose from a second lieutenancy in the Fourth Artillery to major before the war ended. Along the way he fought in the Battle of Bull Run and commanded a company out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he played a vital part in securing federal supply lines against Confederate attack.

George consented and began a career in civil engineering. He made friends easily, and acted as editor of the trade publication American Gas Light Journal. He had bright dark eyes, a barrel physique, and wore his hair parted down the middle with just the suggestion of a wave on each side.

The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home

The lower half of his face was wreathed in the friendly muttonchops popularized by Civil War general Ambrose Burnside. George welcomed all into his home— the children of friends, army comrades, gas workers. She loved her George dearly. Of any residences in New York or Newport, the one perhaps most deeply etched in the minds of the Dresser children was the house at 35 University Place.

The salon on the front of the three-story home provided young Edith and her sisters a view through a French window of Manhattan life outside.

Sitting among the brocade surroundings they watched the horse-drawn streetcars passing by. In the back of the house, a glass conservatory overlooked the yard. From this vantage point, young Edith, all gangly legs and long, bone-straight hair, could keep an eye on her nineteen turtles. She watched as they basked happily within their shells in a warm spot, dove deep under the soil and brush to hibernate for the winter, and erupted from the earth for another season in the sun. Edith shared a room on the second floor with her two older sisters. It had one row of beds with a small conservatory outside that normally remained empty, save for the time Edith was quarantined there during a whooping cough episode.

It was a busy home, its halls reverberating with the broken English of French servants, the laughter of children, and the rumblings of adults at backgammon or immersed in conversation in the red library. Sunday evening suppers were for stewed oysters and roast chicken, often set upon a red tablecloth in the dining room.

It took several transfers to arrive there by horsecar, but once in the hallowed space, the children watched as their father passed the collection plate among the pews. In January , the Hazelton Brothers piano factory across the street at 34—36 University Place erupted in flame. Once the flames subsided the Dressers were fortunate that their home survived relatively unscathed. Yet they did not avoid all tragedy. John Jacob Astor stepped in to help Susan along—a lovely gesture by a formidable doyenne of society.

Still, months of increasing silence fell over the once lively household. Mourners and friends came and went. Edith went with Mrs. Still mourning her mother, Edith was faced with losing her father as well. George begged his sister-in-law to keep the children together once he was gone, and Aunty King was soon called upon to keep her word. His funeral was held on a day best befitting his honorable career in the military—Decoration Day.

Edith was not yet ten years old. Shortly after, Edith and her siblings went to Newport for what would turn out to be a lengthy stay. The following year, , he built a two-story addition onto the old red house at Bellevue Avenue in Newport to accommodate his younger family members. Now, in , Grandmother was bringing the Dresser brood back to New York.

As another winter in the city ended, spring brought the emergence of shoots from age-old trunks, no one knowing which branches might cross and when, bending to the will of the wind.

The Last Castle

In , George Washington Vanderbilt was twenty-five years old. To be a son of the Vanderbilt dynasty was to have your every move, dalliance, chance encounter, and passing venture watched and analyzed, whether via opera glasses across the expanse of the Metropolitan Opera or by eager eyes scanning the society pages of the newspapers. His grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt had known much simpler times. Born in , Cornelius had grown up on a farm on Staten Island, where the Vanderbilt family—or van der Bilt or van Derbilt, depending on who was signing their name—had lived for more than a century.

His ancestors had seen Dutch rule pass to the English and then, finally, the birth of the American colonies. Though their farms expanded and the number of Vanderbilts multiplied, work remained arduous and compensation scant. Uneducated in the traditional sense, and lacking in the most common of courtesies, young Cornelius was a diligent worker. Whatever he lacked in finishing he made up for in grit and ambition.

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Once the task was completed, Cornelius used those earnings to buy what the Native Americans in the region called a piragua. As his business grew, so did rumors of his ruthless dealings. The Commodore outworked and undercut competitors, making no friends but scads of money along the way. His ferries developed into steamship lines, which eventually gave way to railroad investments in the New York and Harlem, and New York and Hudson, lines. The Commodore possessed both a fondness and knack for manipulating railroad stocks, which helped him further stuff his rapidly expanding coffers.

In , he began construction on St. In the midst of this sculptural scene was the man himself, regal and proud, a master of water and rail.

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• Life of Courage: the notorious whore, thief and vagabond: The Notorious Thief, Whore and Vagabond (Dedalus European Classics)
• Kopfkissenliteratur (German Edition)
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• Leaving A Legacy/ Notes To My Children
• Visualizing the Invisible: Imaging Techniques for the Structural Biologist