MYRA BRECKINRIDGE moves to Hollywood in order to collect the inheritance left by her husband Myron. The one problem is Uncle Buck Loner who stands between her and the property - a profitable school for would be actors run by Buck. Myra is certain that everything will turn out her way, as she is the New American Woman. Every man wants her, but none may have her. However, there is a twist to Myra that will throw her plans into turmoil if anyone finds out.

This is a darkly comic book with one of the most intriguing of characters in Myra Breckinridge. She is self-confidant (perhaps overly so), knows how to control and manipulate both men and women to fulfill her wishes, and determined not to let anything stop her. She is ready to change the world to suit her. In other words, a force to be reckoned with. I also liked that she patterned herself after movie heroines and relates to people as though they were characters in a movie, shown for her benefit.

The novel itself is written as a series of diary entries, written by Myra as events happen. This gives an immediacy to the story and makes the reader feel as though he/she is a part of the action. The twist in the story is definitely a shocking one; I admit that it threw me for a loop. I can only imagine its impact when the book was published in 1968 with the sexual revolution just underway. An incredible book.

MYRON: This sequel to "Myra Breckinridge" follows poor Myron as he battles against Myra, only this time they've somehow become stuck in the 1948 movie "Siren of Babylon." It's a strange world, the Hollywood of 1948, and Myron tries frantically to return to 1973 and his beloved Richard M. Nixon while Myra has plans of her own to both bring back the glory of MG Studios by fixing "Siren" and to curb the human population growth by re-forming man in her image - strong, sterile Amazonian woman. Her one problem: Myron and how to keep him from escaping the film.

It's a totally bizarre and wonderfully campy look at Hollywood of the 1940s but seen through the eyes of the 1970s. And, like its predecessor, is written in journal entries so you're in the action as it happens from the characters' perspectives. A great piece of fantasy fiction.

The incomparable Gore Vidal wrote this book in the middle of the sexual revolution of the late sixties. He managed to write a book that is a profound statement on the women's movement on the brink of political madness; revealing the madness of patriarchal society during the Vietnam years while it began to embody the intimate criminal mentality of its enemy at the edge of its success. This book is still, more than thirty-five years later, ahead of its time. Myra Breckinridge is a symbol of America at this tumultuous time--a time that has not only not ended but is being ignored for the benefit of going backward to the Commie-hunter fifties culture, where it is seemingly safe from critical scrutiny. The sexuality, the artistry, the marketplace, the spirituality, and the narcissism that goes from the ridiculous to the sublime--defining the time in which is what written--is all here in this novel, in a way that is not only brilliantly entertaining but non-stop funny.

Vidal was the favorite writer of my baby-boomer parents when I was a child. And like my grandfather, who can tell me all the dirty little secrets of my parents generation without them even being aware, Vidal, with his unmatched artistry and biting wit, reveals all, with a talent for weaving stories that has been unmatched. Who is Myra Breckinridge? A better question would be who ISN'T?

An incredible novel.

Some of the past reviewers went to take an aspirin and swallowed the whole bottle. Myra was but an amusing story that posed the deep question of what part one's sexuality plays in defining one's ultimate identity. If a guy should discover half way through life that he wanted to be a she-read this book before whacking it off. The amputation solved nothing for Myron. Myra had hoped she'd evolve into a new, superior species but discovered that a lovely woman's body didn't erase her loneliness. Myra did claim a temporary uniqueness but Vidal's heavy handed ending decapitated that idea.

The sequel Myron was a totally different cup of tea. Since by then there were no characters the reader could identify or sympathize with, a comic book quality emerged which did very little beyond illustrating the amusing war of the sexes. You needn't be a sadist to enjoy this book but it wouldn't hurt. I suppose some of Neal Gabler's (LIFE THE MOVIE) questions regarding psuedo reality and life imitating art were also illustrated here-but don't expect any clarification.

As part of her plans to conquer Hollywood, Myra Breckinridge arrives at her late husband Myron's uncle Buck's drama academy to stake her claim. She turns heads and wreaks havoc all in her efforts to get where she wants to be. Myra takes no prisoners in any venture, especially in terms of sex. When Buck confronts her with the lack of evidence of her marriage to Myron and of the demise of Myron, Myra is forced to reveal her true nature. Ultimately Myra gets what she wants, but not in the way she planned, after a hit-and-run accident nearly destroys her. Challenging the 1960s' attitudes about gender and sexuality, "Myra Breckinridge" is not as scandalous now, but it's still shocking and campy. This is #23 of the 100 Best Gay and Lesbian Novels, as selected by the Publishing Triangle. Picking up several years after "Myra Breckinridge", "Myron" finds the banal man living with his wife in a nice California town, when suddenly he finds himself inside the movie "Siren of Babylon", during its filming in 1948. Myron struggles to find out what's happening to him as well as figuring out a way back, but the revitalized Myra is determined to seize control of the body they share and conquer the Hollywood of 1948, thereby recreating the world according to her wishes. Even more outrageous than its predecessor, "Myron" is loads of fun and showcases Vidal's wit, intelligence, and wild imagination.

I supposed had I actually read the book when it was first published, then I would have been able to appreciate the shock value of the story. As it was, it's a bit like watching "Psycho" for the first time so long after it's originally been released: even if you've never seen it, you still know the 'surprise' ending.

However, having said that, Gore Vidal is still Gore Vidal always enjoyable, witty, and always pushing the envelope. If I disagreed with his philosophies on life, sexuality and politics, I might find stale the fact that his entire body of work includes references to all of them, but since I don't, I just take heart that they are being represented time and again by such a gifted author.