Myra Breckinridge

A Novel (Myra and Myron, Book 1)

De: Gore Vidal, Camille Paglia - introduction

Narrado por: Michelle Hendley, Camille Paglia

The outrageous and immortal, gender-bending and polymorphously perverse, over-the-top, and utterly on-target comic masterpiece from the bestselling author of Burr, Lincoln, and the National Book Award-winning United States.

With a new introduction by Camille Paglia

"I am Myra Breckinridge, whom no man will ever possess."

So begins the irresistible testimony of the luscious instructor of Empathy and Posture at Buck Loner's Academy of Drama and Modeling. Myra has a secret that only her surgeon shares; a passion for classic Hollywood films, which she regards as the supreme achievements of Western culture; and a sacred mission to bring heteronormative civilization to its knees.

Fifty years after its first publication unleashed gales of laughter, delight, and ferocious dissent ("Has literary decency fallen so low?" asked Time), Myra Breckinridge's moment to instruct and delight has once again arrived.

©1968 Gore Vidal (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 2019 by Camille Paglia.

I hated and love it

It’s chalked full of movie references I don’t understand. I see how Myra Breckinridge is the next trans Marquis D.S: she’s an erudite, takes no pleasure in sex; except the power in sex in which; the theme is literally to have control over someone (which is terrible). But hey movie references: James Cagney- Jean Harlow (Christian scientist ironically)- Ann Dvorak…. Did i mention I loved it? Myro— ah Breckinridge is the female embodiment of the female figure, and the voice actress kicks ass delivering all her lines. One thing I will say is… I am not a fan of gore Vidal but I will say is writing is superb and adequate and I can’t wait to try and read two others: Myron part 2– and The City and The Pillar
Ty Cynthia Ellison

Gore Vidal had a bit of fun

Published in 1968, this gender bender of a story undoubtedly caused quite a bit of a stir. Gore Vidal had his fun, putting some wild thoughts and sexual fantasies to paper. Nowadays, and since most people know the secret behind Myra, it isn't much of a kick anymore. It's actually often quite tame and petty. Vidal wrote some monumental novels - very much enjoyed Creation, for example, and looking forward to Burr - but this comparatively little novel doesn't stack up - he apparently wrote the first draft in a month - and I think it shows. Still, in its own way it is a classic and I'm glad I checked it out. Well narrated, by the way!

Better Than I Remembered

It's been decades since I read Myra Breckinridge. I recall having enjoyed it but since reading it I watched the absolutely dreadful movie version with Raquel Welsh and Mae West. The movie was so terrible it clouded my memory of the book, melding the two. The book is as good as the movie was bad. Though I'd love to see someone with talent take another stab at creating a film version it's one of those books that's best part is the language of the inner dialog , here written in diary form. Hard to transfer to a movie. Clever, witty and I'm sure very scandalous for the time, it's got me curious of Vidal's other books. Perfect reader choice for this book.

Well performed

Really enjoyed this book. Read it when it originally was published and very much enjoyed rediscovering it again in Audible. Hope Myron will follow shorty.

introduction spoils the entire story.

The introduction spoiled the entire story for me, telling what happened in the end. I also did not care for the narrator's voice. After realizing what was going to happen, I never even got through chapter one, I just shut it off.

Wonderful!

Wonderfully written, wonderfully performed. Perfect voice and tone for the character. Great Camille Paglia intro.

A Very Well Read Satirical Novel

First, if you know nothing about this novel, consider skipping the introduction, wherein the end of the story is described in detail. I was offended by the “spoiler” aspect of the introduction. At least warn the customers that you are about to spoil the story….

Now the novel itself is well written by a mature erudite author, Gore Vidal. At times it is hilarious. At times there is a huge cringe factor. The writing is great and vintage Gore Vidal. The narration is outstanding. Just consider skipping the introduction until after you have read / listened to this very well written novel.

Good voice acting

The voice actress provides a wonderful performance in this work, and while one actress using multiple voices for multiple characters often comes off as cheesy in these audiobooks it works well here.

This is a classic story that makes me proud to also be a transgender woman, as even with all her eccentricities Myra gives me a vision of strong transsexuality that gives me a little of inspiration to be strong willed in my own life

It is among my favorite books, though in all honesty, i believe it could do without the last chapter. Kind of throws off the vibe of the rest of the book quickly and abruptly before the end; but i suppose this was the time in fiction where we couldn’t have a story about a strong transgender character without some moralizing about it; probably wouldn’t get passed the censors otherwise in 1968

That is not of concern to the voice actress though; who provides a stellar performance the whole way through. I could not imagine Myra sounding any different than this. Props to her for telling this story that has meant so much to me in such a stellar way