Tribeca Review: 'Gore Vidal: The United States Of Amnesia'   By
Yehudit Mam  Nicholas Wrathall's documentary includes candid
interviews with the author and public intellectual toward the
end of his life  It took director Nicholas Wrathall seven
years—and following Vidal to Ravello, Italy, Los Angeles, New
York City, and even Havana, Cuba—to make his documentary. It
finally had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and
it was worth the wait: The film spans Vidal’s entire life as a
privileged thorn in the side of the American establishment. 
Vidal was the last great public intellectual in America, and he
existed as such at a time when television was still a forum for
lengthy and spirited discussion. Through bitter and riveting
debates with his conservative nemesis, fellow patrician and Mid-
Atlantic accent bearer William F. Buckley, and appearances on
The Dick Cavett Show (among others), Vidal became a sought-after
celebrity. He was ahead of his time in terms of his fierce
criticism of American forei