The City and the Pillar

E326673

The City and the Pillar is a groundbreaking 1948 novel by Gore Vidal that candidly portrays a young gay man's life and desires in postwar America, challenging mid-20th-century taboos about homosexuality.

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All labels observed (2)

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf novel
novel
author Gore Vidal
controversial true
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
firstPublisher E. P. Dutton
genre LGBT literature
coming-of-age novel
novel
realist fiction
hasForm long-form fiction
hasISBN 9780141185934
hasRevisedEdition The City and the Pillar self-linksurface differs
surface form: The City and the Pillar (revised 1965 edition)
hasSubject American society
World War II veterans
gay men
influenced later gay literature in the United States
languageStyle plain realist prose
literaryMovement postwar American literature
literarySignificance milestone in American gay fiction
mainCharacter Jim Willard
mediaType print
narrativePerspective third-person
notableFor challenging mid-20th-century American taboos about homosexuality
frank depiction of homosexuality
one of the first mainstream American novels to feature an openly gay male protagonist
originalLanguage English
placeOfPublication New York City
protagonistSexualOrientation gay
publicationYear 1948
1965
reasonForControversy open treatment of homosexuality in a mainstream novel
settingCountry United States of America
surface form: United States
settingPeriod post–World War II America
targetAudience adult readers
theme alienation
homosexuality
identity
male same-sex desire
masculinity
social taboos
unrequited love
timeSettingEnd 1940s
timeSettingStart 1930s

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gore Vidal notableWork The City and the Pillar
The City and the Pillar hasRevisedEdition The City and the Pillar self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: The City and the Pillar (revised 1965 edition)