This book has a great main character, and the writing has a sharp and witty voice. The story is just whatever. If you don't know anything about the author's sexuality or politics, or don't live in the 1960s, you'll be wondering why any of this is even happening. I guess it was cool back in the day to write a novel that had a lot to say but not much happening. It may have been shocking 50 years ago but not now. There are some great lines in the book that make it worth a read, just don’t expect much from it overall. ( )

I don’t get the negative reviews of this book.

This book is
1. Thought provoking
2. Challenging
3. Hilarious at times
4. moving and sad at other times

I don’t agree that it’s aged—only if you are a dogmatic, inflexible, moralist will you find this book offensive or old hat. It’s satirizes us humans and our pretentious beliefs and desires. It’s certainly not transphobic, homophobic or misogynistic. Please don’t confuse the character in the book with the book itself or the author’s ideas, although it is not unlikely that like M he thought the human race better off extinct.

As for the intensely disturbing rape scene, it is magnificently written. Unless you have a heart of stone, reading it you feel and understand exactly why rape is such an awful, inexcusable act. It also gets to the very heart of the destructive link between the abuse of power and instrumentalized sex. If we are supposedly in the age of metoo, that scene alone makes this book still topical and relevant, particularly since it happens in Hollywood.

Read it with an open mind and heart and you are sure to get much out of reading this book. Four stars because the writing is choppy at times. Really it’s 4.5 ( )

This novel is Vidal the Gadfly at his most outrageous, and thus, vastly entertaining. I don't think he did any better than this book, before or since. At the time it was a breathtaking exploration of sexual identity, and does seem a pioneer in popularly entertainments on this theme. It is well written and I hope it was very profitable to the writer. ( )

Gore Vidal abominava classificações de género, gay, hétero, homo, bi,... e esta poderosa Myra (um retrato de mulher fabuloso, talvez o melhor?) está apostada em comprová-lo! A escrita é excelente e o final surpreendente... e mais não conto! ( )

I chose to read Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal for the year 1968 of my birthday challenge reading (read a book from each year I've been alive).

What a wild ride this book was! The writing and the premise both are very clever, but....

Well, I felt this novel was very much a product of the 1960s. Sexual obsession, free-association writing in places, lack of concern whether certain scenes would be problematic for the reader. Vidal is an intelligent writer, so overall it doesn't descend into a trashy story.

It is impossible to discuss this book without causing spoilers. However, I think having a bit of plot background helps understand the story as you are reading. So, I would suggest that you decide for yourself how much you want to know before picking up this book. It's easy enough to find via google (and perhaps by other LT reviews)

But, picking up this book is no easy feat, as it is out of print. As I understand it, the only one of all of Vidal's works that is out of print (but that may also include the sequel, Myron). Fortunately, I found both at different used bookstores when I was planning my birthday challenge. ( )