WASHINGTON D.C.

Gore Vidal's WASHINGTON, D.C.--the final installment in the Narratives of Empire series--takes place between the years 1937 and 1953. His hero, young Peter Sanford, comes from a political family not unlike Vidal's; Sanford shares the story with Senator James Burden Day, who resembles Vidal's grandfather, Senator T.P. Gore of Oklahoma. While the novel is primarily about the dark side of American politics, it is also Vidal's first exploration in print of his feelings for his schoolboy crush, a boy named Jimmie who was killed at Iwo Jima in World War II. As always, Vidal casts a sharp eye on the strengths and weaknesses (most entertainingly, at the latter) of his characters, and of the American political system itself.