![]() ![]() Since Burr was published only a year after Ragtime, comparison is too tempting. And with the presidential election only months away, Charlie’s editors want their young journalist to glean all the gritty details about Tammany’s tricks from the former Vice President – particularly a rumored filial connection to candidate Martin Van Buren. ![]() ![]() Despite being far removed from his younger years, old Burr’s mind is consistent as a well-wound clock. While the nightlife enthralls Charlie’s imagination (and desire), the daylight hours are never without excitement from his eccentric boss – former Vice President Aaron Burr. The time is 1834 and Charles ‘Charlie’ Schulyer is law apprentice by day, journalist by night. ![]() Released in 1973, Vidal returns readers to the Tammany Hall laden, rough-and-tumble streets of New York City. Doctorow’s Ragtime for mocking reader’s trust, countered by the effusive admiration we gave Robert Graves fictional autobiography I, Claudius. Gore Vidal’s ‘Burr’ utilizes techniques from Doctorow and Graves but, thankfully, doesn’t propagate fantasy as non-fiction. Readers will remember our derision of E.L. We certainly judge historical fiction with a cynical eye here at Living with Lit. ![]()
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