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Gore vidal dragging henry miller

If you know me you know I am Gore Vidal’s number one fan but for somebody who was known for being so coldly and precisely self-aware, he was often simultaneously totally lacking in self awareness. He created elaborate copium narratives about himself just as much as if not more than the people he accused of doing so and seemed to exist in a perpetual and unyielding state of self-deception and repression, with a very interesting definition of what it means to be truthful. That’s a major part of what makes him so fascinating to me. I love his hateration towards Henry Miller because half of it is real and accurate and half of it reads like narcissistic projection—critiquing Miller for his arrogance and elaborate self-mythologizing when his own biography ended up being entitled Empire of the Self—and all of it is hilarious and cutting in his typical fashion. “Yet Henry never seems to do anything for anyone, other than to provide moments of sexual glory which we must take on faith. He does, however, talk a lot and the people he knows are addicted to his conversation. ‘Don’t stop talking now…please,’ begs a woman whose life is being changed, as Henry in a manic mood tells her all sorts of liberating things like ‘Nothing would be bad or ugly or evil— if we really let ourselves go. But it’s hard to make people understand that.‘ To which the only answer is that of another straight man in the text who says, ‘You said it, Henry. Jesus, having you around is like getting a shot in the arm.‘ For a man who boasts of writing nothing but the truth, I find it more than odd that not once in the course of a long narrative does anyone say, ‘Henry, you’re full of shit.’ It is possible, of course, that no one ever did, but I doubt it.”

@taterhole

Feb 12, 2025

2

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Aberration in the heartland of the real: the secret lives of timothy mcveigh

Holy grail of paranoiac american reading. This is where it all started for me. Wendy S. Painting disappeared after writing this but one of her facebook friends told me she's still alive. I remember the OKC bombing; I was a child in rural Oklahoma. And I remember the execution, but I don't want to talk about that now. This book is a 600 page bad trip you can have sober that won't stop when you're done. Doesn't that sound fun?

@killer

Nov 11, 2024

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Duluth—gore vidal

Hands-down the most deranged and hilarious book I’ve ever read. Vidal’s style and his mind are unmatched! Structurally it’s very unique and he called it ”après post-structuralism”

@taterhole

Dec 21, 2024

Top Recs from @taterhole

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Never changing

My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌

@taterhole

Feb 23, 2025

34

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Finally Quitting the job that you hate

Schedule sent my resignation email for the morning, effective immediately ✅💅

@taterhole

Feb 27, 2025

48

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Rejecting the Commodification of the Self

I’ve been thinking about how much of social media is centered around curating our self-image. When selfies first became popular, they were dismissed as vain and vapid—a critique often rooted in misogyny—but now, the way we craft our online selves feels more like creating monuments. We try to signal our individuality, hoping to be seen and understood, but ironically, I think this widens the gap between how others perceive us and who we really are. Instead of fostering connection, it can invite projection and misinterpretation—preconceived notions, prefab labels, and stereotypes. Worse, individuality has become branded and commodified, reducing our identities to products for others to consume. On most platforms, validation often comes from how well you can curate and present your image—selfies, aesthetic branding, and lifestyle content tend to dominate. High engagement is tied to visibility, not necessarily depth or substance. But I think spaces like PI.FYI show that there’s another way: where connection is built on shared ideas, tastes, and interests rather than surface-level content. It’s refreshing to be part of a community that values thoughts over optics. By sharing so few images of myself, I’ve found that it gives others room to focus on my ideas and voice. When I do share an image, it feels intentional—something that contributes to the story I want to tell rather than defining it. Sharing less allows me to express who I am beyond appearance. For women, especially, sharing less can be a radical act in a world where the default is to objectify ourselves. It resists the pressure to center appearance, focusing instead on what truly matters: our thoughts, voices, and authenticity. I’ve posted a handful of pictures of myself in 2,500 posts because I care more about showing who I am than how I look. In trying to be seen, are we making it harder for others to truly know us? It’s a question worth considering.

@taterhole

Dec 27, 2024

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