Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) (pronounced , occasionally , , etc) is an American author of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays. The scion of a prominent political family, Gore is an outspoken critic of the American political establishment and a noted wit and social critic. Gore wrote the The City and the Pillar in 1948, which created controversy as the first major American novel to feature unambiguous homosexuality.