The American press exists for one purpose only, and that is to convince Americans that they are living in the greatest and most envied country in the history of the world. The Press tells the American people how awful every other country is and how wonderful the United States is and how evil communism is and how happy they should be to have freedom to buy seven different sorts of detergent.

What a Concept. The producers later made an attempt to salvage some of Vidal's vision in the film's post-production. " During the taping of the show there was a legendary on-camera feud between Vidal and Mailer over what Vidal had written about the latter prompting Mailer to say: "I've had to smell your works from time to time.

His most widely regarded social novel was Myra Breckinridge; his best known historical novels included Julian Burr and Lincoln. In addition to this he characterised the United States as a decaying empire from the 1980s onwards. " Ben-Hur won the Academy Award for Best Picture.