From the author of MYRA BRECKINRIDGE and DARK GREEN, BRIGHT RED, a novel, first published in 1949, describing the growing-up of a brilliant and precocious schoolboy whose parents separate when he is young, and whose mother is portrayed as a 'monster'.
A novel based on the emotional conflict centered around a son's urge to sever the pshychological umbilical cord which ties him to a selfish and possessive mother. Completely unsympathetic to his young experiences and inclinations, forever critical of his interests and reactions, she nevertheless appeals to his sympathies and attempts to hold him emotionally.
Vidal was only 23 when he wrote this impressively sober and affecting novel, and it's a testament to his early skill that the portrait of a privileged Southern family... seems as relevant and modern as ever. - MAIL ON SUNDAY