The City and the Pillar cover art

The City and the Pillar

A Novel

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The City and the Pillar

By: Gore Vidal
Narrated by: Will Damron
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.99

Buy Now for $28.99

About this listen

A literary cause célèbre when first published more than fifty years ago, Gore Vidal’s now-classic The City and the Pillar stands as a landmark novel of the gay experience.

Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual relationships between men.

©1948, 1965 E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 1995 by Literary Creation Enterprises, Inc. Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
The monologue about the catholic churxh must be one of the strangest and funniest I have read. gore takes truwth qnd twists it. jim desteoyed his happiness. he coule not wait. jim's mother was a masterpiece. poor bob. he was his brothee, his tein. dud he rape himself? sex and violence. he did not deaerve thar. please dry your eyes mate.

Oh my God. Such brilliance . What tragedy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.