''Dark Green, Bright Red'' is a novel by

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

, concerning a revolution headed by a former military dictator in an unnamed

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

n republic. The book was first published in 1950 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

. It drew upon Vidal's experiences living in Guatemala during the

Guatemalan Revolution The period in the history of Guatemala between the coups against Jorge Ubico in 1944 and Jacobo Árbenz in 1954 is known locally as the Revolution ( es, La Revolución). It has also been called the Ten Years of Spring, highlighting the peak y ...

. Vidal re-wrote a significantly shortened version of ''Dark Green, Bright Red'' in 1968. However, when the book was published in a new

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

edition in 1995 by Andre Deutsch, the longer, original text was used.

Plot summary

With the backing of a U.S. fruit company, a court-martialled American army officer and a French advisor, General Alvarez, a deposed Central American dictator mounts an attempted coup d'etat to regain power. The first part of the book is set mainly in jungle, yet most of the military action takes place elsewhere. It was the first of Vidal's books to explore the idea that the United States was an imperialist country.

Critical reception

The novel received mixed to negative reviews. A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "a sad waste of real narrative gifts and wit", while '' Kirkus Reviews'' considered it " ll-written, with authentic atmosphere, ... but not up to the mark of idal'searlier work." '' Saturday Review'' deemed it "an interesting failure."

References

1950 American novels Novels by Gore Vidal Novels set in Central America Novels about revolutions E. P. Dutton books American political novels {{1950s-poli-novel-stub