Gore Vidal’s Not in Any Rush to Reach the Altar

Novelist Gore Vidal, who may have written the first American novel treating homosexuality as normal (“The City and the Pillar”) unleashes his razor tongue on same-sex marriage in an interview in the April issue of Hollywood-based Genre magazine.

“Of all the nonissues on Earth,” he says, “this is the greatest.” Vidal argues that one of the best features of “same sexuality” is that the heterosexual family structure is not a social expectation.

“You’ll always find some mad fool who wants to lead everybody into a state where all the [gays] are paired off and married,” he tells Genre. “[A]nybody who wants to enter that legal morass known as marriage . . . it’s on their heads.”

Gay marriage is a nonissue, he claims, “because people would be better off protesting laws against homosexuality as filtered through insurance company policies and discrimination of housing and military. That’s useful work. That’s work that can be done--that should be done.”

Genre Editor Morris Weissinger said “Gore doesn’t toe the line of gay rights activists, but he is a living legend, and his perspective is sorely needed. It’s important to have input from those who came before us, even if it contradicts current thinking on the subject.”

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To totally change the subject . . . perhaps you have a hankering for chili-cheese fries or a craving for corn chowder but don’t know where to find them? Menus.com (https://www.menus.com) includes a collection of menus from restaurants in the L.A., Orange County and greater New York areas. Just type in “corn chowder,” and the site will give you restaurants in all price ranges where the dish is served.

Menus.com is still in the process of inputting information for its “official” launch May 1, when more than 30,000 restaurants across the country and in England will go online.

Started by Jack Li, a 27-year-old UCLA business school grad, the Web venture also features editorial content (interviews with chefs, celebrity restaurant tips) that revolves around a different theme each week. Recently, a “sexy food” theme included an interview with Bill Carter, head chef at the Playboy Mansion, and a tour of a Miami restaurant that serves aphrodisiacs.

“A lot of sites have staked their claim on reservations or delivery,” said Tori Rogers, vice president of marketing. “But the key to this site is its comprehensiveness. Youcould be a customer of Spago one day, and want information on Tito’s Tacos the next. That has not been done.”

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When “Sigmund Freud: Conflict and Culture” opens next week at the Skirball Cultural Center in L.A., Audrey’s gift shop at the Skirball will feature several amusing items related to the exhibition. How about a pair of plush Freudian slippers ($24.95), a Freudian-slip note cube ($9) or a pair of pillowcases printed with Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams” ($28). Perfect gifts for all your crazy friends.

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The Razzie goes to . . . me, for the worst malapropism in this column’s history. A write-up of last week’s Iam.com party said, “Artisan and Details deserve props for making their celebrity guests mix with the plebiscites.” What I meant, of course, was plebeians. Thanks to those who e-mailed. Must have been all the Oscar buzz in my head.