U.S. Novelist Gore Vidal Dies At Age 86

U.S. novelist Gore Vidal, the iconoclastic commentator on American life and history in works like "Lincoln" and "Myra Breckenridge," died Tuesday at age 86, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The writer's nephew Burr Steers said Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills of complications from pneumonia, the Times said.

He was one the giants of a generation of American writers that included Norman Mailer and Truman Capote, as well known for his flamboyant social and sexual life and trenchant political views as for his novels.

He wrote 25 novels, essays, Broadway hits, screenplays and television dramas in a career that also included unsuccessful runs for political office, celebrated talk show duels, and even an appearance as himself in Fellini's "Roma."