Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Not his best

As a longtime fan of Gore Vidal I was disappointed in this latest work of his. I have read most of his work in recent times and have even given his books as gifts to friends, but this latest effort is not up to Vidal's usual high standard. The literary essays are fine and in several instances wonderful. However in the political essays there was a sameness about them collectively that seemed to render them shrill and unreadable. It is not the content that I object to, merely the repetition. There is only on essay on politics in this volume and Vidal has repackaged it several times, reheating and serving it up again and again.