Myra Breckinridge was dismissed by some of the era's more conservative critics as pornographic at the time of its first publication in February 1968; nevertheless, the novel immediately became a worldwide bestseller and has since come to be considered a classic in some circles.

"It is tempting to argue that Vidal said more to subvert the dominant rules of sex and gender in Myra than is contained in a shelf of queer theory treatises", wrote Dennis Altman.

Intending to stall her as long as possible, Buck declares his lawyers will look into the matter; in the meantime, he offers Myra work at the Academy teaching the Empathy and Posture classes.

Out of an obscure desire to be avenged on the male sex for the indignities suffered by Myron during his long period of homosexuality, Myra preys upon a student named Rusty Godowski, a muscular ex-footballer, and ultimately anally violates him with a strap on.

Rusty, previously a gentle lover, has been transformed by his assault at Myra’s hands into a violent and brutish sex partner, to Letitia’s great delight.

Meanwhile, in a meeting in Buck’s office his lawyers produce a trump card: no death certificate exists for Myron Breckinridge in New York, and if he is not dead his will has no legal bearing.

[14] The first novel whose main character undergoes a clinical sex-change, it was praised by Edmund Miller as "a brilliantly chosen image for satire of contemporary mores.

"[2] Arnie Kantrowitz called the titular character a "comic surrogate [who] looks at life from both sides" and "wields a wicked dildo in her war against gender roles".