That Time When Gore Vidal Spiced up the Smithsonian

This is one Gore Vidal novel I haven't read. I wonder if the writing is as cheesy as the cover art.

 The fictional tale, set in 1939, tells the story of “T.,” a super genius, “decisive, tall lad of thirteen,” who is mysteriously beckoned to the basement of the Smithsonian to help develop the atomic bomb. To be clear, The Smithsonian Institution is a work of historical fiction—the Manhattan Project did not come to fruition within the secret passageways of the museums and there are no time machines on the premises.

Read more at the Smithsonian