BIO
Truman Capote, born in New Orleans, LA., September 30, 1924, and died on August 25, 1984, was a Southern Gothic novelist, journalist, and celebrated man-about-town. He was widely hailed as a stylist after publication of his earliest writings. These include his novel of alienated youth, OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS (1948), the Gothic short stories in A TREE OF NIGHT (1949), and the lighter novel THE GRASS HARP (1951; play, 1952). The novella BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1958; film, 1961) introduced the charming, hedonistic Holly Golightly as a heroine.
How do you measure a life? Most often, we assess a person's actions, because that's what we see; we often don't know the private man or woman who lives behind the public mask. Yet the two can be very different, and there is perhaps no better illustration of this than Truman Capote. In public, Truman Capote was outrageous. He offended and insulted people, and remarked that Jack Kerouac's work "isn't writing at all; it's typing." He was a social climber, a back stabber, and his behavior was frequently offensive if not downright disgusting. On the surface, he did not appear to be the kind of person you would bring home to meet your family. He was also a writer of uncommon grace and sensitivity. His words whirl and twirl along the pages, spinning unforgettable images of people and places. " He wrote about the frail, fragile folk who live on the margins of the world --- the perplexed Holly Golightly, the confused Miss Sook, the lonely Collin Fenwick. He reminded us always, through his novels and stories, that there are strange people in the world, but that they must always be treated with kindness and understanding. This is a person who you would be proud to invite to Sunday dinner. He is perhaps best known for IN COLD BLOOD, the story of a brutal murder in Holcomb, Kansas, and for BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, a novel about a young woman who is looking for a home. His first novel, OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, is the story of a young man who is sent to live with a father he has never known. A CHRISTMAS MEMORY is an autobiographical account of the years he spent living with his aunts. THE GRASS HARP and MUSIC FOR CHAMELEONS are collections of his short stories and essays. To learn about the public Truman Capote, you have only to turn to George Plimpton's oral history, TRUMAN CAPOTE: IN WHICH VARIOUS FRIENDS, ENEMIES, ACQUAINTANCES AND DETRACTORS RECALL HIS TURBULENT CAREER. Plimpton has collected the remembrances, some pleasant, some not, of people who knew Capote at various stages of his life. It's a fascinating book, but I would argue that it only tells part of the story. To understand the rest, you have to read his novels and stories --- when you do, you will understand that the private man was an altogether different person. "One day," he once wrote, "I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote was one of the great writers of the 20th Century. To read him is to enter a strange, magical world filled with memorable characters and fascinating places. And I suspect that after you've spent some time in his world, you will wish you had had the opportunity to bring him home to meet your family. --- Judith Handschuh
© Copyright 2003, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.
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Truman Capote, born in New Orleans, LA., September 30, 1924, and died on August 25, 1984, was a Southern Gothic novelist, journalist, and celebrated man-about-town. He was widely hailed as a stylist after publication of his earliest writings. These include his novel of alienated youth, OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS (1948), the Gothic short stories in A TREE OF NIGHT (1949), and the lighter novel THE GRASS HARP (1951; play, 1952). The novella BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1958; film, 1961) introduced the charming, hedonistic Holly Golightly as a heroine.
How do you measure a life? Most often, we assess a person's actions, because that's what we see; we often don't know the private man or woman who lives behind the public mask. Yet the two can be very different, and there is perhaps no better illustration of this than Truman Capote. In public, Truman Capote was outrageous. He offended and insulted people, and remarked that Jack Kerouac's work "isn't writing at all; it's typing." He was a social climber, a back stabber, and his behavior was frequently offensive if not downright disgusting. On the surface, he did not appear to be the kind of person you would bring home to meet your family. He was also a writer of uncommon grace and sensitivity. His words whirl and twirl along the pages, spinning unforgettable images of people and places. " He wrote about the frail, fragile folk who live on the margins of the world --- the perplexed Holly Golightly, the confused Miss Sook, the lonely Collin Fenwick. He reminded us always, through his novels and stories, that there are strange people in the world, but that they must always be treated with kindness and understanding. This is a person who you would be proud to invite to Sunday dinner. He is perhaps best known for IN COLD BLOOD, the story of a brutal murder in Holcomb, Kansas, and for BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, a novel about a young woman who is looking for a home. His first novel, OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, is the story of a young man who is sent to live with a father he has never known. A CHRISTMAS MEMORY is an autobiographical account of the years he spent living with his aunts. THE GRASS HARP and MUSIC FOR CHAMELEONS are collections of his short stories and essays. To learn about the public Truman Capote, you have only to turn to George Plimpton's oral history, TRUMAN CAPOTE: IN WHICH VARIOUS FRIENDS, ENEMIES, ACQUAINTANCES AND DETRACTORS RECALL HIS TURBULENT CAREER. Plimpton has collected the remembrances, some pleasant, some not, of people who knew Capote at various stages of his life. It's a fascinating book, but I would argue that it only tells part of the story. To understand the rest, you have to read his novels and stories --- when you do, you will understand that the private man was an altogether different person. "One day," he once wrote, "I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote was one of the great writers of the 20th Century. To read him is to enter a strange, magical world filled with memorable characters and fascinating places. And I suspect that after you've spent some time in his world, you will wish you had had the opportunity to bring him home to meet your family. --- Judith Handschuh
© Copyright 2003, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.
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