Truman Capote (1924 - 1984)

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |

In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote

"Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans--in fact, few Kansans--had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there." If all Truman Capote did was invent a new genre--journalism written with the language and structure of literature--this "nonfiction novel" about the brutal slaying of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers would be remembered as a trail-blazing experiment that has influenced countless writers. But Capote achieved more than that. He wrote a true masterpiece of creative nonfiction. The images of this tale continue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bake a cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and his dreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of the rope-broken necks.

A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & the Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote

Taking its place next to Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood on the Modern Library bookshelf is this new and original edition of Capote's most famous short stories: "A Christmas Memory, " "One Christmas, " and "A Thanksgiving Memory." All three stories are distinguished by Capote's delicate interplay of childhood sensibility and recollective vision.

Music for Chameleons  by Truman Capote

In these gems of reportage Truman Capote takes true stories and real people and renders then with the stylistic brio we expect from great fiction. Here we encounter an exquisitely preserved Creole aristocrat sipping absinthe in her Martinique salon; an enigmatic killer who sends his victims announcements of their forthcoming demise; and a proper Connecticut householder with a ruinous obsession for a twelve-year-old girl he has never met. And we meet Capote himself, who, whether he is smoking with his cleaning lady or trading sexual gossip with Marilyn Monroe, reminds one of the most elegant, malicious, yet compassionate writers to train his eye on the social fauna of our time.

Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons) (1924-1984)

NOVELIST, JOURNALIST

In 1948 his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms gave him international acclaim, which increased with Breakfast at Tiffany’s and reached its peak in 1966 with the trend-setting In Cold Blood.  

In addition to his writing career, his infamous social life also peaked in 1966 when he threw the highly publicized Black and White Ball for several hundred select guests at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He would later anger and alienate most of his socialite friends when, in 1975 and 1976, he published excerpts from an un-finished novel titled Answered Prayers in the magazine Esquire – the excerpts revealed scandalous secrets those friends had confided in him. An admitted alcoholic and drug addict, Capote and his work deteriorated over the following ten years and he died in Los Angeles shortly before his 60th birthday. 

Tru, a play about his life written in 1990 by Jay Presson Allen, was a hit on Broadway.

Guide to Truman Capote Papers

Papers of Truman Capote are for the most part made up of holograph and typescript manuscripts of his works, both published and unpublished. Collection also includes correspondence, printed matter, photographs, and graphic materials. Manuscripts are representative of Capote's work beginning with his high school writings, which comprise a separate series. There are a large number of holograph notes and manuscripts as well as clean typescripts and those with revisions and annotations. Material related to In Cold Blood forms an important part of the collection and reflects Capote's five years of research and involvement in the Clutter murder case upon which the book was based. Bulk of the correspondence is made of letters and postcards, 1947-1972, from Capote to his friend Andrew Lyndon, and letters, 1961-1978, from Capote to Alvin and Marie Dewey. Alvin Dewey, of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was the principal investigator in the murder of the Clutter family. A small group of other correspondence includes letters from Jack Dunphy, John O'Shea, Joseph Fox (editor at Random House), Irving Lazar, and Alan Schwartz, as well as letters between some of these figures. Printed matter includes articles and clippings by and about Capote and about the Clutter case. Photographs are for the most part of Capote, his family, and the Deweys. There are six Polaroid pictures taken by Andy Warhol. One scrapbook, compiled by Marie Dewey, documents the production of the movie "In Cold Blood," and includes clippings, memorabilia, and photographs. Graphic materials include a painting of Capote by E. Fossburgh, several sketches of Capote, posters, prints, and an oil painting of a Studio 54 ticket by Andy Warhol.

Truman Capote- A Black + White Tribute

A stylish tribute site with photographs, quotes and experpts.

Truman Capote 

Excerpt:

Truman's style was something he just accepted, and he never tried to hide his homosexuality -- style was "simply there," he said, "like the color of your eyes." He traveled with royalty, vacationed with the social elite, and partied with Hollywood legends. To prove that he knew "everybody" and had been "everywhere," he used to relate this example: he personally knew JFK, RFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Sirhan Sirhan all completely independently of each other before any assassinations took place, an amazing fact if it's true. In private, he had a 35-year relationship with another writer, Jack Dunphy, whom he had met in '48. They lived together in New York, Switzerland, and in the Hamptons (Breakfast at Tiffany's is dedicated to Dunphy). They met in '48, Dunphy was ten years his senior. One love affair that was particularly interesting was discussed in Ultra Violet's book Famous for 15 Minutes, in which she writes about the long relationship between Truman and Andy Warhol. The two New Yorkers met in '51, and Andy said he then wrote to Truman daily for a year. Andy also said that he and Truman were secretly engaged for ten years, exchanging naked photographs instead of rings. His illustrations of Truman's book The Stories of Truman Capote became Andy's first solo exhibit...

My Significant Other, Truman Capote

by Rich Grzesiak

In the words of Grzesiak:

This was probably one of the most difficult interviews I ever conducted: my interviewee spoke to me with great reluctance. I'm referring to Jack Dunphy, Truman Capote's "lover." As you read this piece, bear in mind that Capote's addiction issues were not widely discussed in the gay press with any degree of seriousness, let alone understanding, circa 1987...

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |