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Fascinating view of a truly unique individual.
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Truman Capote
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A biography of American author Truman Capote in which various friends, enemies, acquaintances and detractors recall his turbulent career.
498 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1997
This edition
- Format
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498 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 1999 by Picador
- ISBN
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9780330368728
- ASIN
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0330368729
- Language
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English
About the author
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George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, actor, and gamesman. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.
He was the grandson of George A. Plimpton.
He was the grandson of George A. Plimpton.
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Community Reviews
Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 82 votes)
5 stars
30(37%)
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27(33%)
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25(30%)
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82 reviews All reviews
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After I read Party of the Century, I got interested in Capote's story. This book tells it in a different way. Instead of being a straight biography, it has commentary from various famous people, friends and high society. It was fascinating.
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2 1/2 *
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Can’t get enough of Truman Capote.
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I found this book to be very gripping. It was a page turner. It was an oral biography. Various people talked about Capote, from his childhood in Alabama to his death in California. Some people were obviously self-serving, or trying to bury a hatchet, or out to lunch, but it was still interesting, because they said as much about themselves as they did about Capote. It also let you see what type of people he was surrounded by.
It provided information and context about Capote, without being too heavy or detail oriented. It gave you emotional as well as factual information, and opinion. Sometimes you could see the same event described by multiple people.
I have been interested in Capote since seeing the fabulous movie, Infamous, which this book was the basis for. I wanted enough information about him to read his his stories and books about him, and understand the nuances, but I didn't want to get bogged down in the detail. This book was perfect for that.
The anecdotes were arranged in chronological order so they seemed to tell the story of his life. They talked about his early writing successes, his involvement with the Kansas situation, the black and white ball, his flitting with the jet-set, his fall from grace with them when he published their gossip, his dabbling with Broadway and
Hollywood, his lack of writing, his boozing and drugging, and his death.
The only lack seemed to me was the lack of explanation about his relationship with Jack Dunphy. Truman seemed to be alone, but he was also with his lover Jack Dunphy. Jack would be there but not around, and the book never explained why ? Also why Jack never seemed to try to save him.
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I have a couple of Capote's books on my to-read list and have always wondered why there seems to be a sort of mystique about him. I got this book at the library and found out more (and less) than I wanted to know. It was pretty long, 470 pages or so and really dragged for me in some places. I found myself just wanting "the dirt".
But then there's something else; the book, by George Plimpton, is written in a style called "Oral Biography" and I've never read naything like it. Each vignette was told (to Plimpton) by a different person from Capote's life, from the small town where he grew up to the high society circles of New York, London, Paris and the Mediterranean where he spent his professional life hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Sometimes their stories overlap and sometimes they contradict. It was mostly interesting, but just as if you really were listening to these people gossiping and talking about Truman at a cocktail party, you kind of have to hear about a bunch of stuff you really didn't ask for.
But then there's something else; the book, by George Plimpton, is written in a style called "Oral Biography" and I've never read naything like it. Each vignette was told (to Plimpton) by a different person from Capote's life, from the small town where he grew up to the high society circles of New York, London, Paris and the Mediterranean where he spent his professional life hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Sometimes their stories overlap and sometimes they contradict. It was mostly interesting, but just as if you really were listening to these people gossiping and talking about Truman at a cocktail party, you kind of have to hear about a bunch of stuff you really didn't ask for.
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Great book. Just a series of sound bites from people who new Capote arranged as a narrative telling the story of Capotes life.
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Fascinating. And tragic. And fascinating. A true American original.
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