Fascinating way to construct a biography. He is as complicated as anyone I could imagine. He is brilliant and trivial all at once. He is focused and dissipated.

Wasn't sure I would like the format, but I did enjoy reading all the various peoples views & impressions of Truman Capote. Learned a lot about an author I enjoyed reading. A very well rounded account of his life and times.

Fabulously bitchy and gossipy, short anecdotes by everybody you can imagine, past and present, that covers several decades of Truman's antics.

The Book Description offered in Goodreads sums it up as does the Coda (Chapter 48) in the book. If you have ever read Truman Capote’s writings and enjoyed them and/or recall his persona from the talk show circuit and tabloids, you will enjoy the time invested to read this book.

First let me say that I'm a pretty hard core fan of Capotes (not so much In Cold Blood, but his short stories - which I normally hate - and, his collected magazine pieces). Don't read this if you're not really into him. Even as a fan I was somewhat bored, and just plain SADDENED by his life. That being said, when I read about his last moments it made the theme of his life (grieving over the loss of a mother & the search for a new one - I know, pretty darn obvious) clear and it helped to explain the characters in his stories. This book is a tragedy with no real arc (or, not enough of one - his "high" point was almost the saddest part for me).

Given the title, I had hoped to learn some things about Capote's life, even if only as an adult writer. The book is an oral history of Capote, a parade of voices talking about the man and organized chronologically, much like a documentary film without narration.
Unfortunately, as each witness chimed in with their recollections, the book seemed not to focus on Capote but on the groups of people he surrounded himself with during his short, turbulent life. The mythology of Truman Capote remained largely intact, even given a new coat of varnish, and the only memorable parts of his life were the sad realities that he wasted his talents in pursuit of fame, wasted his friendships in pursuit of vanity, and wasted his life through drink and drugs. Having learned little about the man over 500 pages, I was disappointed.
What redeemed the book however, was how much i learned about the 1950s and 1960s New York literary and social scene, and the sordid, gossipy world Capote traveled in. The book is a guilty pleasure of high society excess, travel, literary history, and pettiness. So despite my disappointment about the main topic, I was thoroughly entertained by this book and on that level recommend it.

This book. I can’t stop thinking about this book. I had wanted to read it for YEARS. When I finally got a copy, I was fearful. Would it live up to expectations? This book!!! I was torn between rushing through and not wanting it to end. It is the perfect biography for Capote—the life of an inveterate gossip recounted through sourced gossip. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I will definitely be rereading.

TRUMAN CAPOTE: IN WHICH VARIOUS FRIENDS, ENEMIES, ACQUAINTANCES, AND DETRACTORS RECALL HIS TURBULENT CAREER. by George. Plimpton (?)

It has been twenty years since I read this book, but I still remember it as a terrifically interesting addition to the then-current and growing number of books on or about Capote. Plimpton catches the impressive breadth of Capote's professional and social world, from detectives and housewives from Kansas, to uber-rich jet-set heiresses and industrialists's wives, to other world-known writers. The naivete of so many otherwise shrewd and powerful people in allowing him into their lives was positively quaint; in the days of telegrams and hand-written letters, it was possible even for celebrities to fly under the radar when they wanted to. That world is long gone. A few of the best parts of the book were the presentiments a few had of Capote's treachery as a friend and confidant-- they kept their distance from the start or pulled out before it was too late. No less striking was Capote's instant disposabiliy as a mere ornament when he betrayed their confidences and they cut him dead. Norman Mailer was on point regarding the perishable nature of a writer's material, and how Capote's material and mastery simply dried up. The novelist Marguerite Young was penetrating regarding Capote's strengths (and mostly) fatal shortcomings as a writer-- but then, who can name one thing she wrote?

An interesting look at Truman Capote's life told through the eyes of his friends and acquaintances. I enjoyed it very much although I admit it took a little whole to get used to the style but once I did it was well worth it.

I really like George Plimpton biographies. Its like you are sitting around in a living room and everyone is talking about Truman Capote.Truman as a person and a writer was quite a force. Even though I feel like I know a lot about him, I still feel like there is a lot of mystery concerning his nature and motivations. He was definitely a person with motivations--horribly good or wonderfully bad. One thing I did miss out on was some of the details. Like when did he start drinking and pill popping? Its like all of a sudden he was a drunk. I mean I know it happened after In Cold BLood and after the black and white ball...
When I read about writers I always wonder...is this someone I would want to know? could we be friends? I think the answer is no.
Also, I was trying to think, what would Truman be like today? could he survive? I am not really sure that he could. He certainly would not be able to get away with creating himself so artfully, which I think is a little sad really.

This might be my favorite read of the year so far. I had seen a couple of films about Capote - the two that came out about 15 years ago about the writing of In Cold Blood - and I have read almost all of Capote's book so some of the stuff in this biography were things I already knew. Still, it was interesting to read the first hand accounts of these events.
If there is one down side to the book being assembled from interviews, is that some of the events that gets more attention is not necessarily the most interesting. We get page and pages about the Black and White Ball and Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel . But about only 2 pages about Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories. Made me want to read a more comprehensive biography about Capote.