September 30th, 1924 Truman Streckfus Persons was born in New Orleans. Shortly after his birth he would be sent away to Alabama to live with his elderly uncle and three older women because of his parents divorce. He quickly discovered a love of writing at the age of 8 and befriended another young child, Harper Lee. Lee would go on to write the famous book "To Kill A Mockingbird." Lee looked after Truman because he was often picked on for being too effeminate. "Unlike girls of her age, Lee was as tough as boys and always stood up for Truman when he was being picked on by other boys for being sissy and dressing up in fancy clothes." (Harper Lee, 2012)
In 1939 his mother remarried and Joseph Garcia Capote legally adopted Truman. Truman lived with his mother and new stepfather in New York for a period of time and was employed by the New Yorker in 1942. He released his first major literary success "Other Voices, Other Rooms" in 1949 and would continue to write hits throughout the time leading to Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958. Three years after the book was published the film adaptation was released. Capote was disappointed with it because it did not feature Marilyn Monroe as Holly Golightly. Monroe was his good friend and also who he pictured in the role.
It would be a few more years before he created his last defining work "In Cold Blood." "He set out with friend Harper Lee to write about the impact of the murder of four members of the Clutter family on their small Kansas farming community." (Truman Capote, 2017) This tale would become an American classic and push Capote into English classrooms to this day. He would continue to enjoy success into the 1970's when he went from famous to infamous.
Capote lived grandly. He loved socializing and being around people. He once said in an interview with Gloria Steinem "the thing I like to do most in the whole world is talk...If I had to choose between writing and talking---well, I just don't know what I'd do!" (Capote, 1989) That penchant for talking was more of a penchant for gossip though. He once said "all literature is gossip." He socialized and schmoozed with the celebs left and right. "The young writer was lionized by the high society elite, and was seen at the best parties, clubs, and restaurants." (PBS, 2015) This obsession with the lifestyles of the rich and famous would be his downfall.
In 1975 Capote was experiencing severe writers block and decided to release a few sections of a book he was working on called "Answered Prayers" in Esquire magazine which detailed vaguely the private life of his friends in the social elite. When he released one section "La Cote Basque, 1965" he caused a serious stir that would affect his career negatively. " In it he named real names and told real stories about his high society friends, some of whom were lost to him forever; other friends were lost indirectly around the same time, rather like canoes being tipped over in the wake of a big boat." (private world)
He died August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles.
Breakfast is a great example of how closely tied a book can be to its author. Capote resonated his need to achieve success and his feelings of being an outlier within the character of Holly Golightly.
While supposedly a mixture of other socialites Holly is tied most closely to the author himself.
"I had to be successful and I had to be successful early. The thing about people like me is that we always knew what we were going to do. Many people spend half their lives not knowing. But I was a very special person and I had to have a very special life. I was not meant to work in an office or something though I would have been successful at whatever I did. But I always knew that I wanted to be a writer and that I wanted to be rich and famous." (Krebs, 1984) His essence shines through in her character and reflects his values on socializing and the social elite.
"Truman Capote invented himself pretty much from scratch, and became the toast of a town that celebrates the moment, and doesn't give much of a damn about the past - about origins or ancestry or even the events of last week." (McInerney, 2013)
In 1939 his mother remarried and Joseph Garcia Capote legally adopted Truman. Truman lived with his mother and new stepfather in New York for a period of time and was employed by the New Yorker in 1942. He released his first major literary success "Other Voices, Other Rooms" in 1949 and would continue to write hits throughout the time leading to Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958. Three years after the book was published the film adaptation was released. Capote was disappointed with it because it did not feature Marilyn Monroe as Holly Golightly. Monroe was his good friend and also who he pictured in the role.
It would be a few more years before he created his last defining work "In Cold Blood." "He set out with friend Harper Lee to write about the impact of the murder of four members of the Clutter family on their small Kansas farming community." (Truman Capote, 2017) This tale would become an American classic and push Capote into English classrooms to this day. He would continue to enjoy success into the 1970's when he went from famous to infamous.
Capote lived grandly. He loved socializing and being around people. He once said in an interview with Gloria Steinem "the thing I like to do most in the whole world is talk...If I had to choose between writing and talking---well, I just don't know what I'd do!" (Capote, 1989) That penchant for talking was more of a penchant for gossip though. He once said "all literature is gossip." He socialized and schmoozed with the celebs left and right. "The young writer was lionized by the high society elite, and was seen at the best parties, clubs, and restaurants." (PBS, 2015) This obsession with the lifestyles of the rich and famous would be his downfall.
In 1975 Capote was experiencing severe writers block and decided to release a few sections of a book he was working on called "Answered Prayers" in Esquire magazine which detailed vaguely the private life of his friends in the social elite. When he released one section "La Cote Basque, 1965" he caused a serious stir that would affect his career negatively. " In it he named real names and told real stories about his high society friends, some of whom were lost to him forever; other friends were lost indirectly around the same time, rather like canoes being tipped over in the wake of a big boat." (private world)
He died August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles.
Breakfast is a great example of how closely tied a book can be to its author. Capote resonated his need to achieve success and his feelings of being an outlier within the character of Holly Golightly.
While supposedly a mixture of other socialites Holly is tied most closely to the author himself.
"I had to be successful and I had to be successful early. The thing about people like me is that we always knew what we were going to do. Many people spend half their lives not knowing. But I was a very special person and I had to have a very special life. I was not meant to work in an office or something though I would have been successful at whatever I did. But I always knew that I wanted to be a writer and that I wanted to be rich and famous." (Krebs, 1984) His essence shines through in her character and reflects his values on socializing and the social elite.
"Truman Capote invented himself pretty much from scratch, and became the toast of a town that celebrates the moment, and doesn't give much of a damn about the past - about origins or ancestry or even the events of last week." (McInerney, 2013)
Citations
Capote, T., & Inge, M. T. (1989). Truman Capote: conversations. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi.
Fleming, A. T. (1978, July 09). THE PRIVATE WORLD OF TRUMAN CAPOTE. http://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/09/archives/the-private-world-of-truman-capote.html
Harper Lee. (2012). FamousAuthors.org. http://www.famousauthors.org/harper-lee
Krebs, A. (1984, August 28). http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-obit.html
Mclnerney, J. (2013, Aug 24). The making of holly golightly. The Daily Telegraph http://ulib.iupui.edu/cgi-bin/proxy.pl?url=http://search-proquest-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/docview/1427398630?accountid=7398
PBS (2015, August 13). Truman Capote. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/truman-capote-about-the-author
Truman Capote. (2017, April 28). https://www.biography.com/people/truman-capote-9237547
Main photo courtesy of PleasurePhoto