Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career by George Plimpton

Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career Reviews

• 
  Carol Storm

  If you haven't seen the movie INFAMOUS, with Toby Stephens and Sandra Bullock, you should watch it right away. It was based on this book, and it's amazing! This is the best biography of a great American writer that I have ever read. The reason is that it's more of an oral history, (my favorite kind of book) or a collection of interviews, in the tradition of THE GLORY OF THEIR TIMES by Lawrence Ritter or BLOODS by Wallace Terry. There's something funny or touching or memorable on almost every single page. My favorite section was an interview with Truman Capote where he explains in very precise detail how he writes each draft and edits them before publication. There were also some great stories about his childhood in Alabama, and interviewing the real life killers who inspired IN COLD BLOOD. The chapters on high society weren't that interesting, but even at the very end there were some great passages, like the eulogy by the poet James Dickey.
  
  This is an amazing book!
  
  
  
  
• 
  James

  I saw the movie, Infamous, which is more or less based on part of this book, and because I liked the movie, I thought I'd get even more out of the book.
  
  WRONG.
  
  The author interviewed about 200 people who knew something about Capote, then cut that material into a bunch of paragraph length gossips, then pasted all the stuff together in chronological order.
  
  NOT the way to write an interesting book.
  
  In fact, I'd say Plimpton didn't really write a book,
  he just recorded conversations and pasted other peoples
  thoughts together.
  
  In this case the movie is much better than the book,
  Toby Jones gives a great performance as Capote.
  
  
• 
  Randee

  I read this a long time ago and remember it as being well written and interesting. I own a copy and want to reread it to give it a proper review. Truman Capote was quite a character and up until the last few years of his life was one heck of a good writer.
• 
  Rhonda

  Coundn't put this down. I find it difficult to review a biography I have chosen to read purely to find out more about the life of someone I know a little about and want to find out more in that, if the biography is 'well written' (whatever that means), the reading is tandem with concentrating on building the picture from the information reported rather than how well it is or is not written . This biography is made up of segments of dialogue from people who featured in Capote's life. One event or conversation could be written from the viewpoint of more than one person, often as asides without much background, leaving the reader to decide whether or not they will believe what is, basically, gossip. It is a narrative style similar to how Capote wrote 'In Cold Blood' (though the sources were diametrically opposed to gossip) and, to a certain extent, satisfies the problem all biography readers must face re how the biographer selects and deselects information, and how the voice or style in which it is presented colours the information they choose to deliver. There is a similarity in the segments style wise, not much variation of voice, definitely no hesitations, silences, umms or aaahs but the 'facts' differs. I am always aware when reading a biography of who the biographer is, where they fit in their subjects life, what their sources are and where there seems to be biases. There are bound to be some here, it is unavoidable in any biography, but George Plimpton has succeeded in presenting something that feels like being in the company of the people that Capote filled his life with, all gossiping and sharing and exposing themselves as much as they do Capote. Says a lot about them, and through that, Capote. I found it very satisfying.
• 
  Jenifer

  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.
• 
  Amy

  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.
• 
  Harriett Milnes

  George Plimpton put together bits of interviews into 40 chapters, following Capote's life. Truman Capote, what do folks think about him now?
  
  I read The Swans of Fifth Avenue with this one. The Swans of Fifth Avenue is about his foray into the NYC society set.
  
  
• 
  Rebecca

  I love this book, and I love George Plimpton! With this book, Plimpton comes out with a new form of biography. He tells the story of Truman Capote's life, by ingeniously editing the words of "various friends, enemies, acquaintances and detractors" together to create a seamless narrative. We get to know Truman Capote through the people in his life... and what a life it was. Really poignant and also fun. Highly recommended for anyone who likes biographies, Truman Capote fan's, and those who are interested in a writer's life or New York Society. Also recommended for anyone who loves a good story.
• 
  Richard Jespers

  As in Plimpton’s biography of Edie Sedgwick, Edie: American Girl, he weaves together the opinions, the diary entries, the essays, and reflections of those who knew Truman Capote. An interesting concept, because some writers contradict others concerning the same topic, and the reader must discern who is right, or else abandon such an idea and just enjoy the nature of this biography. At times Capote's story is gossipy, at other times, heart-wrenching as his friends share their witnessing of his slow demise due to alcoholism and drug addiction, the utter waste that seems to occur after his huge success with In Cold Blood.
• 
  Megan

  Amazing amazing amazing. A pastiche of stories from those who knew, loved, and hated TC best. The way a biography should be written. TC is fascinating and the stories about the literati to the glitterati--from Yaddo to The Plaza--are hilarious, astute, devastating, and, most importantly, contradictory. I'm running out to read Edie now (Plimpton's other "biography" in this style).
• 
  Maria Di Biase

  Partiamo dall’inizio
  
  Truman Streckfus Persons nasce a New Orleans nel 1924.
  I genitori divorziano quando lui ha quattro anni: la madre, molto bella e molto giovane, vince un concorso di bellezza, abbandona la famiglia e si trasferisce a New York. Il piccolo Truman cresce tra l’Alabama, la Louisiana e il Mississippi. A sei anni va a vivere a Monroville da alcuni parenti e stringe un legame importante con sua cugina Sook: è più grande di lui, ma è rimasta un po’ bambina a causa di una febbre tifoide che le ha procurato un certo ritardo mentale. Sook prepara a Truman delle focacce che insaporisce in segreto con un goccio di whisky, lo aiuta a ritagliare carta colorata per costruire gli aquiloni e lo veste da donna come se fosse la sua bambola.
  
  Le focacce di Sook, il successo di Colazione da Tiffany e A sangue freddo, la brutta faccenda di Preghiere esaudite e il declino di uno scrittore americano tra i più eccentrici e talentuosi: tutto è compreso nel libro di George Plimpton, fondatore del The Paris Review, arricchito con testimonianze dirette di amici e parenti, e interventi dello stesso Capote. Consigliato!
  
  Qui:
  un approfondimento su Truman Capote
• 
  Kathleen

  I had a little trouble getting into this, not because it's an oral history as I've just read one of those, but because I had zero clue who most of the people were, i.e., 1950s New York socialites, big name 1950s/60s publishers, etc., so I wasn't certain why I cared what they thought.
  
  However, it didn't take too long (less than 100 pages) to get into the swing of things and figure out who's who, for the most part.
  
  I found it fascinating how people went from simply adoring him to despising him (not everybody, of course) and how very sad the last few years of his life were.
  
  As usual with me I now want to read everything he's written (I read In Cold Blood in college) and everything written about him.
  
  
• 
  Gingerholli

  Can’t get enough of Truman Capote.
• 
  FicusFan

  
  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.
  
  
• 
  Rhonda

  This book attracted me as much for Plimpton as for Capote; I've always liked the Paper Lion's style. And what he does here is epic and fascinating, letting the pattern show itself: that Capote made each of his friends feel like s/he was his only friend, his only TRUE friend, the only one special enough (Milton's "fit reader though few" comes to mind) to really be suitable company for so discriminating a sensibility as Capote's.
  
  What a frightening creature. Like a Siren, seducing sailors onto the rocks. Was his art great enough to redeem his epic perfidy? Or was it all downhill after Other Voices, Other Rooms? Oh wait--I'm forgetting In Cold Blood, his work I know best. He sowed the seed of creative nonfiction, there. But I don't see him on high school or college syllabi whereas, nearly 50 years after its first appearance, To Kill a Mockingbird has been read by middleschoolers and highschoolers and college students (and me) since 1960 and continues to support Harper Lee well into her 80s. TC was a nasty little man who wrote some beautiful but little books--except for In Cold Blood, a monster.
• 
  J.C.

  I don't remember how this book ended up in my apartment. I think I pulled it out of the free book box at work. I like Truman Capote's writing, especially "In Cold Blood", his short stories and some of his short non-fiction. I can't really say I have much interest in reading literary biographies (this was my first and probably only dive into the genre). I didn't really like this book very much, I only read about 200 pages of it (reading some parts, skimming others, skipping most). The most interesting stuff I found to be the pages focused on the crafting of "In Cold Blood" but most of the other stuff wasn't very interesting (I could care less about the feelings of all the rich folks he upset with his "Answered Prayers" book). If you are interested in New York "cafe society", read it. If you like a good gossip book, read it (Capote was the king of gossip). If you like books about friends and contemporaries and haters sharing there most memorable stories about someone famous, read it. If none of these things appeal to you, skip it.
• 
  ₵oincidental Ðandy

  "...the reader is treated to information delivered firsthand, as if one had happened in on a large gathering, perhaps a cocktail party of Truman Capote's acquaintances," Mr. Plimpton, in his 'Note to the Reader,' offers by way of introduction (and explanation) at the beginning of this (oral) biography. "With a glass in hand (probably a vodka) our reader moves from group to group and listens in on personal reminiscences, opinion, vitriol, and anecdot." True enough & as a result it is as insightful as it is entertaining; with such an anecdotal biography, Capote's complex character & personality are 'fleshed out' (along with a few theories about the root-cause of some of his sometimes bewildering reasoning & behaviour) & are viewed in the round, as it were, via the various people being quoted (not all of whom had the most flattering things to relate, as is to be expected; spearheading this group, Gore Vidal, as also to be expected, delivers some of the wittiest anecdotes, observations & caustic quotes). It really is a delightful read.
• 
  Leilani

  Even after reading this biography, I still come away thinking Truman Capote was way larger than life.
  
  Actual content of the biography aside, I thought the way it was written was interesting. George Plimpton collected little anecdotes from the various people in Capote's life and put them in together according to theme or period of time. It was a little confusing for me because I didn't know some of these people and their relationship to Capote, but I liked how it would give various angles to the same person. For instance, one person said that Truman Capote was her best friend and he knew all her little secrets, etc, but the next person says "I didn't like him. He tries to get all your secrets out of you by pretending to be your best friend and uses it to get attention from other people."
• 
  Rachel

  I've read about Truman Capote before so I didn't find anything massively startling in this book. I don't really understand why Jack Dunphy was so prominent in his life, then sort of disappeared for the 60s and 70s, only to reappear when TC was ill and passed away. As for the 'Answered Prayers' scandal, I'd read the biography of the Cushing sisters (about Babe Paley and her sisters) and understood her perspective on it, it was difficult to be sympathetic to TC knowing that.
  
  It's a terrific book, though. I love bios written in this style. They're easy to read and I find it entertaining to read the different views on the same occasion, esp how some people thought the Black and White Ball was the best party EVER!! and others thought it was a bore.
• 
  Tara

  The scene Joan Carson recalls of Truman's passing in her home and her dog, Cinnamon's loyal reaction made me cry. Beautiful, fascinating and sad book. A wonderful compilation of individuals, a time of eloquent & decadence past. Highly recommend this book. I read it along side Music for Chameleons. Having read Other Voices, Other Rooms; Breakfast at Tiffany's & In Cold Blood beforehand. I also recommend reading as much of Capote's work as you can before diving into this or much of it will be lost on you. I love Plimpton's style of presenting a life. I felt as though I was being spoken to by each person. Check out his book on Edie Sedgwick as well!!
• 
  Joshua Weichhand

  When it comes to entertainment, Plimpton's amalgam of communal recollections are to biographies as well-produced documentaries are to Charlie Rose's interviews -- it's maybe not as interesting as it is entertaining, not unlike watching the movie. At the same time, when it comes to the actual facts, there's something refreshing about hearing about one's life through the filter of their counterparts -- especially when dealing with someone as exaggerated as Capote.
  
  Overall, a thoroughly engrossing book.
  
  
• 
  karen

  Disappointing. Instead of the insight, snark, gossip and personal depth I thought I would get, this book was just a long, repetitive glossing over of his life & work by the people who knew him. Maybe it's not theirs or Plimpton's fault, maybe absolutely no one knew what made Capote tick (and eventually explode like a time bomb) but this felt extremely superficial and frustrating--like trying to scuba dive with a snorkel.
• 
  Jen

  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.