Truman Capote
About the author He was brought up in Monroeville, Alabama, where he lived with his relatives, one of whom became the model for the loving, elderly spinster of his novels, stories, and plays. His mother, meanwhile, had a difficult time without money and husband After his mother had married a well-to-do businessman, Capote moved to New York, and adopted his stepfather's surname. When he left school, he found work at the New Yorker, the well-known magazine, where he attracted attention by his eccentricity. Capote started writing stories, which were published in various magazines. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms was published in 1948, depicting a boy, Joel Knox, growing up in the Deep South. The book was very successful, but also created controversy because of its treatment of homosexuality. In 1949 Capote went to Europe, where he wrote fiction and non-fiction, among other things a profile of Marlon Brando and work for the theatre and films. In 1949 appeared A Tree of Night, which gathered together a number of short stories. In the 1950s Capote wrote The House of Flowers, a musical set in a West Indies bordello. Capote's lyrical style and melancholy marked his novel The Grass Harp (1951). In the story an orphaned boy and two old ladies observe life from a china tree. After his return to the United States, Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958). Its central character, Holly Golightly, is a young woman, who comes to New York in order to find a place to belong. The novel is constructed as a memory of events, that happened some 15 years earlier. The narrator has not seen her during all that time. Interest in journalism formed the basis for the bestseller In Cold Blood, which can be called the first documentary novel or "nonfiction novel". It dealt with the murder of a wealthy family in Kansas. Capote interviewed local people to recreate the lives of both the murderers and their victims. While doing so, he became emotionally attached to the killers. However, he told the story with utmost objectivity. Among Capote's other works from the 1960s is the classic A Christmas Memory, a story about a seven-year-old boy, Buddy, his cousin, an eccentric old lady, and a tough little orange and white rat terrier called Queenie. Capote’s plan for a novel which was to be called Answered Prayers never materialized. Problems with drink and drugs, and disputes with other writers exhausted his creative energy.
Truman Capote was born in New Orleans. He was the son of Archulus "Arch" Persons, a salesman and a 16-year-old beauty queen, Lillie Mae Faulk. His father never stuck at any job for long, and was always in search of new opportunities. The unhappy marriage quickly fell apart and his parents divorced, when Capote was four.
In his childhood Capote made friends with Harper Lee, who portrayed him as Dill in her world famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
Answered Prayers remained unfinished, but three stories from the novel appeared in the 1970s. The surviving portions were republished in 1986. Music for Chameleons (1981) was a collection of short pieces, stories, interviews, and conversations published in various magazines. Truman Capote died in Los Angeles, California, on August 26, 1984, of liver disease complicated by drugs.