Truman Capote - Meadow Harp
Truman Capote - american classic, master of poetic prose. Author of novels and stories "Other Voices - Other Rooms", "Voices of Grass", "Ordinary Murder" and others. main topic his works - loneliness bright soul in the world of practicality and profit.Truman Capote - The Muses are heard. Tour report "Porgy and Bess" in Leningrad
...Truman Capote also worked very hard as a journalist, and at one time he seriously thought about devoting himself to cinema as a screenwriter and, perhaps, a director. Nothing came of this idea in the end. But in journalism, in essayism, Capote reached the heights. It is curious that his career as a newspaperman began with a trip to Moscow and Leningrad in the winter of 1955.Truman Capote - Music for Chameleons
The third volume of the collected works of the American writer Truman Capote introduces the reader to Capote the novelist: it includes selected stories from author's collections of 1949-1966, as well as the author's last book - a collection of short stories "Music for Chameleons" (1980).Truman Capote is one of the greatest American prose writers of the 20th century, the author of widely acclaimed novels and short stories, a prominent journalist and essayist. The first volume of the collected works of the writer includes the debut novel "Summer Cruise", written by the twenty-year-old Capote and considered lost for sixty years, early romance"Other Voices, Other Rooms" (1948) - Southern Gothic story about childlike innocence in...The second volume of the collected works of the outstanding American prose writer, the classic of post-war American literature, Truman Capote, includes the most famous novel writer of "In Cold Blood". Based on history real crime, committed in Kansas in 1959, this book, upon publication, became an instant bestseller and spawned special genre novel-reportage, paving the way for the prose of Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe.The third volume of the collected works of the American writer Truman Capote introduces the Capote novelist to the reader: it includes selected stories from the author's collections of 1949-1966, as well as the author's last book - a collection of short stories "Music for Chameleons" (1980).Truman Capote has always been famous for his incredible eccentricity; however, it was not at all his numerous reckless antics that brought Capote fame - as a writer, Truman managed to establish himself very, very talented person. His works are considered classics to this day. modern literature and served as the basis for a number of films and plays.
Truman Streckfus Persons, better known as Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons or Truman Capote, 09/30/1924 - 08/25/1984) - American writer, screenwriter, playwright and actor; author of a number of short stories, novellas, plays and documentaries, which are considered classics of world literature to this day. Among other things, he is the author of the novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's" ("Breakfast at Tiffany's") and the "non-fictional" crime novel "In Cold Blood" ("In Cold Blood"). Over 20 films and television projects have been made based on the work of Capote.
Truman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana (New Orleans, Louisiana), in the family of 17-year-old Lily Mae Faulk (Lillie Mae Faulk) and her husband, traveling salesman Arhulus Persons (Archulus Persons). The boy's parents divorced when he was only 4; Truman himself was sent to Monroeville, Alabama (Monroeville, Alabama), where he lived for some time under the supervision of his mother's relatives. Here, Capote became friends with Harper Lee (Harper Lee) - in the future famous writer and author of "To Kill a Mockingbird". There were rumors that the image of Dill (Dill) Li copied just from Capote.
A single child, Capote early - even before school - learned to read and write. Already at the age of 5, the boy was dragging around with a dictionary and a notebook; at the age of 11 he began to write his first works of art. Truman even won The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1936.
In 1933, the boy moved to New York to live with his mother and her second husband, Joseph Capote. The stepfather not only adopted the boy as a stepson, but also changed his name to Truman Garcia Capote. Some time later, however, Joseph was convicted of embezzlement; along with him, the source of income also left the family - and the boy and his mother had to leave the comfort of Park Avenue.
Between 1943 and 1946, Capote wrote mostly short stories; they were published both in special literary editions and in journals aimed at a relatively general public. Some of Capote's works even brought him prizes, albeit not very large ones. In the 40s, Capote wrote a story about a summer romance between a socialite and a parking attendant; Truman himself later claimed that he destroyed the manuscript of the story, but 20 years after his death, the text suddenly surfaced - as it turned out, the tenant of the apartment in which Capote lived took the manuscript out of the trash. The posthumous story was published in 2006.
The success of Capote's short story "Miriam" attracted the attention of a major publisher, Bennett Cerf; some time later, Truman received a contract from Random House to write the story. With a $1,500 advance, Capote returned to Monroeville, where he began work on Other Voices, Other Rooms. The story was published in 1948; Capote himself called it "a poetic explosion into strongly repressed emotions." To some extent, the work was autobiographical in nature.
Capote's book was received very warmly - it hit the New York Times bestseller rating, where it lasted for 9 whole weeks; V total over 26,000 copies have been sold. Much of the book was promoted by a photograph taken by Harold Halma in 1947; it showed Capote glaring furiously at the photographer. This photograph was very, very well known in its time; some of Truman's face on it amused, while others, on the contrary, aroused open anger.
In the early 1950s, Capote set to work on screenplays and plays; during this time he reworked several of his old works for the stage and the movie screen. In addition, Truman managed to visit the Soviet Union; a series of articles he wrote for the "New Yorker" later formed the basis of his first non-fiction book, "The Muses are heard" ("The Muses Are Heard").
The story "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was published in 1958; three additional, smaller works were added to it in one edition. The book was to the taste of both the public and critics; main character became one of the most famous literary heroes new time.
Truman Capote's second legendary masterpiece, In Cold Blood, was released in 1966. It is believed that the author was inspired by a short article published on November 16, 1959 in The New York Times when writing it; this article described the mysterious murder of the Clutter family in countryside Kansas. The story so impressed Capote that he - along with Harper Lee - went to inspect the crime scene. Over the following years, Capote collected information about what had happened; Interestingly, he did not write down the testimonies of witnesses, relying solely on his own memory and making notes only after the end of the next conversation. The published novel became a real bestseller on a national scale - and, alas, the last story written by Capote. The novel was positioned as a documentary, although for many this documentary quality seemed very, very doubtful; however, even as piece of art, the novel was of clear value.
In the future, Capote continued to write little by little for magazines and attract the attention of the general public with all sorts of high-profile performances. Later, he settled in Palm Springs and began to lead a frankly meaningless lifestyle - among other things, drinking heavily. Several times he managed to visit rehabilitation clinics, but all attempts to take up the mind consistently ended in new breakdowns. Capote had his driver's license revoked for speeding; after this episode and after a seizure with hallucinations that occurred in 1980, Truman became a real recluse. A medical examination showed that Capote's brain had been significantly reduced in size; in rare periods of enlightenment, however, Truman insisted on his adequacy - and even tried to promote his "almost finished" novel "Answered Prayers" ("Answered Prayers").
Truman Capote died on August 25, 1984; The cause of the writer's death was liver cancer, complicated by constant drug use.
"I drink because that's the only way I can bear my alcoholism."
The prominent American novelist Truman Capote (1924-1984) had plenty of reasons to drink. Firstly, he was born into a family of alcoholics: a neurotic woman who washed down her amorous troubles with bourbon and seized them with tranquilizers, and a heavy drinking traveling salesman who quickly left the family. Secondly, he was gay, and according to one of the modern versions - a transgender creature, a woman in the ugly body of a short man with a bulldog head. Thirdly, Capote was a socialite: his life was spent in endless pretentious receptions and bohemian parties. And finally: Truman was heavily dependent not only on harmful substances, he got the most important buzz from strong emotional shocks - he was friends with sentenced killers, rushed into the maelstrom of romantic adventures, sat down on endless diets.
The author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Ordinary Murder" struggled with depression all his life, from which, in addition to whiskey, he was treated with all permitted and prohibited medications, as well as travel and grandiose parties. These parties (especially the legendary Black and White Ball of 1966, at which all social and political elite USA) were widely covered in the press, for many, Capote-freak completely overshadowed Capote-writer. With the burden of fame, Capote also had an ambivalent relationship. Writer John Nowell once enviously remarked: "In America, there are only two writers who are recognized on the street - Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote." By the end of his life, Capote had turned from a living classic into a national laughing stock: he was drunk, he was gibberish on daytime talk shows for housewives, he did not get out of the “drying out” clinics and wrote almost nothing. And it was Capote's drunkenness that caused early death one of America's literary titans of the 20th century.
Genius against drinking
drinking companions
Marilyn Monroe Movie star Capote was associated with a love of booze and pills. It was Monroe that Truman saw in leading role in the film adaptation of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (the role went to Audrey Hepburn). On the cover of his latest book, Truman is shown dancing with Marilyn. Harper Lee With the author of the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" Truman was friends since childhood: their families lived in the neighborhood. Truman introduced Harper in Other Voices under the name Idabel, and he himself became the prototype for Harris in To Kill a Mockingbird. Andy Warhol The young artist fell in love with Capote from a photograph and harassed him with calls asking for a meeting. In the 70s, Warhol became Capote's only friend - he ordered texts for his Interview magazine and gave him drinks at the Studio 54 club.Real name:
Truman S. Persons (Truman Streckfus Persons)
Born in New Orleans and lived there until the age of eighteen. At the age of four, before entering school, Truman learned to read. By the age of eight he began to write stories, and by the age of eleven he claims he was writing six to nine hours a day. Critics even believe that this is true, because at the age of ten he won a prestigious award for a short story.
In 1933 he moved with his mother and stepfather to New York. studying in high school, Capote wrote for the school newspaper and for the literary magazine. At the age of seventeen, he dropped out of college, citing the fact that they did not teach him anything, but only take away the time that he could spend writing. Capote begins working for The New Yorker, where he learns the ins and outs of the publishing world.
Truman Capote began his literary career Miriam, published in Mademoiselle in 1945. And in 1948 he received the O. Henry Award for the story "Close the last door." He soon published his first book, Other Voices, Other Rooms. The book becomes a bestseller, and Truman's career skyrocketed. Unlike previous documentary works, the novel showed the author's penchant for fantasy and the grotesque. In 1949, his collection "The Tree of Night and Other Stories" was published, and in 1951 - the story "Voices of Grass", which was also a success. In 1956, the book "Muses are heard" was published - a story about a trip to the USSR by a Negro group with the performance of Porgy and Bess.
One of Capote's most popular works is Breakfast at Tiffany's, a book that, in addition to the title novel, includes three short stories. But anyway most famous he brings the book "Cold-blooded murder." In 1959, after reading an article about the murder of a family in Kansas, Capote suggested to New Yorker editor William Sean that he publish a series of articles about the murderers. And then he spent six years compiling material for his flagship bestseller, the documentary history of outlaws Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, as he watched his characters approach death.
After the criminals were executed, Capote complained to Harper Lee that there was nothing he could do for these people. "Maybe," Harper replied, "but you really didn't want to do anything." But the novel "In Cold Blood" brought the writer about four million dollars (seventy thousand of which Truman spent on a tombstone for his heroes). Capote has become a living classic.
He wanted more: to be the main secular character of his time, to enter the history of a glamorous life. Socialite he became even before he became a great writer. He talked with artists and writers, fell in love with men, made friends with women, eavesdropped, skillfully used gossip. Everyone who knew him said that Capote had a gift for making friends from the first meeting, at first sight. And he enjoyed this gift. Truman achieved his goal: his name flashes literally in all collections of fashion history. How he dressed himself, no one cared. But he surrounded himself with such a retinue that it was possible to study fashion trends even before they became fashionable. He was considered a homosexual, the more scandalous was this retinue, which included the most famous socialites those years - their names constantly flashed in the gossip columns, their husbands were rich and famous, and they enthusiastically bore the title of Truman Capote's "swans". They say that Capote himself called these ladies “swans”. He probably meant Andersen's fairy tale " ugly duck”: the duckling, of course, was himself, a little man with a childish face, exactly 160 cm tall, extremely insecure, mortally thirsty for fame. Others believe that Truman chose all these beauties - Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Lee Radziwill, CZ Guest and other less intimate friends - based solely on the length of their necks.
Social entertainment and the stress of working on "In Cold Blood" undermined his health. From attractive man he turned into a decrepit old man. He drank. Even if there was no reason, he always found it. If someone took away the bottle from him, he became furious. Valium became his constant "companion". Although he continued to release new literary works, they no longer brought special, truly exciting success. It seemed that Capote had reached "the handle." In one of the morning TV shows, he threatened suicide. He was still well-informed, his phone overheated from endless conversations, not a single significant scandal escaped him close attention. But, nevertheless, Capote understood that he had written himself. The new literary work "The Dogs Bark", published in 1973, did not bring success.
His last work conceived on a large scale. "Answered Prayers" - this is how Truman called his amorous novel about Hollywood idols. However, it remained unfinished. But Capote published in Esquire magazine the work "La Cote Basque" (that was the name of the most famous New York restaurant for high society) - an excerpt from his unfinished novel, where he gave out all the secrets of his socialite girlfriends and exposed them to some obscene dolls. “All literature is gossip,” he said. After the publication, Capote received a complete resignation from all his friends. He betrayed them for the sake of his main girlfriend - glory. But he also lost her.
Some considered Capote a little crazy, others were delighted with his work ... Nevertheless, being outstanding personality, he left a significant mark in the literature of America.
Summer Cruise is the debut novel written by twenty-year-old Capote when he first came from New Orleans to New York, and was considered lost for sixty years. The manuscript of the novel "surfaced" at the Sotheby's auction in 2004. Summer Cruise was first published in 2005.
IN early period creativity, which took place more or less in line with the "southern Gothic", Truman Capote showed, perhaps not too obvious, but a noticeable interest in science fiction, periodically using fantastic and mystical elements in his works. In genre databases and reference and critical sources, the author is usually taken into account with the short novel “Other Voices, Other Rooms” (for surrealistic-Gothic moments, in particular, the key elements of the Gothic tradition highlighted by the famous critic Harold Bloom - ghosts, folklore legends and tales, dreams and obsessions ); as well as with his first collection "The Tree of the Night", most of the stories of which have fantastic stories or gravitate toward the dark, macabre imagery traditional in supernatural literature. Some of the stories in this collection were subsequently included in fantastic or mystical anthologies. For example, the story "Bad Doom" was reprinted in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1962) and the anthology Cracked Looking Glass: Stories of Other Realities (1971). The story "Miriam", as a classic of ghost stories, has repeatedly appeared in various anthologies, incl. edited by William Tenn, Peter Straub, Stephen Jones. The story "Close the Last Door" was published in the anthologies "The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural" by B. Malzberg and "Great Tales of Horror and the Supernatural" by B. Pronzini, M. Greenberg, B. Malzberg.
Also, Russian translations of the stories "Evil Rock" and "Bottle of Silver" were published in the anthology "Guests of the Land of Fantasy".
Bio note:
Truman Garcia Capote (name at birth - Truman Strekfus Persons) - American novelist, theater and film playwright, actor; many of his stories, novels, plays and non-fiction are recognized literary classics- was born September 30, 1924 in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) in the family of 17-year-old Lilly May Faulk and traveling salesman Arculus Persons.
His parents divorced when he was four and sent him to Monroeville, Alabama, where he lived with his mother's relatives until the age of five. He especially remembered Nenny Rumble Faulk, a distant relative of his mother, whom he called "Sook" (Sook). “Her face is almost like that of Lincoln, as if carved from the rock and acquired its shade from the sun and wind” - this is how Capote describes her in A Christmas of Memory ( 1956 ). In Monroeville, he lived next door to Harper Lee, who is rumored to have endowed the character Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird with Capote traits.
A lonely child, Capote taught himself to read and write before entering school. At the age of five, he was often seen with a dictionary and a notebook in his hands, and at 11 he already tried to write his first story. At the time, he had the nickname "Bulldog".
On Saturdays he traveled from Monroeville to nearby Mobile, a city on the Gulf of Mexico, and one day he sent his story "Old Mrs Busybody" to a children's literary competition hosted by the local newspaper, the Mobile Press Register. Capote's literary debut was awarded with the wording: "For the high literary level" (The Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards) in 1936.
In 1933 he moves to New York with his mother and her Cuban-born second husband, Joseph Capote, a textile broker, who adopts him under the name Truman Garcia Capote. Soon the stepfather was accused of embezzlement, the family's income fell, and they were forced to leave the apartment on Park Avenue.
In 1935 He goes to New York's St. Trinity and then military academy Saint Joseph. In 1939 the Capote family moves to Greenwich, Connecticut, where Truman attends junior high school and writes in school newspaper and the literary magazine The Green Witch. When they get back to New York in 1942, he enters the Franklin School, from which he graduates in 1943. In the future, Capote did not receive any more formal education.
Studying at school in 1943 year Capote takes a job as a copyist in the art department of The New Yorker. He worked there for two years and quit, angering Robert Frost.
Neighborhood Monroeville and his best friend Harper Lee became the inspiration for Idabel, the heroine of Capote's novel Other Voices, Other Rooms. He once confirmed this: “Mr. and Mrs. Li, her mother and father, lived nearby. She was mine best friend. Have you read her book To Kill a Mockingbird? I am a character in this book, which takes place in the same small Alabama town where we lived. Her father was a lawyer, she and I went to watch trials all our childhood. We went to the courts instead of going to the movies.” After Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and Capote published In Cold Blood in 1966, relations between them became gradually cooler.
In 1943-1946 years, Capote writes a number of works - “Miriam”, “My side in business”, “Close the last door” (O. Henry Prize in 1948 ). His stories have been published in both literary quarterlies and popular magazines - Atlantic Mansley, Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Magazine, Mademoiselle, The New Yorker, Prairie Schooner and Story. In June 1945"Miriam" was published in Mademoiselle magazine and nominated for the "Best First Story" award. in 1946. Capote was admitted to Yaddo, an artists' and writers' colony in Saratoga Springs, New York. Later, he facilitated the entry of Patricia Highsmith, in the writers' colony she wrote the novel Strangers on a Train.
Random House, which published the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms, decided on the wave of success to release the collection Night Tree and Other Stories. in 1949. In addition to "Miriam" it included the story "Close the last door", first published in the "Atlantic Mansley" in August 1947.
One of Capote's most popular works is Breakfast at Tiffany's, a book that, in addition to the title novel, includes three short stories. However, he is best known for his book In Cold Blood. In 1959 After reading an article about the murder of a family in Kansas, Capote suggested that New Yorker editor William Sean publish a series of articles about the killers. And then he spent six years compiling material for his flagship bestseller, the documentary history of outlaws Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, as he watched his characters approach death.
The novel "In Cold Blood" brought the writer about four million dollars (seventy thousand of which Truman spent on a tombstone for his heroes).
Capote has become a living classic. But he wanted more: to be the main secular character of his time, to enter the history of a glamorous life. He became a secular lion even before literary recognition. Truman talked to famous artists and writers, fell in love with men, made friends with women, eavesdropped, skillfully used gossip. Everyone who knew him said that Capote had a gift for making friends from the first meeting, at first sight. And he enjoyed this gift.
Truman achieved his goal: his name flashed literally in all collections of fashion history. How he dressed himself, no one cared. But he surrounded himself with such a retinue that it was possible to study fashion trends from it even before they became fashionable.
Social entertainment and the stress of working on "In Cold Blood" undermined his health.
Truman Capote is dead August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles for drug-induced cirrhosis of the liver.
IN 2013 14 unpublished stories written by Capote between the ages of 11 and 19 have been discovered in the archives of the New York Times. public library Swiss publisher Peter Haag. They were published in "Random House" in 2015 entitled " Early stories Truman Capote".
His works were filmed many times (more than 20 films were made based on them), and he himself often acted in films.
In 2005 Bennett Miller directed the film Capote. The film tells about the history of writing the novel "In Cold Blood". The film premiered on Truman Capote's birthday.
Artworks:
Summer Cruise (Summer Crossing, novel, 1943
, publication - 2005
)
Other voices, other rooms (Other Voices, Other Rooms, novel, 1948
)
The Tree of Night and Other Stories (A Tree of Night and Other Stories, a collection of short stories, 1949
)
Local color (Local Color, collection of essays, 1950
)
Grass Voices (The Grass Harp, novel, 1951
)
Muses are heard (The Muses Are Heard, essay, 1956
)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (A story and three stories, 1958
)
In Cold Blood (documentary novel, 1965
)
Dogs Bark (The Dogs Bark: Public People and Private Places, essay anthology, 1973
)
Music for Chameleons (Music for Chameleons, anthology, 1980
).
