Truman
Capote
“Miriam”
Childhood
B. 1924, New Orleans, LA
Mom = courntry girl eager to escape
Monroeville, AL (married at 16)
Dad = spendthrift, seeking easy money
Divorced 1928
Monroeville, AL
Grew up in Monroeville
Friends with Harper Lee (To
Kill a Mockingbird)
30s & 40s lived w/Sook,
distant cousin, closest thing
to family he had (@60 yrs)
Mom out and about looking
for a husband and money
(self absorbed)
New York
Mom finally marry businessman
adopted Truman, move to New York
Truman, The Man
IQ: 215
Short, 5’3”
High voice w/lisp
Openly (always) homosexual
Craved fame/society life
Truman, The Writer
1945, “Miriam”
1946, Shut a Final
Door…won O.Henry award
1948, Other Voices, Other
Rooms… controversial
1950, Asphalt Jungle, Marilyn Monroe
1951, The Grass Harp; 1996, movie
1954, Beat the Devil, Humphrey
Bogart
1958, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey
Hepborn, George Peppard
1965, In Cold Blood, true crime
Truman, Post Cold Blood
Socialite
“jet set”
New York celebrity
60s & 70s: drugs, alcohol (denied)
Friends w/Andy Warhol, partied Studio 54
80s, moved to West Coast, recluse
Died, 1984
A Tortured Artist?
What qualities about Capote’s life would
contribute to his writing dark romantic
narratives?
Who was more tortured, Poe or Capote?