Conversations With Capote
by Lawrence Grobel
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lawrence GrobelEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-08
ISBN: 0306809443
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780306809446
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Conversations With Capote
Book Review: Ouch.....
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great bed-side reader. Well, maybe not, because, once you start reading, you may not be able to put it down. Truman Capote started out as a celebrated, controversial writer, became the "enfante terrible", and spent his final years as a sad, outrageous, drug addicted talk show guest, more known for his scathing celebrity, his writing glory a thing of the past. He first achieved renown for his breakthrough novel, "Other Voices, Other Rooms", which was one of the first books to dare have a homosexual undercurrent, but is probably most well known for his classic bestseller, "In Cold Blood", about the brutal slayings of a midwest family, and, just as much about their slayers, two loser drifters whom Capote unjudgingly befriended. By the time these interviews were conducted, by "Playboy" interviewer Lawrence Grobel, Capotes literary fame had preceded him, and he had become, to many, an outrageous joke. While his public deterioration was sad and shocking...he often appeared on television or at appearances "under the influence", during his more lucid times, his observations were still unpredictably entertaining. How much actual writing he did during the last ten years or so of his life is widely speculated, his ability to do so maybe ended. But, back to this book....During these conducted interviews, Capote talks about the things he has done, and those he has known... he socialized with the most famous of his day, though how much of what he said was fact or fiction has been questioned by many. To say he is sometimes mean spirited is an understatement. If he liked you, he really liked you, but, if not, oh my....watch out. You would be verbally splayed for all to see. His comments were meant to shock, and they certainly achieved their desired effect. But they are done so brilliantly and outrageously that you can only cackle at his daring to say what no one else dared even think. He had no problem, when asked here about certain fellow writers or acquaintances by name, in describing them as "ghastly", "lousy", "talentless", "dull", etc..and his elaborations are scathingly, wittily entertaining. Ex: About Jack Kerouac. "That's not writing, that's typewriting." Jackie Susanne: "She looks like a truck driver in drag". Georgia O'Keefe: "I wouldn't pay 25 cents to spit on a Georgia O'Keefe painting!". What saves him from maybe just being viewed as a "not nice" person, are his extreme intelligence, wit, humor, and his always brutal honesty. This fascinating book is so entertaining that I am hard pressed to give just a few examples or excerpts from it. But I loved his response when Grobel poses the question to Capote, who in his lifetime had befriended (and later was publicly alienated by) many of the super wealthy, "How are the rich different? Is it just that they have more money?" Capote responded "No, no. The real difference between rich and regular people is that the rich serve such marvelous vegetables. Little fresh born things, scarcely out of the earth. Little baby corn, little baby peas, little lambs that have been RIPPED out of their mothers' wombs. That's the REAL difference!". Truman had a long, drawn out, public demise, and died what was apparently a welcome death after years of suffering. While many would have him being remembered as just a sad, malicious , social climbing, venemous celebrity, it is his record of brilliant writing and his incredible wit which will stand out. And the realization that, underneath it all, was just a sad little boy, trying to make alot of noise. Of all the books written about Capote, I have found this the most revealing and fascinating. Why read ABOUT him, when you can hear him, in all his outrageous splendor? As little Truman says, when asked to define himself: "I am a homosexual. I am a drug addict. I am a genius."
Summary of Conversations With Capote
Who but Truman Capote would dare to say that about (among many, many others) Jacqueline Onassis, Norman Mailer, Montgomery Clift, André Gide, Marilyn Monroe, Lee Radziwill, Tennessee Williams, J. D. Salinger, Gore Vidal, and Elizabeth Taylor? Equally pointed is Capote's talk about himself-his childhood and early fame, his bouts with drugs and alcohol, his homosexuality, his assessment of his talent and his work, including In Cold Blood. He has definite opinions about good writing, and he isn't shy about saying who he thinks the biggest phonies are among his fellow writers. Conversations with Capote-which Capote intended to be the definitive in-depth interview-makes both the man and his times come alive and has what the San Diego Union called the "quality that will bring readers to it again and again."
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