Truman Capote

Capote, Truman (1924-1984), American author, noted for his graceful and evocative prose style. In 1966 he achieved an extraordinary critical and financial success with the publication of In Cold Blood, an account of a multiple murder in Kansas.

Capote was born in New Orleans, La., on Sept. 30, 1924. Critics acclaimed his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), as one of the most exciting works of fiction to appear in postwar America. This book, a "Southern Gothic" novel set in a rundown Mississippi mansion, tells of a young boy's discovery of his homosexual identity. It was followed by A Tree of Night (1949), a collection of Gothic horror tales. Capote's second novel, The Grass Harp (1951; dramatized, 1952), turns away from the Gothic, treating its mild nonconformists with wit and sentiment. His fine short story, A Christmas Memory (1965; dramatized for television, 1966), is about an eccentric, lovable lady. In 1958, Capote created the sophisticated waif Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, a novel that was filmed in 1961.

Capote accompanied the all-black cast of Porgy and Bess on their tour of the Soviet Union and published a documentary account of their trip, The Muses are Heard, in 1956. His "nonfiction novel"In Cold Blood (1965) was written after six years of research. Later works include House of Flowers (1968), The Dogs Bark (1973), Then It All Came Down (1976), and Music for Chameleons (1980). Capote died in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 25, 1984.

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Anthony Channell Hilfer University of Texas MyWikiBiz