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CAPOTE. A Biography.
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1999
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February 7, 2024
This is my second reading of Gerald Clarke's excellent biography of Truman Capote.
Clarke begins with the meeting of Capote's parents, Lillie Mae Faulk and Arch Persons. Each is a grifter. Lille Mae is looking for a rich man to support in the lifestyle to which she wants to become accustomed, and Arch is looking for a get-rich quick scheme. Neither attains what is so desired. Instead, they have Truman, an odd-duck of a child that they claim to love but pay little attention to. Truman is sent to live with relatives. Occasionally Lillie Mae comes to town and spoils him for a few days, but then she's off on her quest to find a rich husband. Arch's appearances in Truman's life are even more erratic.
Truman is an effeminate child, but two things keep him from being beaten to a pulp to Monroeville, Alabama. One is his next door neighbor, Harper Lee, and the other is his ability to tell wonderful stories. Even from the time he was a child, Truman was able to weave tales that captivated young and old alike.
Lillie Mae finally arrives to take Truman with her--his lifetime dream. She has remarried and now calls herself Nina Capote, and she lives in Connecticut with her new husband Joe Capote, who adopts Truman. But the trio does not live happily ever after. Nina begins drinking heavily. Arch is, as always, MIA. Joe is a better parent than either Nina or Arch. Truman understandably feels abandoned by his mother and father, a feeling he's had since he was a small child.
As a teenager, Truman begins entrancing the local beauties and taking the train into New York City for all kinds of shenanigans. He can talk his way into and out of any situation. One of his high school English teachers recognizes his narrative gifts and encourages him to become a writer. Truman has already entertained this dream. He plans on becoming a great novelist--but more than just a novelist, a master of style.
This Truman does, and he's just 22 when he becomes a literary sensation with the publication of Other Voices, Other Rooms. He's already finagled his way into the lives of the rich and famous. He's especially fond of women, and they are especially fond of him. Soon he has a coterie he dubs The Swans. This group includes Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, Kay Graham, and Marella Angelli among them. Part of the reason Capote becomes so notorious is because of his association with these very rich people. It's stylish in the jet set to have Truman to dinner or to take him on a vacation on their yachts.
Capote was a homosexual, and, for the time in which he lived, he was very open about it. His life-long companion was Jack Dunphy, although this was a quite rocky relationship. Truman certainly had no qualms about having other lovers, but he always came back to Jack.
In 1960, Capote and Harper Lee traveled to Holcomb, Kansas, to follow the story of the Clutter murders. The two did extensive research and interviewed dozens of people, including the murderers. Capote became a kind of weird friend to the killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. He followed their story up to and including their executions. In Cold Blood was completed and published after Hickock and Smith were dead, and it was a literary sensation. Capote claimed to have invented a new genre, the non-fiction novel. But the work and the stress of being friends with two needy death row inmates were too much for Capote. He never snapped back, and like his mother, he began drinking heavily.
Though he often was unable to write, Capote did manage to publish a piece from his promised masterpiece, Answered Prayers. "La Cote Basque 1965" thinly veiled his Swans, and Capote spilled all their secrets. When he was asked by a friend if maybe he shouldn't publish the piece, Capote said the women were too stupid to recognize themselves. He was wrong, and he was banished from their company.
The rest of Capote's life was lived in a haze of alcohol and drugs. He had two arrests for drunk driving. He checked himself into numerous hospitals and clinics in an attempt to dry out. In one instance, his recovery lasted mere hours.
Capote had three disastrous affairs in his later years. Each one left him drained of life and the desire of live. His friends and doctors urged him once again to go into rehab. Instead, he headed to Joanne Carson's home, where he died one morning, probably from a drug overdose. Whether it was intentional or not, no one knows.
Clarke's biography is packed with information about Capote and his friends and lovers. Clarke, like Capote, interviewed dozens of people for the book. The biography is very readable, one might say in the style of In Cold Blood, a non-fiction novel.
Clarke begins with the meeting of Capote's parents, Lillie Mae Faulk and Arch Persons. Each is a grifter. Lille Mae is looking for a rich man to support in the lifestyle to which she wants to become accustomed, and Arch is looking for a get-rich quick scheme. Neither attains what is so desired. Instead, they have Truman, an odd-duck of a child that they claim to love but pay little attention to. Truman is sent to live with relatives. Occasionally Lillie Mae comes to town and spoils him for a few days, but then she's off on her quest to find a rich husband. Arch's appearances in Truman's life are even more erratic.
Truman is an effeminate child, but two things keep him from being beaten to a pulp to Monroeville, Alabama. One is his next door neighbor, Harper Lee, and the other is his ability to tell wonderful stories. Even from the time he was a child, Truman was able to weave tales that captivated young and old alike.
Lillie Mae finally arrives to take Truman with her--his lifetime dream. She has remarried and now calls herself Nina Capote, and she lives in Connecticut with her new husband Joe Capote, who adopts Truman. But the trio does not live happily ever after. Nina begins drinking heavily. Arch is, as always, MIA. Joe is a better parent than either Nina or Arch. Truman understandably feels abandoned by his mother and father, a feeling he's had since he was a small child.
As a teenager, Truman begins entrancing the local beauties and taking the train into New York City for all kinds of shenanigans. He can talk his way into and out of any situation. One of his high school English teachers recognizes his narrative gifts and encourages him to become a writer. Truman has already entertained this dream. He plans on becoming a great novelist--but more than just a novelist, a master of style.
This Truman does, and he's just 22 when he becomes a literary sensation with the publication of Other Voices, Other Rooms. He's already finagled his way into the lives of the rich and famous. He's especially fond of women, and they are especially fond of him. Soon he has a coterie he dubs The Swans. This group includes Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, Kay Graham, and Marella Angelli among them. Part of the reason Capote becomes so notorious is because of his association with these very rich people. It's stylish in the jet set to have Truman to dinner or to take him on a vacation on their yachts.
Capote was a homosexual, and, for the time in which he lived, he was very open about it. His life-long companion was Jack Dunphy, although this was a quite rocky relationship. Truman certainly had no qualms about having other lovers, but he always came back to Jack.
In 1960, Capote and Harper Lee traveled to Holcomb, Kansas, to follow the story of the Clutter murders. The two did extensive research and interviewed dozens of people, including the murderers. Capote became a kind of weird friend to the killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. He followed their story up to and including their executions. In Cold Blood was completed and published after Hickock and Smith were dead, and it was a literary sensation. Capote claimed to have invented a new genre, the non-fiction novel. But the work and the stress of being friends with two needy death row inmates were too much for Capote. He never snapped back, and like his mother, he began drinking heavily.
Though he often was unable to write, Capote did manage to publish a piece from his promised masterpiece, Answered Prayers. "La Cote Basque 1965" thinly veiled his Swans, and Capote spilled all their secrets. When he was asked by a friend if maybe he shouldn't publish the piece, Capote said the women were too stupid to recognize themselves. He was wrong, and he was banished from their company.
The rest of Capote's life was lived in a haze of alcohol and drugs. He had two arrests for drunk driving. He checked himself into numerous hospitals and clinics in an attempt to dry out. In one instance, his recovery lasted mere hours.
Capote had three disastrous affairs in his later years. Each one left him drained of life and the desire of live. His friends and doctors urged him once again to go into rehab. Instead, he headed to Joanne Carson's home, where he died one morning, probably from a drug overdose. Whether it was intentional or not, no one knows.
Clarke's biography is packed with information about Capote and his friends and lovers. Clarke, like Capote, interviewed dozens of people for the book. The biography is very readable, one might say in the style of In Cold Blood, a non-fiction novel.
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