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Swan Song
Over countless martini-soaked Manhattan lunches, they shared their deepest secrets and greatest fears. On exclusive yachts sailing the Mediterranean, on private jets streaming towards Jamaica, on Yucatán beaches in secluded bays, they gossiped about sex, power, money, love and fame. They never imagined he would betray them so absolutely.
Based on ten years of research comes a dazzling literary debut about the rise and self-destructive fall of Truman Capote and the beautiful, wealthy, vulnerable women he called his swans.
‘Writers write. And one can’t be surprised if they write what they know.’
Based on ten years of research comes a dazzling literary debut about the rise and self-destructive fall of Truman Capote and the beautiful, wealthy, vulnerable women he called his swans.
‘Writers write. And one can’t be surprised if they write what they know.’
480 pages, Hardcover
First published June 14, 2018
437 people are currently reading
6879 people want to read
About the author
Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
1 book59 followersKelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott was born and raised in Houston, Texas, before coming to call Los Angeles and London her adopted homes. She is a graduate of UEA’s Creative Writing MA course and was the winner of the Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award. Swan Song is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 392 reviews
June 9, 2018
The author writes a historical piece of fiction based on the life of Truman Capote, writer of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood. It is a blend of fact and fiction, and echoes the style and concept of In Cold Blood. Capote had a difficult childhood that he deeply resented, only to leave it far behind as he comes to gain entry to the circles of the powerful, wealthy and famous, admitted to their close inner circles, privy to their deepest secrets. The author drops a litany of famous names and families from the era, outlining their glamorous lives in numerous global locations. Capote collected a bevy of privileged women who adore him, indulging in the latest gossip, whilst deploying a cutting wit. They are his Swans, indulged and indulgent, relationships built up over decades, sources of artistic inspiration and influence. So why would he throw it all away by betraying them in the planned Answered Prayers, a literary gossip read, covered in Esquire magazine, exposing their secrets for all to gawp over and feed on?
Greenberg-Jephcott provides us with Capote's personal history, possible motivations and insights into the Swans. The repercussions of his revelations are devastating, little effort is made to hide identities, there is rage, hurt and more deadly consequences. They cannot believe his betrayal, but a study of his character and past history suggests this is not an incident that arose out of the blue, he has form for it. Capote appears to not understand why they all fall away from him, leaving him isolated, triggering his inevitable decline until his death, shut out of the elite circles he craved so desperately. Capote is insecure, has an over-inflated sense of self and influence, and is emotionally damaged. He is not without his charm, a charismatic raconteur, a man blinded by his own fame. The Swans do not come out well, living their vacuous lives of privilege, amoral, whilst picking apart the lives of others. It is hard to feel much sympathy for these women.
This is an amusing and entertaining reconstruction of an era, and a man unable to forsee the consequences of his actions, despite being intelligent. As he steers his life into a car crash, committing professional suicide, he is never to recover his former cachet and literary talent. Nowadays, the celebrity circles are unlikely to be able to hold on to as many secrets as they could in Capote's time, he is the precursor to all the celebrity exposes of today. I found this a compelling story but I found the prose over the top flowery, trying too hard to sound literary, a hindrance to the telling of the tale. Other than that, I recommend this novel. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.
Greenberg-Jephcott provides us with Capote's personal history, possible motivations and insights into the Swans. The repercussions of his revelations are devastating, little effort is made to hide identities, there is rage, hurt and more deadly consequences. They cannot believe his betrayal, but a study of his character and past history suggests this is not an incident that arose out of the blue, he has form for it. Capote appears to not understand why they all fall away from him, leaving him isolated, triggering his inevitable decline until his death, shut out of the elite circles he craved so desperately. Capote is insecure, has an over-inflated sense of self and influence, and is emotionally damaged. He is not without his charm, a charismatic raconteur, a man blinded by his own fame. The Swans do not come out well, living their vacuous lives of privilege, amoral, whilst picking apart the lives of others. It is hard to feel much sympathy for these women.
This is an amusing and entertaining reconstruction of an era, and a man unable to forsee the consequences of his actions, despite being intelligent. As he steers his life into a car crash, committing professional suicide, he is never to recover his former cachet and literary talent. Nowadays, the celebrity circles are unlikely to be able to hold on to as many secrets as they could in Capote's time, he is the precursor to all the celebrity exposes of today. I found this a compelling story but I found the prose over the top flowery, trying too hard to sound literary, a hindrance to the telling of the tale. Other than that, I recommend this novel. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.
August 8, 2019
I am in two minds about this book: while I thought there were moments of brilliance, overall I found it indulgent, tedious, and way too long. Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcotts sets out to retell Truman Capote’s final years from the perspectives of his ‘Swans’, high society ladies he first befriended and then betrayed.
The strength of this book for me was hands-down the narrative choice to tell the story from a we-perspective, reminiscent of Greek choruses. As such she creates a cacophony of voices and competing narrative strands that I enjoyed. Listening to the audiobook worked really well for this facet of the story. I found some of these stories, especially Slim’s and Babe’s, compelling and interesting to follow – but there were some women I just could not tell apart; they blended together in a picture of overwhelming privilege. I think Greenberg-Jephcott set out to make these women sympathetic victims of Capote’s scheming – but for this to work they have to be just that: sympathetic. But it is difficult to feel for people whose whole lives seem to revolve around gossip (who wore the wrong dress to whose party on a yacht is also not particularly interesting gossip).
The book would have been altogether a lot better had it been a lot shorter; as I said, I really enjoyed the narration and for the first two hours I found the glib narrative voice charming and interesting. But once it got old, it got really old and then I had to spent hours upon hours listening to what read for vast stretches like a gossip column. Had the book been 200 pages shorter and more focused on the compelling Swans (yes, Babe and Slim but also CZ and Gloria), I could have really loved this book.
My biggest problem, however, was Capote’s characterization. Come to think about it, cutting his parts nearly completely would have made for a much more interesting reading experience. While I know next to nothing about the man and he might very well have been awful, I found the gleeful hatefulness in which he is described both uncomfortable and uninteresting. He is referred to throughout the book as “the boy”, we are constantly hit on the head about his height (or rather, lack of height) to in a way that just felt unnecessary and steeped in deeply disturbing ideas about masculinity, and calling him repeatedly “the fag” or “the kobold” or variations thereof is offensive and pointless.
You can find this review and other thoughts on books (especially the other Women's Prize longlisted books) on my blog.
The strength of this book for me was hands-down the narrative choice to tell the story from a we-perspective, reminiscent of Greek choruses. As such she creates a cacophony of voices and competing narrative strands that I enjoyed. Listening to the audiobook worked really well for this facet of the story. I found some of these stories, especially Slim’s and Babe’s, compelling and interesting to follow – but there were some women I just could not tell apart; they blended together in a picture of overwhelming privilege. I think Greenberg-Jephcott set out to make these women sympathetic victims of Capote’s scheming – but for this to work they have to be just that: sympathetic. But it is difficult to feel for people whose whole lives seem to revolve around gossip (who wore the wrong dress to whose party on a yacht is also not particularly interesting gossip).
The book would have been altogether a lot better had it been a lot shorter; as I said, I really enjoyed the narration and for the first two hours I found the glib narrative voice charming and interesting. But once it got old, it got really old and then I had to spent hours upon hours listening to what read for vast stretches like a gossip column. Had the book been 200 pages shorter and more focused on the compelling Swans (yes, Babe and Slim but also CZ and Gloria), I could have really loved this book.
My biggest problem, however, was Capote’s characterization. Come to think about it, cutting his parts nearly completely would have made for a much more interesting reading experience. While I know next to nothing about the man and he might very well have been awful, I found the gleeful hatefulness in which he is described both uncomfortable and uninteresting. He is referred to throughout the book as “the boy”, we are constantly hit on the head about his height (or rather, lack of height) to in a way that just felt unnecessary and steeped in deeply disturbing ideas about masculinity, and calling him repeatedly “the fag” or “the kobold” or variations thereof is offensive and pointless.
You can find this review and other thoughts on books (especially the other Women's Prize longlisted books) on my blog.
October 10, 2018
Exposé
Truman Capote after 20 years of infusing himself into the fabric of the rich, powerful and famous families, exposes their devastating inner secrets. In 2 issues of Esquire magazine's serialisation of his new book ‘Answered Prayers’, he drops the biggest social bomb on his and their lives. As the author of classics such as ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘In Cold Blood’ he was a literary genius, eccentric, yet fashionably popular during the 1960s. Even though his literary career was fading he still managed a lifestyle that his childhood could never have imagined.
Truman considered himself to have had an unloved and harsh childhood which he used as a trade to entice others into revealing their hidden secrets. Mixed with his engaging and alluring language he bewitched many people, particularly the wives, whom he called his Swans, into believing he was their confidante. With wine and words, he seduced them into divulging all.
While the subject matter of Swan Song is very intriguing and captivating, Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott delivers a tremendous story depicting the background of a literary icon and an account of his thinking around the sensation that was to cost him so much. Having watched a few post-event chatshow videos of Truman, he does seem quite disturbed and irrational, and claims they were always aware of the potential to appear in his books. While fictitious names are used in Capote’s book, the readers were left in no doubt who the real characters were. For some, it resulted in suicide, for which he would never be forgiven.
I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, but the fact that it is based on real events made it all the more fascinating. I was entertained the whole way through and mesmerised by the lifestyle, the secrets and gobsmacked by the professional and social suicide committed by Truman Capote. What really drove him to do it?
Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.
"Oh Truheart. You little motherfucker. What have you done?! That’s before she reads the worst of it … When she gets to the bloodstained sheets, she fumbles for the phone. Babe answers on the first ring. ‘Well?’ ‘I feel like I just got punched in the gut.’ ‘Yes, but what did you think …?’ ‘Pure garbage. Bitchy, catty trash,’ Slim says unequivocally. She tries to sound dismissive, but they know that it is bigger than that. It’s a declaration of war.”
Truman Capote after 20 years of infusing himself into the fabric of the rich, powerful and famous families, exposes their devastating inner secrets. In 2 issues of Esquire magazine's serialisation of his new book ‘Answered Prayers’, he drops the biggest social bomb on his and their lives. As the author of classics such as ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘In Cold Blood’ he was a literary genius, eccentric, yet fashionably popular during the 1960s. Even though his literary career was fading he still managed a lifestyle that his childhood could never have imagined.
Truman considered himself to have had an unloved and harsh childhood which he used as a trade to entice others into revealing their hidden secrets. Mixed with his engaging and alluring language he bewitched many people, particularly the wives, whom he called his Swans, into believing he was their confidante. With wine and words, he seduced them into divulging all.
While the subject matter of Swan Song is very intriguing and captivating, Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott delivers a tremendous story depicting the background of a literary icon and an account of his thinking around the sensation that was to cost him so much. Having watched a few post-event chatshow videos of Truman, he does seem quite disturbed and irrational, and claims they were always aware of the potential to appear in his books. While fictitious names are used in Capote’s book, the readers were left in no doubt who the real characters were. For some, it resulted in suicide, for which he would never be forgiven.
I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, but the fact that it is based on real events made it all the more fascinating. I was entertained the whole way through and mesmerised by the lifestyle, the secrets and gobsmacked by the professional and social suicide committed by Truman Capote. What really drove him to do it?
"He seduced us [them] all with his words – and Truman knows full well the power of words. They’re both armour and weapon, the one thing he’s sure of. They alone have never failed him, their lyricism hinting at the beauty trapped within his stunted body, not to mention his conflicted soul.”
Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.
March 15, 2019
Nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019
This novel is based on a fascinating real-life story, but I was bored out of my mind reading it: After spending years with the rich and the famous, writer Truman Capote published a text called "La Côte Basque 1965" in an issue of Esquire magazine in 1975, which was intended to be part of his new novel "Answered Prayers" (the unfinished book was then published posthumously in 1986). In it, Capote spills the secrets of some of his high society friends, their thinly veiled identities easy to decipher for contemporary readers. As a consequence, Capote lost many of his closest female friends, socialites who felt like he sold them out for personal gain, while he argued that, well, he's a writer, so he writes.
This could make for a drama of epic proportions, and Greenberg-Jephcott does a decent job trying to demonstrate how a neglected boy from Alabama grows up to become a famous writer who seeks validation in the highest circles, and then goes too far by exposing women who are themselves caught in a web of strict societal norms. But just like the lifestyle shown in the book, everything is over-the-top and completely empty at the same time: The book is too chatty and too long, while there is also not enough content (insert torturous vignettes about so-and-so who wore the wrong clothes on so-and-so's yacht, and people drinking cocktails while talking about nothing *yawn*), the language is too manufactured, but does not convey much, and the people are often simply caricatures.
The narrative idea was apparently to write a revenge tale, where the socialites (the "swans") tell their side of the story, and the author introduces a "we"-narration with shifting points of view, which doesn't always work, but is quite interesting. But make no mistake, this is not about empowerment or feminism: The swans sound like absolutely terrible, shallow people who used to hang out with Capote because he was kind of exotic and amusing. They are not glamorous, they are completely void. Capote is turned into a caricature, regularly referred to as "the boy" when he is already a grown-up man (you could argue it's to maintain some connection to the narrative thread about his childhood, but it's derogatory), he is the "elfin" with the "girlish voice", he is a "twisted little cherub", he says sentences like "Weeeelllll, you seeeeeee, Gore was drunk as a skunk, quelle surprise" - I'm sorry, but women who talk about a homosexual man like that are not "beautiful, wealthy, vulnerable women" (the blurb), they are mainly idiots. Granted, Capote himself was known for his vicious comments and he betrayed their trust, but the whole set-up of the story suffers from the fact that everyone is just terrible, and I don't feel like this was an intentional narrative decision.
I can't generally judge how well-researched the book is (and maybe all of those interconnected stories about all the socialites Capote disappointed and their pretty uninteresting trials and tribulations are true) but there is one lengthy part that talks about the five stages of grief as described by Swiss-born psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and it's easy to find the correct German terminology via Google, Wikipedia, you name it. If an author decides to insert the German terms of a scientific model (and the Kübler-Ross-model was developed in the US and in English, so the German version serves no purpose whatsoever in the context of this book), it's embarassing if some of the terms she employs are not only wrong, but completely absurd: No, the German word for "depression" is certainly not "Gedrückt". *sigh* I think I'm getting eine "Depression" (!!!).
So all in all, I was promised the glamour and the excitement of the haute volée, but instead, it was ennui and tristesse royale. I think the author had some interesting ideas to heighten the complexity of this tale, but unfortunately, the book fails to deliver: This is chick lit - and I believe that it is much more amusing for people who are interested in the escapdes of the haute volée than it was for me.
This novel is based on a fascinating real-life story, but I was bored out of my mind reading it: After spending years with the rich and the famous, writer Truman Capote published a text called "La Côte Basque 1965" in an issue of Esquire magazine in 1975, which was intended to be part of his new novel "Answered Prayers" (the unfinished book was then published posthumously in 1986). In it, Capote spills the secrets of some of his high society friends, their thinly veiled identities easy to decipher for contemporary readers. As a consequence, Capote lost many of his closest female friends, socialites who felt like he sold them out for personal gain, while he argued that, well, he's a writer, so he writes.
This could make for a drama of epic proportions, and Greenberg-Jephcott does a decent job trying to demonstrate how a neglected boy from Alabama grows up to become a famous writer who seeks validation in the highest circles, and then goes too far by exposing women who are themselves caught in a web of strict societal norms. But just like the lifestyle shown in the book, everything is over-the-top and completely empty at the same time: The book is too chatty and too long, while there is also not enough content (insert torturous vignettes about so-and-so who wore the wrong clothes on so-and-so's yacht, and people drinking cocktails while talking about nothing *yawn*), the language is too manufactured, but does not convey much, and the people are often simply caricatures.
The narrative idea was apparently to write a revenge tale, where the socialites (the "swans") tell their side of the story, and the author introduces a "we"-narration with shifting points of view, which doesn't always work, but is quite interesting. But make no mistake, this is not about empowerment or feminism: The swans sound like absolutely terrible, shallow people who used to hang out with Capote because he was kind of exotic and amusing. They are not glamorous, they are completely void. Capote is turned into a caricature, regularly referred to as "the boy" when he is already a grown-up man (you could argue it's to maintain some connection to the narrative thread about his childhood, but it's derogatory), he is the "elfin" with the "girlish voice", he is a "twisted little cherub", he says sentences like "Weeeelllll, you seeeeeee, Gore was drunk as a skunk, quelle surprise" - I'm sorry, but women who talk about a homosexual man like that are not "beautiful, wealthy, vulnerable women" (the blurb), they are mainly idiots. Granted, Capote himself was known for his vicious comments and he betrayed their trust, but the whole set-up of the story suffers from the fact that everyone is just terrible, and I don't feel like this was an intentional narrative decision.
I can't generally judge how well-researched the book is (and maybe all of those interconnected stories about all the socialites Capote disappointed and their pretty uninteresting trials and tribulations are true) but there is one lengthy part that talks about the five stages of grief as described by Swiss-born psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and it's easy to find the correct German terminology via Google, Wikipedia, you name it. If an author decides to insert the German terms of a scientific model (and the Kübler-Ross-model was developed in the US and in English, so the German version serves no purpose whatsoever in the context of this book), it's embarassing if some of the terms she employs are not only wrong, but completely absurd: No, the German word for "depression" is certainly not "Gedrückt". *sigh* I think I'm getting eine "Depression" (!!!).
So all in all, I was promised the glamour and the excitement of the haute volée, but instead, it was ennui and tristesse royale. I think the author had some interesting ideas to heighten the complexity of this tale, but unfortunately, the book fails to deliver: This is chick lit - and I believe that it is much more amusing for people who are interested in the escapdes of the haute volée than it was for me.
December 28, 2023
I've heard so much about Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, a book about the murder of a Kansas family, but I've yet to track down a copy. It's his version of a true life event and by all accounts it's a masterpiece. Similarly, I've seen the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (who hasn't!) yet I've so far neglected to seek out a copy of Capote’s novella, on which it’s based. But when I was granted the opportunity to read this book, telling of the life of the man himself, I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about him. The book is based on known facts about the life of this rather strange but also hugely interesting man but much of the detail (conversations and some other elements) are the imaginings of the author. These may or may not reflect what actually transpired but either way it makes the account gripping, and often hilarious.
What is known about Capote is that he was born in Louisiana, in 1924, but moved to Monroeville, Alabama at age 4. His mother was desperate to lift her station in life and Truman’s experience was one of constantly being left by her. Physically he was short and possessed an unusually high pitched voice. His sexual preferences were for males of the species. He was always a story teller and won a competition with an early composition. In due course he made his way to New York and, in time, befriended a group of women who were amongst the most stylish of their age. Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (sister of Jackie Kennedy) and others seemed to attend an endless round of parties and lunches and to regularly take trips to exotic spots – often with Truman in tow. What is also known is that in 1975, Esquire magazine published a chapter of a book Truman had allegedly be writing for some considerable time. Entitled ‘La Côte Basque 1965’, the piece was effectively a character assassination of some of these friends (who are thinly disguised throughout).
The fictional element in this book fills in the gaps via a fly on the wall act on some key events in Truman’s childhood and later life. But the real fun - the meat of the thing - is the reaction we witness to the Esquire publication. Those directly impacted respond violently – one even being rumoured to have committed suicide – whilst others fear that they too will be maligned should the book ever be published in full or if further extracts are to appear. In effect, the writer was immediately ostracised from the group and found his access to New York high society permanently barred. His closest friend, Babe, never spoke to him again, it seems. We listen to conversations that take place between members of the group and eavesdrop as Truman talks to his remaining contacts. These conversations are often bitchy, and usually very funny. As an unrepentant Capote continues to stoke the fire he also desperately tries to weasel his way back into the lives of his former friends. We also witness how his life stars to spiral downwards amid his increasing dependency on drugs and booze. This ain't gonna end well!
It's a remarkable tale and told, for the most part, in a hugely entertaining way. My only reservation surrounds the fact that it does all rattle on a little too long for my personal tastes and I think the author was a somewhat over indulgent in her description of the final stage of Truman’s life. That's said, it's certainly a book that made me laugh and also had me regularly searching out more background information on the large cast of players, so it clearly did grab me.
My thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What is known about Capote is that he was born in Louisiana, in 1924, but moved to Monroeville, Alabama at age 4. His mother was desperate to lift her station in life and Truman’s experience was one of constantly being left by her. Physically he was short and possessed an unusually high pitched voice. His sexual preferences were for males of the species. He was always a story teller and won a competition with an early composition. In due course he made his way to New York and, in time, befriended a group of women who were amongst the most stylish of their age. Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (sister of Jackie Kennedy) and others seemed to attend an endless round of parties and lunches and to regularly take trips to exotic spots – often with Truman in tow. What is also known is that in 1975, Esquire magazine published a chapter of a book Truman had allegedly be writing for some considerable time. Entitled ‘La Côte Basque 1965’, the piece was effectively a character assassination of some of these friends (who are thinly disguised throughout).
The fictional element in this book fills in the gaps via a fly on the wall act on some key events in Truman’s childhood and later life. But the real fun - the meat of the thing - is the reaction we witness to the Esquire publication. Those directly impacted respond violently – one even being rumoured to have committed suicide – whilst others fear that they too will be maligned should the book ever be published in full or if further extracts are to appear. In effect, the writer was immediately ostracised from the group and found his access to New York high society permanently barred. His closest friend, Babe, never spoke to him again, it seems. We listen to conversations that take place between members of the group and eavesdrop as Truman talks to his remaining contacts. These conversations are often bitchy, and usually very funny. As an unrepentant Capote continues to stoke the fire he also desperately tries to weasel his way back into the lives of his former friends. We also witness how his life stars to spiral downwards amid his increasing dependency on drugs and booze. This ain't gonna end well!
It's a remarkable tale and told, for the most part, in a hugely entertaining way. My only reservation surrounds the fact that it does all rattle on a little too long for my personal tastes and I think the author was a somewhat over indulgent in her description of the final stage of Truman’s life. That's said, it's certainly a book that made me laugh and also had me regularly searching out more background information on the large cast of players, so it clearly did grab me.
My thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 4, 2019
The Story of Truman Capote famous for being an American writer who wrote “Breakfast At Tiffany’s and “ Cold Blood”
Truman has a difficult childhood that he manages to leave behind when he becomes famous and surrounds himself with beautiful women who he calls “ his swans” Everybody loves Truman who loves to gossip about people and is always making them laugh. They feel comfortable around him sharing their own secrets over copious amounts of alcohol.
When Truman hosts a black and white ball his inner circle worry that they will be crossed off his list and will do anything to stay in his favour “Now a man of means can no longer be bribed” Descriped as the party that no one could ever equal.
When he writes his next book “Answered Prayers” his friends can not wait to hear what it is going to be about. Truman says “ It’s called Answered Prayers and if it all goes well, it’ll answer mine”
“I’m constructing this book like a gun, there’s the trigger, the barrel and finally the bullet .And when it’s fired it’s gonna come out with a speed and power you’ve never seen - WHAM”
Imagine their horror when they realise, that although their names have been changed, this story is all about them and is revealing their deepest secrets.
I was fascinated by this book. Surely Truman should have known what would happen when he broke his friends trust writing this book. He thought he was so loved by his friends that eventually he would be forgiven, but this was the start of a slippery slope for Truman sadly drinking and taking drugs to fill the empty void that losing his friends had created.
Loved the casual celebrity name dropping. Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Lauren, and many more. I would have loved to be around in such a glamorous time.
This book had me wanting to know more about Truman and I found myself Googling him and watching interviews he did on chat shows. For me that is a sign of a good book as you got under my skin and I wanted to know more!!
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
Truman has a difficult childhood that he manages to leave behind when he becomes famous and surrounds himself with beautiful women who he calls “ his swans” Everybody loves Truman who loves to gossip about people and is always making them laugh. They feel comfortable around him sharing their own secrets over copious amounts of alcohol.
When Truman hosts a black and white ball his inner circle worry that they will be crossed off his list and will do anything to stay in his favour “Now a man of means can no longer be bribed” Descriped as the party that no one could ever equal.
When he writes his next book “Answered Prayers” his friends can not wait to hear what it is going to be about. Truman says “ It’s called Answered Prayers and if it all goes well, it’ll answer mine”
“I’m constructing this book like a gun, there’s the trigger, the barrel and finally the bullet .And when it’s fired it’s gonna come out with a speed and power you’ve never seen - WHAM”
Imagine their horror when they realise, that although their names have been changed, this story is all about them and is revealing their deepest secrets.
I was fascinated by this book. Surely Truman should have known what would happen when he broke his friends trust writing this book. He thought he was so loved by his friends that eventually he would be forgiven, but this was the start of a slippery slope for Truman sadly drinking and taking drugs to fill the empty void that losing his friends had created.
Loved the casual celebrity name dropping. Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Lauren, and many more. I would have loved to be around in such a glamorous time.
This book had me wanting to know more about Truman and I found myself Googling him and watching interviews he did on chat shows. For me that is a sign of a good book as you got under my skin and I wanted to know more!!
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
May 10, 2019
Much like Swan Song's subject, Truman Capote, Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott's novel is at times charming, at times vicious, and at times insufferable. Despite the fact that it took me over a month to get through this and I was complaining about it for a lot of that time, Swan Song actually does have a lot to recommend it. Its first person plural narration is particularly well done as Greenberg-Jephcott attempts to reclaim the voices of the women whose social lives Truman Capote effectively destroyed with the publication of his salacious story La Cote Basque 1965 (the first chapter of Answered Prayers, which was eventually published unfinished, posthumously). In stealing the real life stories of his close circle of friends for his planned novel, Capote faced extensive backlash and was unable to repair his lost friendships, which ultimately haunted him until he died. It could have been a gripping tale of betrayal and a searing commentary on the kind of symbiotic relationship with high society that both made and destroyed Capote's career, but while it had its moments, it sadly falls short.
My first issue with Swan Song is how ungodly long it is, which naturally leads to all of my other criticisms, being that this book overstays its welcome in every conceivable way. All of Greenberg-Jephcott's party tricks wear thin after not very long, the worst offense probably being Capote's characterization - he's constantly infantilized and reduced to a caricature in a way that starts to feel more spiteful than constructive after not very long. He's referred to as 'the boy' even as a grown man, his height and voice are incessantly referenced, he's described as 'elfin' or even more derogatory synonyms on just about every page, and after a while it's like... what's the point of any of this? The bottom line is established early: Truman Capote was capable of extreme kindness and extreme cruelty. This book just revels in the latter in a way that never convincingly dovetails with the voices that are purportedly being reclaimed with this retelling.
Because that's the other issue at the heart of this: I love the concept of reframing a traditionally male-dominated narrative by using women's voices - it's a concept that's carried through many of my favorite Greek mythology retellings quite soundly - but here it falls flat, because Greenberg-Jephcott never makes a convincing case for why this is a story that need reclaiming. A bunch of high society women have affairs and sail around on yachts and they're betrayed by their close friend but... so what? This books feels like an elaborate revenge fantasy that's so mired in gossip and cattiness that it loses its thematic heft.
But, like I said, it's not all bad: Greenberg-Jephcott's writing is lively and charming, the style is inventive (elements of poetry and screenwriting are incorporated), the research is admirable, and maybe it'll appeal more to a different kind of reader, but I'm afraid I just struggled to care.
My first issue with Swan Song is how ungodly long it is, which naturally leads to all of my other criticisms, being that this book overstays its welcome in every conceivable way. All of Greenberg-Jephcott's party tricks wear thin after not very long, the worst offense probably being Capote's characterization - he's constantly infantilized and reduced to a caricature in a way that starts to feel more spiteful than constructive after not very long. He's referred to as 'the boy' even as a grown man, his height and voice are incessantly referenced, he's described as 'elfin' or even more derogatory synonyms on just about every page, and after a while it's like... what's the point of any of this? The bottom line is established early: Truman Capote was capable of extreme kindness and extreme cruelty. This book just revels in the latter in a way that never convincingly dovetails with the voices that are purportedly being reclaimed with this retelling.
Because that's the other issue at the heart of this: I love the concept of reframing a traditionally male-dominated narrative by using women's voices - it's a concept that's carried through many of my favorite Greek mythology retellings quite soundly - but here it falls flat, because Greenberg-Jephcott never makes a convincing case for why this is a story that need reclaiming. A bunch of high society women have affairs and sail around on yachts and they're betrayed by their close friend but... so what? This books feels like an elaborate revenge fantasy that's so mired in gossip and cattiness that it loses its thematic heft.
But, like I said, it's not all bad: Greenberg-Jephcott's writing is lively and charming, the style is inventive (elements of poetry and screenwriting are incorporated), the research is admirable, and maybe it'll appeal more to a different kind of reader, but I'm afraid I just struggled to care.
perused
March 15, 2019Dnf @ 20%. Too coquettish for me and the writing is trying too hard. Might pick it back up if it makes the shortlist (surely hope it doesn't) but right now, just not in the mood.
Too many other good books I would rather be reading!
Too many other good books I would rather be reading!
May 26, 2018
This is part a fictional biography and part the biography of a work, in progress for over twenty years; “Answered Prayers.” Capote befriended the rich and famous and delighted in their company and their confidences. Even as a child, Capote is shown as always watching, listening and absorbing the conversations of the adults around him. His closest childhood friend, the ‘to be famous in the future,’ Nellie Harper Lee, may have been able to warn his future Swans, after Truman inserted her mother’s vicious gossip into a short story, which caused a minor, local furore, long before “Answered Prayers,” was thought of.
“Answered Prayers,” was, basically, the betrayal of the confidences that Capote gathered during his years as, ‘confessor, confidante, consigliore,’ to the socialites, society hostesses, tycoon’s wives and other wealthy women, who became known as his ‘Swans.’ When a chapter of his, long anticipated book, was published in, ”Esquire,” magazine, his beloved confidantes reacted badly to having their secrets, and barely disguised identities, available for everyone to read; resulting in Capote’s gradual decline.
I have always admired Truman Capote, since reading, “In Cold Blood,” and found this a fascinating portrait of the man, through the eyes of the many, wealthy women he surrounded himself with. Sadly, he seemed to both need their admiration and friendship and yet to totally misjudge their reaction to his forthcoming work. The novel combines his life story alongside the reaction to his betrayal of trust and is a compelling and enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
“Answered Prayers,” was, basically, the betrayal of the confidences that Capote gathered during his years as, ‘confessor, confidante, consigliore,’ to the socialites, society hostesses, tycoon’s wives and other wealthy women, who became known as his ‘Swans.’ When a chapter of his, long anticipated book, was published in, ”Esquire,” magazine, his beloved confidantes reacted badly to having their secrets, and barely disguised identities, available for everyone to read; resulting in Capote’s gradual decline.
I have always admired Truman Capote, since reading, “In Cold Blood,” and found this a fascinating portrait of the man, through the eyes of the many, wealthy women he surrounded himself with. Sadly, he seemed to both need their admiration and friendship and yet to totally misjudge their reaction to his forthcoming work. The novel combines his life story alongside the reaction to his betrayal of trust and is a compelling and enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
October 31, 2022
Biografia atipica a lui Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott despre Tiny Terror aka Truman Capote este mai mult o investigație polifonică a eșecului ca și scriitor/om/prieten după succesul imens obținut cu romanul-anchetă, 𝗖𝘂 𝘀â𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲. Orbit de succes, alcool și droguri excentricul scriitor își trădează așa zisele 𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐞 publicând în foileton capitole dintr-un viitor roman, niciodată finalizat, 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 declanșând un scandal monstru în lumea exclusivistă a New York-ului. Romanul-document al lui Greenberg-Jephcott , foarte bine documentat, este o frescă fidelă a anilor '50-'60-'70 ai secolului și mileniului trecut, din punctul de vedere al boemei și al potentaților politico-financiari ai epocii, al mass media avidă de rating,câștig și senzațional. A fost o incursiune plăcută în vremurile copilăriei când tabloidele erau închiriate de personalitățile-personaje ale romanului: Lee Radziwill, Kennedy. Agnelli , Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Johnny Carson, Gore Vidal, Gloria Guiness, Pam Churchill și toate bârfele devoalate cu sânge rece de copilul teribil care-a fost Truman Streckfus Persons Capote.
April 30, 2018
“A boy pampered and indulged well into middle age, courtesy of his unquestioned genius.”The iconic American author, Truman Capote is remembered best for penning such literary classics as Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood – the latter often held to be a watershed in popular culture. He had a flair for self publicity and, throughout the 1960s, was often photographed hobnobbing with the rich and famous in fashionable nightspots. Even as his writing career declined in the following decade, he maintained his celebrity by impishly declaring his brilliance on TV chat shows.
Nobody ever doubted Capote was a gifted and original writer, but he was many other things besides, such as a charming raconteur with a knack for befriending wealthy couples. The glamorous wives in particular, whom he liked to call his Swans, often confided in him, revealing their most intimate secrets. Less easily discernible was the other side to his nature; the bitter, insecure child from Monroeville, Alabama, who believed his mother never loved him. He concealed this skilfully behind an exuberant gush of risqué anecdotes and witty conversation, rising from errand boy at The New Yorker in 1943 to internationally acclaimed novelist, short story writer and dramatist by the late 1950s.
Truman could best be epitomized by the four Cs (those who knew him most intimately would likely add a fifth): camp, catty, course and clever. Though his cleverness notoriously deserted him when he imprudently and very publicly besmirched the reputations of those he had come to rely on so completely as sources of inspiration, influence and adoration. His greatest mistake was betraying their trust by publishing in Esquire two episodes from his uncompleted novel, Answered Prayers, in which many old friends were revealed in all their grotesque prodigality, barely disguised with fictitious names.
Swan Song is a deft, dazzling, diligently researched creation, in which the lives of various members of elite, powerful, old-moneyed families, such as the Roosevelts, Kennedys, Bouviers and Churchills, are verbally dissected over Martini-drenched lunches. Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott spent ten years researching this novel, which was named winner of the 2015 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel, in addition to being shortlisted for the 2015 Myriad Editions First Drafts Competition and the 2015/16 Historical Novel Society New Novel Award. I hope we won't have to wait so long for her next book.
Many, I am sure, will be captivated by Greenberg-Jephcott's brilliantly told story, but sadly I struggled to finish her book because I simply couldn't connect with the self-obsessed characters on any level. I found it all but impossible to summon compassion for such a malicious circle of pampered airheads, whose every preposterous, greedy whim was assuaged without scruple, however amusingly or vulnerably presented. They were the Manhattan elite, in their element muckraking over 'friend's' intimate relationships. Truman was in many ways a monster, but he was encouraged in his monstrousness by those who eventually turned on him for publicly exposing their sordid, shallow lives.
Capote died of acute liver failure following a drug overdose at the age of 59 in 1984. He was never forgiven.
“How dare the little beast.”Many thanks to Cornerstone for providing an advance review copy of this title.
April 7, 2019
”You'll say we've got nothing in common, No common ground to start from …
And I said, "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?"
She said, "I think I remember the film
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got"
With thanks to “Deep Blue Something”
I read this book (and persisted with it when I might otherwise long since have abandoned it) due to its longlisting for the 2019 Women’s Prize.
The book is a fictionalised biography of Truman Capote.
As my opening quote implies that immediately gave me no common ground to start from, until I realised I I had one thing - I knew the famous poster of a film for which it turns out Capote wrote the originating novella.
However ignorance of a book’s real life subject, when such subject is from the last Century or so, is, in the days of Google, Wikipedia and YouTube, not a barrier to literary enjoyment. My even greater ignorance of for example Pauline Boty, Tacita Dean, Lord Kitchener, Lucia Joyce and Louise Bourgeois hardly prevented my love for Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet or appreciation for this year’s Republic of Consciousness longlist.
As well as Capote the real focus of this book (and sometime first party plural narrators) are his Swans: an inner circle of six privileged, glamorous women for whom he served as: firstly one of their trophies, adding literary genius to their collections of art, jewellery and famous friends; as an empathetic and alway flattering confidant to whom they confided both their juiciest gossip and their innermost secrets.
And it is this later point that lead to the incident which is the central focus of the book a set out here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truma... ,the publication in Esquire of “La Côte Basque 1965", the beginning of the novel “Answered Prayers”, an undertaking which is seen by Capote in this novel as doing for 1960-1970s American society what Proust did for earlier 20th Century France: but by the swans as a gross betrayal: their ire perhaps being greater due to their sudden horror at their own naivety in trusting a writer who invented the genre of nonfiction novel.
There is lots to admire in this heavily researched novel.
From what I can see on You Tube it captures well The flamboyance of the celebrity attracting Capote.
It also cleverly acts on a metafictional level as a compilation of Capote’s different literary output. The narrative form matching his early short story focus and the content a mix of his novels: the early-year autobiographical aspects of “Other Voices, Other Rooms”; the socialite world of “Breakfast In Tiffany’s”; the nonfiction novel aspects of “In Cold Blood”, as well as, of course, the content and style of “Answered Prayers”.
It eschews a linear, conventional third party narrative or a single voice for a mix of free indirect third party and collective first party voices which moves back and forth in time - over Capote’s childhood, his career, his relations with the swans (who at different times take the free indirect lead, or collectively the first person narration), the events of the Esquire article and its aftermath.
And at times this leads to clever foreshadowings and juxtapositions.
We see the young Truman holding a party at school and managing, despite his relative unpopularity, to make everyone anxious for an invite - acting as a foreshadowing of the famous party-of-the-century Black and White Ball (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black...).
On another occasion we are told Babe, one of the swans, as a consummate hostess, hand selects books for each of her guests bedrooms. And this is juxtaposed with a Capote telling a story of his past (an early win In a writing competition where his story was pulled due to its indiscretions and as a result he lost his animal prize) but carefully selecting different versions tailored to appeal to each of his swans.
The collective voice of the swans also worked for me, particularly towards the book’s close as the swans pull together to exclude Capote and their voice starts to appear in his haunted sub-conscious.
But another reason for my preference for the collective voice was my inability to distinguish the swans, and my unwillingness to spend time or mental effort trying to identify and keep track of them.
And by extension I had next to no interest in following the names or researching the lives of those with which they interact - and the occasional names that I did recognise (for example Kennedy, Angelli, Sinatra etc) held no interest for me.
The lack of appeal matches how I feel about modern day celebrity gossip magazines - this heavily researched novel reads like a retrospective series of Hello issues.
And this is the fundamental issue that I had with the book - the milieu that it describes.
This is a world of celebrity, of rich and privileged people who live superficial, meaningless, empty and sad lives. And it is not a world that I enjoyed spending any time in. It also seems to describe a very old story.
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity …
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure ...
Yet when I surveyed [it] all .... everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind
Ecclesiastes KJV/NIV
July 26, 2018
I’ve always had very conflicted feelings about Truman Capote. This is the author who wrote the achingly beautiful autobiographical short story ‘A Christmas Memory’ which my cousin read to an enraptured audience every year at his annual Christmas party. And, of course, he penned the novella ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ whose whiff of glamour surrounding Holly Golightly’s tale of self-creation made the teenage me desperate to move to a city. But Capote was also the man who spat venom about countless figures I admire from my favourite author Joyce Carol Oates who he called “a joke monster who ought to be beheaded in a public auditorium” to Meryl Streep who he called “the Creep. Ooh, God, she looks like a chicken.” Many years later, Oates had the last word and proved who really succeeded and endured by tweeting on October 14th 2013: “Ironic that I am a judge for the Truman Capote award when Capote in a druggy interview said he hated me & that I should be executed. LOL.” So I’ve never made the effort to read some of Capote’s most enduring works like “In Cold Blood” and “Music for Chameleons” and certainly not his notorious unfinished novel “Answered Prayers”. But I was thrilled to better come to understand an interpretation and look at Capote’s complex, spirited and ultimately tragic life through reading Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott’s novel “Swan Song” about the high-society heroines Capote befriended and shockingly betrayed.
Read my full review of Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott on LonesomeReader
April 4, 2019
LONGLISTED FOR WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
BOOK 11 OF 16 READ FROM LONGLIST
Had to DNF after finishing about half of this book unfortunately.
Let's be clear. Truman Capote's decision to base his 1975 Esquire stories and eventual book on the confidentially told stories of his high society friends was despicable, a gross broach of friendship but also ethically wrong. To tell the story of teose violated women, a revenge fantasy of sort, seemed enticing. And for many, this kind of salacious gossip of the rich and famous, their yacht filled escapades, their parading around with Jackie Kennedy, their fancy lunches, their lecherous husbands, would be a dream read. But my socialist sensibilities could not stomach it. The women, whose stories should be sympathy filled, are all horrible to one another and their experiences of riches are so far from the lives of most, without a shred of self-awareness to garner any empathy from readers not interested in glorified tabloid journalism. Greenberg-Jephcott writing is well crafted and appropriately toned aesthetic, but this book was not for me and frankly a book unfitting of the time and place we find ourselves in.
BOOK 11 OF 16 READ FROM LONGLIST
Had to DNF after finishing about half of this book unfortunately.
Let's be clear. Truman Capote's decision to base his 1975 Esquire stories and eventual book on the confidentially told stories of his high society friends was despicable, a gross broach of friendship but also ethically wrong. To tell the story of teose violated women, a revenge fantasy of sort, seemed enticing. And for many, this kind of salacious gossip of the rich and famous, their yacht filled escapades, their parading around with Jackie Kennedy, their fancy lunches, their lecherous husbands, would be a dream read. But my socialist sensibilities could not stomach it. The women, whose stories should be sympathy filled, are all horrible to one another and their experiences of riches are so far from the lives of most, without a shred of self-awareness to garner any empathy from readers not interested in glorified tabloid journalism. Greenberg-Jephcott writing is well crafted and appropriately toned aesthetic, but this book was not for me and frankly a book unfitting of the time and place we find ourselves in.
April 17, 2018
In November 1965, "La Cote Basque", a chapter from Truman Capote's work-in-progress, Answered Prayers - The Unfinished Novel, was published in Esquire magazine. It was a thinly veiled and very unflattering expose of the lives of Truman's circle of society friends. It's publication led to those friends deserting Truman and, in turn, to his gradual decline until he eventually died in 1984.
Swan Song is the fictionalised re-imagining of the story of that publication and subsequent decline, adopting a similar approach to the one Capote pioneered in his "nonfiction novel", In Cold Blood.
There is much of interest here. Capote was a fascinating, damaged character. There are points in the story where you can pause and switch to YouTube to watch events being referred to (I would very much recommend watching the infamous interview on the Stanley Siegel show where Capote turned up high and rambled - it gives an insight into the state of his life and mind at that point in the story - if you have been reading this book prior to watching that clip, it is heartbreaking).
https://youtu.be/dh2oWjC-hX0
But somehow, the book as a whole did not work for me. I think there are three reasons for this, and I would be the first to acknowledge that what are weaknesses for me will be strengths to others (it won the 2015 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel, so clearly some people found it praiseworthy).
Firstly, all the people are shallow, self-centred and vindictive, with Capote being the worst of them. I realise there is little an author can do if their chosen subjects are not nice people, so this is not a criticism of the book, but more an explanation of my reaction to it.
Secondly, large parts of the book are written in the first person plural by the "swans" of the title, the women whom Capote gathered around him and who told him the secrets that he exposed in Esquire magazine. To me, this felt odd, like some kind of Greek chorus roaming round the book en masse.
Finally, I have to acknowledge that I found much of the book over-written. I don’t want to go overboard about this as it is about personal taste, but consider the following quote
"Waited until she'd wandered numbly down the hall, shedding the black pantsuit, leaving it lifeless on the carpet like the shed skin of a missing corpse"
"Shed skin of a missing corpse"? Add that to someone who "resumed his ingestion" rather than carrying on eating, or someone else who "removes the offending appendage" instead of taking someone’s arm away from around a woman’s waist, and you perhaps get the idea of what I found too much. I don’t know - maybe you like those bits.
My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for an ARC of this book in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, my honest review is that I felt somewhat let down.
Swan Song is the fictionalised re-imagining of the story of that publication and subsequent decline, adopting a similar approach to the one Capote pioneered in his "nonfiction novel", In Cold Blood.
There is much of interest here. Capote was a fascinating, damaged character. There are points in the story where you can pause and switch to YouTube to watch events being referred to (I would very much recommend watching the infamous interview on the Stanley Siegel show where Capote turned up high and rambled - it gives an insight into the state of his life and mind at that point in the story - if you have been reading this book prior to watching that clip, it is heartbreaking).
https://youtu.be/dh2oWjC-hX0
But somehow, the book as a whole did not work for me. I think there are three reasons for this, and I would be the first to acknowledge that what are weaknesses for me will be strengths to others (it won the 2015 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel, so clearly some people found it praiseworthy).
Firstly, all the people are shallow, self-centred and vindictive, with Capote being the worst of them. I realise there is little an author can do if their chosen subjects are not nice people, so this is not a criticism of the book, but more an explanation of my reaction to it.
Secondly, large parts of the book are written in the first person plural by the "swans" of the title, the women whom Capote gathered around him and who told him the secrets that he exposed in Esquire magazine. To me, this felt odd, like some kind of Greek chorus roaming round the book en masse.
Finally, I have to acknowledge that I found much of the book over-written. I don’t want to go overboard about this as it is about personal taste, but consider the following quote
"Waited until she'd wandered numbly down the hall, shedding the black pantsuit, leaving it lifeless on the carpet like the shed skin of a missing corpse"
"Shed skin of a missing corpse"? Add that to someone who "resumed his ingestion" rather than carrying on eating, or someone else who "removes the offending appendage" instead of taking someone’s arm away from around a woman’s waist, and you perhaps get the idea of what I found too much. I don’t know - maybe you like those bits.
My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for an ARC of this book in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, my honest review is that I felt somewhat let down.
April 7, 2019
I should preface this review by making one thing clear: I always knew this book wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. Reading the blurb, and various reviews, it didn’t appeal to my bookish tastes at all. Normally, I would have steered clear. Alas, as part of my efforts to read the entire Women’s Prize longlist, it was a box that needed to be ticked. In that sense, I don’t doubt it will work considerably better in the hands of other readers.
The story is a fictionalised account of the life of Truman Capote and his circle of close friends; socialites collectively known as his ‘swans’. When he writes a thinly veiled exposé, revealing their trusted secrets, scandal and backlash ensue.
I’ll start with what I did like. The book paints a portrait of a man from lonely beginnings, who seeks validation through his work, and his association with the rich and famous. There is tragic irony in the fact that his own thirst for attention causes him to betray the very people who give him companionship, threatening to leave him more alone than ever as he slips into a fugue of addiction and lies. The use of narrative voice is also interesting, the ‘swans’ narrating the story as a collective ‘we’.
However, this doesn’t feel like an examination of a complex man, nor a fleshing out of his enigmatic ‘swans’. Rather, it resembles a painfully drawn out gossip column. Honestly, my predominant thought throughout was thus: If the Mail Online’s sidebar of shame had existed in the 70s, it would have read like this book. I hoped it might offer a feminist, insightful view of these people; one that defied expectations and gave the women agency. Instead, it all felt incredibly vapid, reinforcing every socialite trope there is.
There’s also just no need for it to be so long. The book is stuffed with tangents that offer no depth or development, other than to repeatedly show us how vain, shallow, cruel, and catty most of these people are. Yes, the women’s obsession with image and reputation is almost certainly down to harsh societal pressures, but I didn’t find any of them sympathetic or compelling enough to care. And whilst the shared narrative voice did indeed throw up lots of potential, it ultimately resulted in a blending together of the women. They all descended into an exhausting mass of white privilege, from which individuals were hard to discern.
The prose in general feels convoluted and overdone. It’s as though the author is trying hard to elevate the impact and merit of the content beyond its worth; unnecessary and melodramatic metaphors abound.
The lack of a satisfying plot would have been easier to contend with had the characters been presented well, but I thought the handling of Capote was verging on offensive. Poorly drawn characters is one thing, but when you’re dealing with real people, it’s even more problematic. Yes, Capote was openly gay, petite in stature, and known to be quite eccentric, but my god does Greenberg-Jephcott revel is reminding us. Over. And. Over. Again. He is consistently infantilised, invariably referred to as ‘the boy’; not to mention the frequent, unchallenged use of terms like ‘elfin’, ‘midget’, ‘effeminate’, ‘girly’, ‘fag’, and even ‘twisted dwarf’ throughout the narration. Granted, this kind of language was somewhat commonplace back in the 70s, but there are more nuanced, intelligent ways to authentically capture an era than to constantly beat readers over the head with slurs. It’s such a wasted opportunity to write a book centred around a fascinating, iconic figure, if you’re simply going to reduce him to a caricature of gay stereotypes. (And the man was 5’3”, for crying out loud – hardly short enough to warrant a reminder every single time he is mentioned.)
I cited a couple of positive points, and will admit that the final quarter included a few considerably more interesting scenes. That said, I just couldn’t justify a higher rating. The moments of interest were too few and far between to make up for how much the rest of the book felt like hard work, or how troublesome I found the characterisation. Also, this was my 12th pick from the Women’s Prize longlist, and whilst there have been a few that weren’t to my personal taste, I always understood and respected their inclusion in the mix. This is the first one that has genuinely puzzled me. The whole thing felt mean spirited, boring, and clumsy, and offered no obvious thematic value. There’s also the unavoidable irony that this book is criticising Capote for writing about the sordid lives of a group of unpleasant people without their consent, under the guise of ‘fiction’, when this is doing exactly the same thing.
We can’t like them all. I just hope others have enjoyed this more than I did.
The story is a fictionalised account of the life of Truman Capote and his circle of close friends; socialites collectively known as his ‘swans’. When he writes a thinly veiled exposé, revealing their trusted secrets, scandal and backlash ensue.
I’ll start with what I did like. The book paints a portrait of a man from lonely beginnings, who seeks validation through his work, and his association with the rich and famous. There is tragic irony in the fact that his own thirst for attention causes him to betray the very people who give him companionship, threatening to leave him more alone than ever as he slips into a fugue of addiction and lies. The use of narrative voice is also interesting, the ‘swans’ narrating the story as a collective ‘we’.
However, this doesn’t feel like an examination of a complex man, nor a fleshing out of his enigmatic ‘swans’. Rather, it resembles a painfully drawn out gossip column. Honestly, my predominant thought throughout was thus: If the Mail Online’s sidebar of shame had existed in the 70s, it would have read like this book. I hoped it might offer a feminist, insightful view of these people; one that defied expectations and gave the women agency. Instead, it all felt incredibly vapid, reinforcing every socialite trope there is.
There’s also just no need for it to be so long. The book is stuffed with tangents that offer no depth or development, other than to repeatedly show us how vain, shallow, cruel, and catty most of these people are. Yes, the women’s obsession with image and reputation is almost certainly down to harsh societal pressures, but I didn’t find any of them sympathetic or compelling enough to care. And whilst the shared narrative voice did indeed throw up lots of potential, it ultimately resulted in a blending together of the women. They all descended into an exhausting mass of white privilege, from which individuals were hard to discern.
The prose in general feels convoluted and overdone. It’s as though the author is trying hard to elevate the impact and merit of the content beyond its worth; unnecessary and melodramatic metaphors abound.
The lack of a satisfying plot would have been easier to contend with had the characters been presented well, but I thought the handling of Capote was verging on offensive. Poorly drawn characters is one thing, but when you’re dealing with real people, it’s even more problematic. Yes, Capote was openly gay, petite in stature, and known to be quite eccentric, but my god does Greenberg-Jephcott revel is reminding us. Over. And. Over. Again. He is consistently infantilised, invariably referred to as ‘the boy’; not to mention the frequent, unchallenged use of terms like ‘elfin’, ‘midget’, ‘effeminate’, ‘girly’, ‘fag’, and even ‘twisted dwarf’ throughout the narration. Granted, this kind of language was somewhat commonplace back in the 70s, but there are more nuanced, intelligent ways to authentically capture an era than to constantly beat readers over the head with slurs. It’s such a wasted opportunity to write a book centred around a fascinating, iconic figure, if you’re simply going to reduce him to a caricature of gay stereotypes. (And the man was 5’3”, for crying out loud – hardly short enough to warrant a reminder every single time he is mentioned.)
I cited a couple of positive points, and will admit that the final quarter included a few considerably more interesting scenes. That said, I just couldn’t justify a higher rating. The moments of interest were too few and far between to make up for how much the rest of the book felt like hard work, or how troublesome I found the characterisation. Also, this was my 12th pick from the Women’s Prize longlist, and whilst there have been a few that weren’t to my personal taste, I always understood and respected their inclusion in the mix. This is the first one that has genuinely puzzled me. The whole thing felt mean spirited, boring, and clumsy, and offered no obvious thematic value. There’s also the unavoidable irony that this book is criticising Capote for writing about the sordid lives of a group of unpleasant people without their consent, under the guise of ‘fiction’, when this is doing exactly the same thing.
We can’t like them all. I just hope others have enjoyed this more than I did.
May 10, 2018
Tru dat.
Can a novel be simultaneously frenetic and yet long drawn out? I found Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott’s take on Truman Capote to be an overly fractured and somewhat frustrating read. Capote’s swan song – he sold the revelatory chapters from his long-awaited book ‘Answered Prayers’ to Esquire magazine – angered his coterie of female friends and brought the curtain down on an illustrious if erratic writing career. (Capote created the character of Holly Golightly for ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and pioneered the non-fiction novel genre with his controversial ‘In Cold Blood’.)
The author writes in the first person plural which serves as a club-like chorus to the gossip-mongering (and has echoes of Joshua Ferris’s notable debut ‘And Then We Came to the End’). The prose is sharp, showy and occasionally orotund: “We festooned him with cachet.” But she is inclined to labour her extensive research, shoe-horning in every themed party and yacht jaunt, every floral arrangement and morsel of canape, every Negroni cocktail and palazzo pyjama outfit. Babe, Slim, Jackie, Lee, CZ, Marella, Gloria – all Truman’s ‘Swans’ are here and all their scandals are documented in endless detail.
The needy Truman (who one can only see as Toby Jones after his definitive performance in the biopic ‘Infamous’) is a tiresome guy to read about at length. One can see how he appalled and fascinated in equal measure but at almost five hundred pages, this book is - as he would say - de trop. Half as long and it would have been twice as good.
Thanks to Hutchinson for the review copy courtesy of NetGalley.
Can a novel be simultaneously frenetic and yet long drawn out? I found Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott’s take on Truman Capote to be an overly fractured and somewhat frustrating read. Capote’s swan song – he sold the revelatory chapters from his long-awaited book ‘Answered Prayers’ to Esquire magazine – angered his coterie of female friends and brought the curtain down on an illustrious if erratic writing career. (Capote created the character of Holly Golightly for ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and pioneered the non-fiction novel genre with his controversial ‘In Cold Blood’.)
The author writes in the first person plural which serves as a club-like chorus to the gossip-mongering (and has echoes of Joshua Ferris’s notable debut ‘And Then We Came to the End’). The prose is sharp, showy and occasionally orotund: “We festooned him with cachet.” But she is inclined to labour her extensive research, shoe-horning in every themed party and yacht jaunt, every floral arrangement and morsel of canape, every Negroni cocktail and palazzo pyjama outfit. Babe, Slim, Jackie, Lee, CZ, Marella, Gloria – all Truman’s ‘Swans’ are here and all their scandals are documented in endless detail.
The needy Truman (who one can only see as Toby Jones after his definitive performance in the biopic ‘Infamous’) is a tiresome guy to read about at length. One can see how he appalled and fascinated in equal measure but at almost five hundred pages, this book is - as he would say - de trop. Half as long and it would have been twice as good.
Thanks to Hutchinson for the review copy courtesy of NetGalley.
March 12, 2018
Frenetically fast-paced, this is what Capote himself would probably have termed 'fictional non-fiction': part oblique biography, part history of the birth of Capote's book 'Answered Prayers', part evocation of historical moments which fed our modern obsession with celebrity. The pages are filled with iconic names: Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwill ('Radzilla'), Gore Vidal, Mick Jagger, Cecil Beaton, Paul Bowles - but in lots of ways they are functions of their names and statuses rather than characters as such.
At the heart of the book is the symbiotic relationship between Capote and the wealthy women who shared their gossip with him - only to find themselves exposed in his 'Answered Prayers'. That's kind of it, really. Some of the gossip is cuttingly amusing (but it's readily available via Google and Wiki), and Capote himself is a high-wire act of energetic self-creation and self-annihilation. While secrets are betrayed, they're also the source of celebrity and fame - ultimately a book which is easy to read at a breakneck pace.
Thanks to Random House for an ARC via NetGalley.
At the heart of the book is the symbiotic relationship between Capote and the wealthy women who shared their gossip with him - only to find themselves exposed in his 'Answered Prayers'. That's kind of it, really. Some of the gossip is cuttingly amusing (but it's readily available via Google and Wiki), and Capote himself is a high-wire act of energetic self-creation and self-annihilation. While secrets are betrayed, they're also the source of celebrity and fame - ultimately a book which is easy to read at a breakneck pace.
Thanks to Random House for an ARC via NetGalley.
April 28, 2018
Loved it, loved it, loved it. I love that it's a book that scorns the very act it's performing. Beautiful elegance of writing about a very glamorous time - even though the glamour is picked apart a bit. Very sympathetic and scathing but subtle in both.
August 1, 2019
2.5 stars
Unfortunately, this was just a little more than okay for me.
Swan Song is the story of Truman Capote's unfinished novel Answered Prayers and how it cost him his social status and friends. Kelleight Greenberg-Jephcott spent 10 years researching Swan Song and I'm afraid this made it difficult for her to let go of the many pieces of information she must have accumulated during that time.
While Swan Song started out promising with its at times dream-like narrative and the chorus of swans sometimes narrating the story in first person plural, sometimes speaking to Capote directly, it drew out too long.
There was too much jumping around, too many unnecessary, almost sentimental scenes, and honestly, after the first two or three of the swan's stories, I started mixing them all together, casting Gloria as Marella and Lee as Slim...
While I felt that the writing was at times very good, it felt also self-indulgent. Like Capote's Answered Prayers it bordered on glorified gossip bound in an -admittedly beautifully made- hardcover book of over 450 pages. Around the 300 page mark it just started to bore me.
*Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge - prompt: "New voices: Read a debut novel."
Unfortunately, this was just a little more than okay for me.
Swan Song is the story of Truman Capote's unfinished novel Answered Prayers and how it cost him his social status and friends. Kelleight Greenberg-Jephcott spent 10 years researching Swan Song and I'm afraid this made it difficult for her to let go of the many pieces of information she must have accumulated during that time.
While Swan Song started out promising with its at times dream-like narrative and the chorus of swans sometimes narrating the story in first person plural, sometimes speaking to Capote directly, it drew out too long.
There was too much jumping around, too many unnecessary, almost sentimental scenes, and honestly, after the first two or three of the swan's stories, I started mixing them all together, casting Gloria as Marella and Lee as Slim...
While I felt that the writing was at times very good, it felt also self-indulgent. Like Capote's Answered Prayers it bordered on glorified gossip bound in an -admittedly beautifully made- hardcover book of over 450 pages. Around the 300 page mark it just started to bore me.
*Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge - prompt: "New voices: Read a debut novel."
April 9, 2019
You've always lived a life of pretense, not a real life-- a simulated existence, not a genuine existence. Everything about you, everything you are, has always been pretense, never genuine, never real.
The Woodcutters, Thomas Bernhard
Swan Song, centered around an author called Truman, is apparently based on a real-life story, although I felt rather as one character did in the novel when told Truman had been invited to his house:
‘Bill . . . that’s Truman!’
Bill, blindsided, he craned his head to study the Terrier, gossiping with his wife.
‘I thought you said that Harry Truman—?!
‘We said Truman. As in Capote. We thought you knew!’
Bill frowned. ‘Who the hell is Truman Capote . . . ?’
The novel centres around an incident where Truman writes a gossipy novel of his high-society friends, one he sees as inspired by Proust, and indeed echoing his writing debut as a child:
He’s just finished reading À la Recherche du Temps Perdu—at ten, he later loves to boast—and strangely enough, it felt . . . familiar. He’s read it’s what’s called a roman-à-clef, which to him just seems to be a fancy French word for spreading rumors. He figures he could try his hand, Southern gothic style.
While true that Proust's novel did include barely disguised portraits of real society figures, his reputation as perhaps the finest writer of the first half of the 20th Century rests not on that but on the quality of his prose. Similarly, with a very different but unique style of his own, Thomas Bernhard, the most important writer of the 2nd half of the century - his The Woodcutters even the subject of a lawsuit.
But Capote's novel - at least as relayed here - seems to be channeling not Proust but rather Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins, and unfortunately the writing of the novel seems at a similar level of aspiration.
This book is narrated by The Swans whose Song forms the novel's title - a collective chorus of Truman's circle of admirers, resentful of becoming characters in his writing:
We aren’t characters for your amusement, Truman. We’re women. Real women. And those are our lives you’re so casually scribbling.
The Swans in the novel are I think based on real-life characters, but exactly who I didn't get. As another character says:
I can’t figure out who the woman is, but I think I know who the man might be.
But if the intention of the author was to give the Swans their voice, all she does is succeed in portraying them as shallow, narcissistic, disloyal, self-obsessed, needy and obnoxious.
I was left rather wondering what the point was.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
The Woodcutters, Thomas Bernhard
Swan Song, centered around an author called Truman, is apparently based on a real-life story, although I felt rather as one character did in the novel when told Truman had been invited to his house:
‘Bill . . . that’s Truman!’
Bill, blindsided, he craned his head to study the Terrier, gossiping with his wife.
‘I thought you said that Harry Truman—?!
‘We said Truman. As in Capote. We thought you knew!’
Bill frowned. ‘Who the hell is Truman Capote . . . ?’
The novel centres around an incident where Truman writes a gossipy novel of his high-society friends, one he sees as inspired by Proust, and indeed echoing his writing debut as a child:
He’s just finished reading À la Recherche du Temps Perdu—at ten, he later loves to boast—and strangely enough, it felt . . . familiar. He’s read it’s what’s called a roman-à-clef, which to him just seems to be a fancy French word for spreading rumors. He figures he could try his hand, Southern gothic style.
While true that Proust's novel did include barely disguised portraits of real society figures, his reputation as perhaps the finest writer of the first half of the 20th Century rests not on that but on the quality of his prose. Similarly, with a very different but unique style of his own, Thomas Bernhard, the most important writer of the 2nd half of the century - his The Woodcutters even the subject of a lawsuit.
But Capote's novel - at least as relayed here - seems to be channeling not Proust but rather Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins, and unfortunately the writing of the novel seems at a similar level of aspiration.
This book is narrated by The Swans whose Song forms the novel's title - a collective chorus of Truman's circle of admirers, resentful of becoming characters in his writing:
We aren’t characters for your amusement, Truman. We’re women. Real women. And those are our lives you’re so casually scribbling.
The Swans in the novel are I think based on real-life characters, but exactly who I didn't get. As another character says:
I can’t figure out who the woman is, but I think I know who the man might be.
But if the intention of the author was to give the Swans their voice, all she does is succeed in portraying them as shallow, narcissistic, disloyal, self-obsessed, needy and obnoxious.
I was left rather wondering what the point was.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
April 18, 2019
I read this thanks to its inclusion on the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist. It's probably not something I would have picked up otherwise. It was well written, well researched and very readable but just not really a subject matter - the lives of obnoxious, rich socialites - that grabs me, and I found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for working out which "swan" was which as they all merged together in their universal shallowness and general awfulness.
November 6, 2025
3.5 rounded up to 4
Truman Capote believed his (never-finished) novel, Answered Prayers, would be his crowning achievement as an author, a work comparable (in his own mind) to that of Marcel Proust. Crippled with writer’s block he decided to allow the first few chapters of the novel to be published in Esquire magazine. They depicted the thinly disguised lives and scandals of his closest female confidantes, the six women he referred to as his ‘swans’ – C.Z. Guest, Babe Paley, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, and Gloria Guiness They never forgave him.
Pretty soon after I began reading Swan Song I wondered if I really wanted to spend time amongst a group of privileged women whose most pressing decisions seemed to be what to wear, where to lunch and with whom. Or with a man, Truman Capote, who was prepared to reveal their most intimate secrets – shared with him, so they believed, in confidence – in order to perpetuate his reputation as an author. In addition, a man with the most affected speech and mannerisms, who created cringeworthy nicknames for his ‘swans’ and possessed an insatiable appetite for gossip, the more scurrilous the better.
Slowly though I began to become more interested in these women, particularly those who had taken charge of their own destinies, working their way up from nothing. I started to see the women beneath the glitzy lifestyle of endless parties, vacations in glamorous locations, visits to the beauty parlour and costumiers. I got an insight into their frustrations, disappointments and failed relationships and began to see them as individuals not as some homogenous group. I found myself particularly drawn to Barbara “Babe” Paley’s story and moved by events later in her life.
The author’s bold choice to have the women act like a Chorus in a Greek tragedy, recounting their stories but also, omnisciently, Capote’s story did work for me. Often astute, sometimes wry and acerbic, they tempered their disappointment at Capote’s betrayal with a degree of compassion. After all he was excellent company, an entertaining conversationalist and a generous host for whom no extravagance seemed too over the top. Many of them looked upon him as a friend, a confidante with whom to share problems and someone to cheer them up when they felt down.
I’m not sure I ever got over my dislike of Truman Capote although the author made a great effort to detail his troubled childhood, abandoned for long periods by a mother he nevertheless adored. He came across as needy, self-absorbed and at times rather cruel. I had little sympathy for his ostracization by the women whose confidence he betrayed. Having said that I couldn’t help being moved as we witness his gradual decline, the result of alcohol and drug abuse.
The book moves back and forth in time so does demand a degree of concentration from the reader. However, Swan Song is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous in 1960s and 1970s New York with walk-on parts for celebrated film stars, authors and politicians. Above all, it’s a story of hubris. I’m glad I (finally) made time to read it.
I listened to the audiobook read by Debora Weston. Overall I think she did a great job but I found Truman Capote’s high-pitched, rather child-like voice (although no doubt a fairly accurate representation) grated on me over the 17 hours it took to listen to the book.
Truman Capote believed his (never-finished) novel, Answered Prayers, would be his crowning achievement as an author, a work comparable (in his own mind) to that of Marcel Proust. Crippled with writer’s block he decided to allow the first few chapters of the novel to be published in Esquire magazine. They depicted the thinly disguised lives and scandals of his closest female confidantes, the six women he referred to as his ‘swans’ – C.Z. Guest, Babe Paley, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, and Gloria Guiness They never forgave him.
Pretty soon after I began reading Swan Song I wondered if I really wanted to spend time amongst a group of privileged women whose most pressing decisions seemed to be what to wear, where to lunch and with whom. Or with a man, Truman Capote, who was prepared to reveal their most intimate secrets – shared with him, so they believed, in confidence – in order to perpetuate his reputation as an author. In addition, a man with the most affected speech and mannerisms, who created cringeworthy nicknames for his ‘swans’ and possessed an insatiable appetite for gossip, the more scurrilous the better.
Slowly though I began to become more interested in these women, particularly those who had taken charge of their own destinies, working their way up from nothing. I started to see the women beneath the glitzy lifestyle of endless parties, vacations in glamorous locations, visits to the beauty parlour and costumiers. I got an insight into their frustrations, disappointments and failed relationships and began to see them as individuals not as some homogenous group. I found myself particularly drawn to Barbara “Babe” Paley’s story and moved by events later in her life.
The author’s bold choice to have the women act like a Chorus in a Greek tragedy, recounting their stories but also, omnisciently, Capote’s story did work for me. Often astute, sometimes wry and acerbic, they tempered their disappointment at Capote’s betrayal with a degree of compassion. After all he was excellent company, an entertaining conversationalist and a generous host for whom no extravagance seemed too over the top. Many of them looked upon him as a friend, a confidante with whom to share problems and someone to cheer them up when they felt down.
I’m not sure I ever got over my dislike of Truman Capote although the author made a great effort to detail his troubled childhood, abandoned for long periods by a mother he nevertheless adored. He came across as needy, self-absorbed and at times rather cruel. I had little sympathy for his ostracization by the women whose confidence he betrayed. Having said that I couldn’t help being moved as we witness his gradual decline, the result of alcohol and drug abuse.
The book moves back and forth in time so does demand a degree of concentration from the reader. However, Swan Song is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous in 1960s and 1970s New York with walk-on parts for celebrated film stars, authors and politicians. Above all, it’s a story of hubris. I’m glad I (finally) made time to read it.
I listened to the audiobook read by Debora Weston. Overall I think she did a great job but I found Truman Capote’s high-pitched, rather child-like voice (although no doubt a fairly accurate representation) grated on me over the 17 hours it took to listen to the book.
December 31, 2023
En la cubierta ha escrito una única palabra (BAILE), y ha dedicado la mayor parte de los últimos tres meses a anotar con esmero el nombre de todas las personas que conoce. Escritores. Estrellas de cine. Políticos. Intelectuales. Tras reflexionar con atención sobre sus sentimientos hacia cada uno de ellos, dibuja una estrella al lado del nombre correspondiente o lo tacha con una raya. Disfruta reuniendo el elenco perfecto, como si jugara a ser Dios en un cóctel organizado en los Campos Elíseos.
Los periódicos dicen que está descontrolado. Nueva York sufre la fiebre En Blanco y Negro desde que Truman envió las invitaciones. «¡En un solo día conseguí quinientos amigos y cinco mil enemigos!», gusta de decir a la prensa
«Nos citó aquella noche por una razón —nos ha dicho a cada una de nosotras—. La lista de invitados que le vimos confeccionar... no era más que el reparto de su querida Plegarias atendidas.
«Se derraman más lágrimas por las plegarias atendidas que por las no atendidas...»
Los periódicos dicen que está descontrolado. Nueva York sufre la fiebre En Blanco y Negro desde que Truman envió las invitaciones. «¡En un solo día conseguí quinientos amigos y cinco mil enemigos!», gusta de decir a la prensa
«Nos citó aquella noche por una razón —nos ha dicho a cada una de nosotras—. La lista de invitados que le vimos confeccionar... no era más que el reparto de su querida Plegarias atendidas.
«Se derraman más lágrimas por las plegarias atendidas que por las no atendidas...»
February 11, 2020
Novel set mainly in MANHATTAN (the life and loves of Truman Capote)
3.75*
Who was Truman Capote? We all know the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s but who really has engaged with the writer of the novella on which the film was based? He then went on to publish In Cold Blood which made him a national celebrity. Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott has chosen to set him centre stage and build a fictional-factual story of his associations with the 6 Swans – six socialites and eminent women, strong yet fragile and very much in the limelight of contemporary society. To wit Babe Paley (wife of Bill Paley, then head of CBS and the woman whom Capote truly worshipped), CZ Guest, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith (a top model, yet who also, like Capote, came from an impoverished background), Lee Radziwill (sister to Jacqueline Kennedy), and Gloria Guinness.
Starting out in life, Capote had more than his fair share of loss and trauma – in essence he was abandoned by his mother who went on to re-invent herself in New York. His childhood companion, however, was none other than Nelle Harper Lee (yes, the novelist). He, too, was busy writing as a child, and there was already an inkling of the future, when a local paper published Mr Busybody, his portrayal of some those in his circle. It was prescient, shall we say.
He never felt loved by his mother but somehow projected his longing to be loved onto the Swans and he felt he could be their one true friend. And here is the crux. He had a very great need to be loved and admired, and this little man, with the high pitched voice, certainly got the attention and status he craved when he held the Black and White Masked Ball in 1966. It was the society event of the year.
He caroused and consorted with these six women from the higher echelons of society, who shared their innermost thoughts and secrets with him, all rather asexual liaisons it has to be said (and I guess if they are some kind of mother substitutes then sex certainly isn’t on the agenda). He was their confidante, a position he royally abused when, in 1975 he wrote an article for Esquire Magazine, titled “La Cote Basque, 1965”. This was the story of Truman’s lunch with Slim – a thinly veiled character appearing as Lady Ina Coolbirth and sketching himself as P B Jones – that ended everything. It was a mean and shockingly bitchy piece. He even describes Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill as a “pair of Western Geisha Girls“.
Yet of Babe Paley he said “I was her one real friend, the one real relationship she ever had.” (New York Post 24.1.16). Note how he has put himself centre stage, just like someone with a developed narcissistic personality disorder (in other words SHE was HIS friend, rather than vice versa). Thus this party boy who sheathed malicious gossip in gilt-edged wit brought about his own downfall.
After his Mother abandoned him he must have felt very ambivalent about women and perhaps was incontrovertibly drawn to them, yet wanted to punish them (and thus perhaps unconsciously punish his mother). A tortured soul who indeed perhaps wasn’t, as he feared, altogether loveable. After all, a caring mother, if she loves her child, wouldn’t abandon her child and therefore she must have abandoned him because he was so unloveable (a common extrapolation that features in people with abandonment issues).
This is a daring debut and a really interesting subject to choose. I felt the writing was very good, though at times just a little disordered, it hopped around a little too much for my full enjoyment. I am looking forward to seeing where this author goes next.
3.75*
Who was Truman Capote? We all know the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s but who really has engaged with the writer of the novella on which the film was based? He then went on to publish In Cold Blood which made him a national celebrity. Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott has chosen to set him centre stage and build a fictional-factual story of his associations with the 6 Swans – six socialites and eminent women, strong yet fragile and very much in the limelight of contemporary society. To wit Babe Paley (wife of Bill Paley, then head of CBS and the woman whom Capote truly worshipped), CZ Guest, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith (a top model, yet who also, like Capote, came from an impoverished background), Lee Radziwill (sister to Jacqueline Kennedy), and Gloria Guinness.
Starting out in life, Capote had more than his fair share of loss and trauma – in essence he was abandoned by his mother who went on to re-invent herself in New York. His childhood companion, however, was none other than Nelle Harper Lee (yes, the novelist). He, too, was busy writing as a child, and there was already an inkling of the future, when a local paper published Mr Busybody, his portrayal of some those in his circle. It was prescient, shall we say.
He never felt loved by his mother but somehow projected his longing to be loved onto the Swans and he felt he could be their one true friend. And here is the crux. He had a very great need to be loved and admired, and this little man, with the high pitched voice, certainly got the attention and status he craved when he held the Black and White Masked Ball in 1966. It was the society event of the year.
He caroused and consorted with these six women from the higher echelons of society, who shared their innermost thoughts and secrets with him, all rather asexual liaisons it has to be said (and I guess if they are some kind of mother substitutes then sex certainly isn’t on the agenda). He was their confidante, a position he royally abused when, in 1975 he wrote an article for Esquire Magazine, titled “La Cote Basque, 1965”. This was the story of Truman’s lunch with Slim – a thinly veiled character appearing as Lady Ina Coolbirth and sketching himself as P B Jones – that ended everything. It was a mean and shockingly bitchy piece. He even describes Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill as a “pair of Western Geisha Girls“.
Yet of Babe Paley he said “I was her one real friend, the one real relationship she ever had.” (New York Post 24.1.16). Note how he has put himself centre stage, just like someone with a developed narcissistic personality disorder (in other words SHE was HIS friend, rather than vice versa). Thus this party boy who sheathed malicious gossip in gilt-edged wit brought about his own downfall.
After his Mother abandoned him he must have felt very ambivalent about women and perhaps was incontrovertibly drawn to them, yet wanted to punish them (and thus perhaps unconsciously punish his mother). A tortured soul who indeed perhaps wasn’t, as he feared, altogether loveable. After all, a caring mother, if she loves her child, wouldn’t abandon her child and therefore she must have abandoned him because he was so unloveable (a common extrapolation that features in people with abandonment issues).
This is a daring debut and a really interesting subject to choose. I felt the writing was very good, though at times just a little disordered, it hopped around a little too much for my full enjoyment. I am looking forward to seeing where this author goes next.
July 18, 2019
I love Truman Capote's writing - especially In Cold Blood which was a groundbreaking book for its blend of fact and vivifying imagined narrative. Greenberg-Jephcott takes Capote's narrative style one step further by imagining Capote's wealthy clique of friends as a Greek chorus narrating his betrayal. Caught up in the delusion that emulating Proust's memories of the Parisian elite by sharing titillating New York high society secrets told to him by his closest confidants he would be his master work, Capote publishes and betrays everyone who knows and loves him. Capote even spends months with one of his "Swans" traveling through Russia and Europe; every waking moment talking and sharing experiences and their deepest secrets. He has an abundance of time and attention the Swans' husbands lack. The women open up and trust him like no other. Their friendships span years. Then it is all gone within hours. All their deepest secrets exposed in a magazine.
I agree with many of the reviews here. The editor could have removed the final few chapters and I would have been left thinking I enjoyed it more. Capote's final months were overwritten and long - it all got a bit too metaphysical for me. But I was happy to spend some time in Capote's fascinating world. I wasn't left feeling I knew Capote or his friends but as fictional characters they were very real to me.
I agree with many of the reviews here. The editor could have removed the final few chapters and I would have been left thinking I enjoyed it more. Capote's final months were overwritten and long - it all got a bit too metaphysical for me. But I was happy to spend some time in Capote's fascinating world. I wasn't left feeling I knew Capote or his friends but as fictional characters they were very real to me.
August 5, 2019
I'm not going to finish reading this novel. There are wonderful novels waiting to be read and this isn't one of them. I'm in my mid-30s and time is running out.
What is this novel trying to do? What points is it trying to make? I don't know.
Why did the author decide to include awful homophobic language? It's so unpalatable! There seems to be no good reason for it and it feels offensive. It definitely doesn't add anything to what is already a cumbersome narrative voice.
The first 50 pages of the novel are enough to understand what the novel is about. The child-Truman grows up, the adult Truman makes influential friends, the influential friends are angry about an upcoming exposé of their secrets. The secrets themselves are not very interesting either. Frankly, this is overwritten and quite boring.
Hard pass.
What is this novel trying to do? What points is it trying to make? I don't know.
Why did the author decide to include awful homophobic language? It's so unpalatable! There seems to be no good reason for it and it feels offensive. It definitely doesn't add anything to what is already a cumbersome narrative voice.
The first 50 pages of the novel are enough to understand what the novel is about. The child-Truman grows up, the adult Truman makes influential friends, the influential friends are angry about an upcoming exposé of their secrets. The secrets themselves are not very interesting either. Frankly, this is overwritten and quite boring.
Hard pass.
April 4, 2019
This was far, far too long. It was difficult to care for each of the women's story, considering they're all the same brand of glamour, whiteness, thinness and wealth. I completely understand why Truman would call them The Swans... I guess he too couldn't remember who was who.
This was very nicely written, and the author is certainly talented. I can see this being a 5 star book... if it wasn't so very slow. I'd have much preferred to have the focus be on two or three of the women (and Truman, of course). As it was, there was too much detail of too many women, some of which had similar or even the same names. It was interesting to see characters like Hemingway and Jackie O make an appearance, too.
Full review to come on http://natysbookshelf.wordpress.com
This was very nicely written, and the author is certainly talented. I can see this being a 5 star book... if it wasn't so very slow. I'd have much preferred to have the focus be on two or three of the women (and Truman, of course). As it was, there was too much detail of too many women, some of which had similar or even the same names. It was interesting to see characters like Hemingway and Jackie O make an appearance, too.
Full review to come on http://natysbookshelf.wordpress.com
January 22, 2024
Hace más de mil años, leí «Desayuno en Tiffany's». El libro me dejó un poco fría, probablemente porque era joven e insensata, así que no me atreví a leer nada más de Capote. Hasta que me enteré de la existencia de este libro gracias a un podcast (sí, hay podcast útiles en la vida). El libro me ha encantado porque es exactamente mi tipo de mierda, entiéndase con tipo de mierda los cotilleos entre esa jet set que va de fina, pero luego no lo es tanto. Ahora, quiero leer más libros de Truman y lo haré. Claro que sí, cariño.
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