In Cold Blood & Breakfast at Tiffany's

by Truman Capote

Nothing horrible can ever happen at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly knows. Capote created a lady whose name has become a part of the American language, and whose style has become a part of the literary landscape—her poignancy, wit, and naiveté continue to captivate.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

487 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Truman Capote was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognised literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays.

He was born as Truman Streckfus Persons to a salesman Archulus Persons and young Lillie Mae. His parents divorced when he was four and he went to live with his mother's relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. He was a lonely child who learned to read and write by himself before entering school. In 1933, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her new husband, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born businessman. Mr. Capote adopted Truman, legally changing his last name to Capote and enrolling him in private school. After graduating from high school in 1942, Truman Capote began his regular job as a copy boy at The New Yorker. During this time, he also began his career as a writer, publishing many short stories which introduced him into a circle of literary critics. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, published in 1948, stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks and became controversial because of the photograph of Capote used to promote the novel, posing seductively and gazing into the camera.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Capote remained prolific producing both fiction and non-fiction. His masterpiece, In Cold Blood, a story about the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, was published in 1966 in book form by Random House, became a worldwide success and brought Capote much praise from the literary community. After this success he published rarely and suffered from alcohol addiction. He died in 1984 at age 59.

Reviews

[Kathrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

So sehr ich Breakfast at Tiffany's gemocht habe, so sehr habe ich mich durch In Cold Blood geschleppt. Ein furchtbarer Schreibstil. Gut 80% des Buches waren deshalb für mich nicht so relevant.

[Tim Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a wonderful little novella, following the unnamed narrator, a struggling writer in New York, and his near-neighbour in their upper East Side brownstone Holly Golightly.
At first Holly Appears to be a sophisticated socialite, enjoying life in the social scene and existing through the wealth of the many men who call on her day and night. As their relationship grows, the narrator finds out just where Holly has come from and questions whether she can really outrun her past.
Though the narrator character is presumably based on Capote, I wonder whether he sees a little of himself (idealised no doubt) in Golightly. Truman also came from an impoverished background, and his New York lifestyle seems worlds away from his childhood.
Can we reinvent ourselves? Is the only truth worth fighting for being true to one's self, or at least the conception of one's self that one chooses to believe? Capote does a great job of telling a bright and bouncy story, while still engaging with some of these deeper questions.

[Ben Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed these!!

[Abril April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiffany's: 3/5
In cold blood: 5/5

Den sistnämnda boken var riktigt bra, upplevde sällan att den blev särskilt långdragen. Gav ett väldigt brett perspektiv på många olika frågor.

[Diana Chamma · Rating 5 out of 5]

======================================
IN COLD BLOOD
======================================

'Always certain of what he wanted from the world, Mr. Clutter had in large measure obtained it.' –

'The truth was he opposed all stimulants, however gentle.'–

'“Or you might never go home. And—it’s important always to have with you something of your own. That’s really yours.”'

'“You are a man of extreme passion, a hungry man not quite sure where his appetite lies, a deeply frustrated man striving to project his individuality against a backdrop of rigid conformity. You exist in a half-world suspended between two superstructures, one self-expression and the other self-destruction. You are strong, but there is a flaw in your strength, and unless you learn to control it the flaw will prove stronger than your strength and defeat you. The flaw? Explosive emotional reaction out of all proportion to the occasion. Why? Why this unreasonable anger at the sight of others who are happy or content, this growing contempt for people and the desire to hurt them?'

'There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin; And they roam the world at will. They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest; Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don’t know how to rest. If they just went straight they might go far; They are strong and brave and true; But they’re always tired of the things that are, And they want the strange and new.'

'We are all free to speak & do as we individually will—providing this “freedom” of Speech & Deed are not injurious to our fellow-man.'

'There is considerable hypocrisy in conventionalism. Any thinking person is aware of this paradox; but in dealing with conventional people it is advantageous to treat them as though they were not hypocrites.'

'“I was coasting along. Not knowing God is the only reality. Once you realize that, then everything falls into place. Life has meaning—and so does death.'

'“My friend Willie-Jay used to talk about it. He used to say that all crimes were only ‘varieties of theft.’ Murder included. When you kill a man you steal his life.'

'“Why? Soldiers don’t lose much sleep. They murder, and get medals for doing it. The good people of Kansas want to murder me—and some hangman will be glad to get the work. It’s easy to kill—a lot easier than passing a bad check.'

'“In attempting to assess the criminal responsibility of murderers, the law tries to divide them (as it does all offenders) into two groups, the ‘sane’ and the ‘insane.’ The ‘sane’ murderer is thought of as acting upon rational motives that can be understood, though condemned, and the ‘insane’ one as being driven by irrational senseless motives.'

'The M’Naghten Rule, as has been previously stated, recognizes no form of insanity provided the defendant has the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong—legally, not morally.'


======================================
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
======================================

'But when he offered to buy it the Negro cupped his private parts in his hand (apparently a tender gesture, comparable to tapping one's heart) and said no.'

'"I'll never disgrace myself. And I swear, it never crossed my mind about Holly. You can love somebody without it being like that. You keep them a stranger, a stranger who's a friend."'

'Of course people couldn't help but think I must be a bit of a dyke myself. And of course I am. Everyone is: a bit. So what? That never discouraged a man yet, in fact it seems to goad them on.'

'A disquieting loneliness came into my life, but it induced no hunger for friends of longer acquaintance: they seemed now like a salt-free, sugarless diet.'

'"You're wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you're right. She isn't a phony because she's a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes.'

'I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany's.'

'I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together. I'm not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it's like."'

'"No, the blues are because you're getting fat or maybe it's been raining too long. You're sad, that's all. But the mean reds are horrible. You're afraid and you sweat like hell, but you don't know what you're afraid of. Except something bad is going to happen, only you don't know what it is. You've had that feeling?"'

'It's such a useless thing for a man to want to be: the p-p-president of Brazil."'

'"It may be normal, darling; but I'd rather be natural."'

'the average personality reshapes frequently, every few years even our bodies undergo a complete overhaul -- desirable or not, it is a natural thing that we should change.'

'They would never change because they'd been given their character too soon; which, like sudden riches, leads to a lack of proportion:'

'Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.'

'But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."'

hausfrau: a woman regarded as overly domesticated

'He tells little lies and he worries what people think and he takes about fifty baths a day: men ought to smell somewhat. He's too prim, too cautious to be my guy ideal; he always turns his back to get undressed and he makes too much noise when he eats and I don't like to see him run because there's something funny-looking about him when he runs.'

'Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I'd rather have cancer than a dishonest heart. Which isn't being pious. Just practical. Cancer may cool you, but the other's sure to.'

'perhaps because our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words:'

'Anyway, home is where you feel at home. I'm still looking."'

'"I'm very scared, Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing what's yours until you've thrown it away.'

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, based on the novel by Truman Capote
Nine out of 10


Holly Golightly aka the aristocratic, fabulous, sophisticated, noble, outstanding Audrey Hepburn is one of the most delightful, serene, attractive, provocative, intriguing, sunny and seductive protagonists of a book or film.
http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/b...

The film has been appreciated; it won two Academy Awards and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role – the splendid Audrey Hepburn – Best Writing and Art Direction and some other prizes, including two Golden Globes.
Holly Golightly is not just absolutely charming, she has a side that is less bright, given her superficiality, careless attitude, tendency to get involved in murky, subterranean arrangements – with Sally tomato – acceptance of 4 50 bills whenever she gets to the powder room and a rather immoral, materialistic, money orientated attitude towards life, in spite of the other side of her that ignores almost anything that happens around, including the manifestations of wealth and power.

When she accepts to visit the mobster – that would be proved to head a narcotics operation from prison – Sally Tomato at Sing Sing – with her acute sense of humor, Holly remarks upon the ironic name of the infamous jail – she insists it was the romanticism of the proposal, for the one hundred dollar bills she is paid after each trip to see the gangster is not justification enough, given the ease with which she gets fifty dollars whenever she walks to the lavatory.
In the first scenes, the heroine does not have the key for the front door and hence calls upon Mr. Yunioshi to open it for her – this character is played by Mickey Rooney and it has made history for the reason that the reputed actor has made a terrible decision in painting a repulsive stereotype, insulting for Asian people, a ridiculous depiction of a figure that speaks bad English and looks awful.

A writer moves in the apartment above, Paul Varjak, who has in turn to call upon Holly Golightly to open the front door for him, since he has received only the key to his apartment and nothing else – a place that is paid for and decorated by 2E Failenson, a married woman that seems to support the author.
Paul has written a book with seven stories that is now part of the collections in public libraries, as the heroine would discover when she visits one for the first, during a challenge to involve in first time events with her neighbor and new friend.

Nevertheless, the young, handsome writer has failed to create anything else, suffering from blockage, lack of inspiration and relying on 2E to provide money, up to the point where he finds he is in love.
Holly Golightly does lead an easy going life as her name makes clear – she has another name, Lulamae Barnes and her husband appears one day at the entrance of the building, explaining the situation to Paul, how he had married a girl that was not yet fourteen – amazingly, many states in America do not consider illegal a marriage where the girl is under age.

Doc Golightly wants his wife to return to Texas, where he is a veterinarian and has four children and cares for Fred, Holly’s or Lulamae’s brother – this is the reason why she calls her new friend Fred – but the young woman tries to explain that she is not the girl he used to know.
She is a wild thing and he should know better, given the experience he has had taking an eagle with a broken wing in and a wild cat.

Holly intends to marry one of the fifty richest men in /America, under the age of fifty, Rusty Trawler, but he turns out to be a super rat.
The heroine does receive many banknotes, but her free spirit, expensive habits leave her with no more than two hundred dollars in the bank account.

She then decides to partner with the handsome Brazilian Jose da Silva Pereira, a man who has problems with the law.
During the party where he has the chance to meet Holly, the always-aggravated Yunioshi calls the police.

The would be president of Brazil is so worried that he finds his escape through the fire escape ladder.
Furthermore, when Holly is under scrutiny and suspicion in her turn, because she had been visiting the mobster and the police think that she offered help in contraband with narcotics, Jose abandons the woman he claimed he wanted to take to his country.
The heroine was reading books about South America, listening to tapes to learn Portuguese and then she is disappointed.

She should have seen that she has the most deserving knight in writing armor near her, all this time.
Paul Varjak is much more deserving than any of the claimants, suitors, rich useless figures that populated the life of the protagonist.

She refuses to see the obvious, the light, the good, and the worthy and in a scene-taking place in a taxi, the hero is finally overwhelmed and disgusted by this permanent refusal and throws a ring down.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a rewarding, wonderful motion picture, a classic one could say with confidence.

[Ovidiu Rosu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bundle of two books, and I bought it as I was interested in the first one, 'In Cold Blood'.

######### In Cold Blood
Brilliantly written, with tons of research done, and successfully avoiding subjective views of what happened, the book describes the true story around the murders of four family members from the fifties. The author reconstructs the events leading to the tragic night, how the four members lost their lives, and what happened after that. This is based on investigation reports and interviews with people related to the case.
There were a couple of events involving hitchhiking that really stayed with me. The book contains what the protagonists were thinking in those moments, and how unexpected twists altered the course of actions (for the best I would say).
The author did a good job in remaining factual and not demonizing the killers, letting the readers form their own stance, and understanding the whole picture.
Needless to say, the sad part is that the story is true, and it's not the only one; there are quite a few similar, or even worse.


######### Breakfast at Tiffany's
This has nothing to do with the previous book, and its only connection is having the same author. The novella has as main protagonist Holly, an eccentric, smart, beautiful woman, that interacts with a variety of characters. The story is said from the view of her neighbor, a wannabe writer that surprise-surprise ... falls for her.
This type of character excites a lot of people (based on the reviews), though I'm not falling in that group. I may be wrong, though what I'm seeing is a smart, beautiful woman that knows the power she has over the men around her, and takes advantage of that.

[Shashidhar Sastry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a gem

Reviewed in India on 17 May 2024

The first book in this duo-bus edition is gripping in the first half. Then it becomes tedious and too long. I skimmed over the last one third. It does have many superb lines and passages, e.g. "A citric smile bent Green’s tiny lips."
What I was really looking forward to was the second novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, especiallyas the movie with Audrey Hepburn is brilliant. It exceeded my expectations by a lot, and in unexpected ways.
Capote's created an unforgettable character in Holly Golightly--a magnetic mix of beauty, wit, innocence, lightness, knowingness, and goodness. Someone we love but know is impossible to possess.
My favourite lines, among many sublime ones I've highlighted in the Kindle edition, are:

"...she had to search for a blouse, a belt, and it was a subject to ponder, how, from such wreckage, she evolved the eventual effect: pampered, calmly immaculate, as though she'd been attended by Cleopatra's maids."

"Those final weeks, spanning end of summer and the beginning of another autumn, are blurred in memory, perhaps because our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words: an affectionate quietness replaces the tensions, the unrelaxed chatter and chasing about that produce a friendship's more showy, more, in the surface sense, dramatic moments."

"I love New York, even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it."

So three stars for the first and five for the second makes it four.

[Donna Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Capote's prose is lyrical, and oddly enough, I felt that suited him best in 'In Cold Blood' the 'true crime' rather than Breakfast at Tiffany's, a short story that I found overblown and indulgent.

I enjoyed both, though.

'In Cold Blood': Capote beautifully took me to that place and (of course, as it was written then) that time, evoking the feel of the midwest small town in the late fifties. I appreciated the varying viewpoints, and even the psychological input. I read up on the crimes after and find he did make some errors, by accident and purposefully on occasion, using his fiction talents in some cases to introduce pathos to the character interactions. I didn't go in expecting an absolutely rigid truth telling, and feel like he fictionalized a lot less than I expected.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: I've seen the movie, of course, but did not go in to the story expecting it to be the same. Ultimately, it felt overblown. Too long - oddly enough - for the amount of story there was, which was minimal. I did enjoy it though.

*Warning: there are many many appalling racial slurs, many of them from Holly herself. I am still wondering what Capote was doing, and I have to think they were purposeful to reveal the ignorance (ignorance meaning the lack of education and deeper thought) of her character, but now I'm interested to know if my interpretation is correct, or if they are merely a reflection of the timeframe of the story.

[Laura C · Rating 1 out of 5]

IN COLD BLOOD

I imagine that when the author was in high school and was asked to summarise text, he would have been incapable of removing a single word. He would then proceed to add his own words. Words from his teacher. The kid next to him. His Neighbour. And some random guy he spoke to three years ago. Anything at all he had heard about the subject. Or even remotely linked to the subject. And then he left school and became an author.

This was boring and the language was hard to understand. I didn’t want to finish this book but I pushed through. It was the exact opposite of what I look for in a true crime novel. There was no suspense as we knew who the killers were from the beginning. No big surprises in the story. Just a lot of boring and detailed information about anyone and everyone and their conversations. I almost cried tears of joy when I finished it.

Part of my 2025 Reading Challenge: Read a book that’s recommended by a friend


BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

I had higher hopes for this one as I know the movie is popular but I should have known that it would be written in the style of In Cold Blood where it was full of lengthy, detailed and boring conversations. Again the language was hard to understand. The plot was quite boring. Luckily it was a short book.

Part of my 2025 Reading Challenge: Read a book that’s in a genre you don’t usually read

[Soozee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holly Golightly is an individual spirit, living in New York and charming all around her. Her lifestyle is chaotic and dependent on men giving her money for services, or at least the promise of them, as well as visiting an old lag weekly in prison, for which she is paid. But she is very likeable.

Her neighbour is clearly in love with her and exasperated by her, as we follow her tribulations to find happiness and a good life.

Its a snapshot of life at that time, with all the pressures and disappointments life has to offer. I enjoyed it, its a very short read. Hard to equate the author with 'In Cold Blood' which was the other story in the book I bought; a totally different read.

[carl caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Cold Blood is truly a masterpiece. Capote wrote with the power of Hemmingway. His voyage into the minds of those affected by the crime is amazing. The disturbed pasts and anti social rage of two murderous psychopaths. The promising and gentle world of 16 year old Nancy Clutter, and her family. The community at large. Or the agonizing work of the detectives trying to solve a crime with few clues and no suspects. Capote displayed an understanding of human nature to rival Shakespeare.

Breakfast at Tiffany's must have been ground breaking. Still, a little hard to believe, even for fiction.

[Bennett Honstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this as a combo and will admit I didn’t read Breakfast at Tiffanys. Truman Capote is a very talented writer. In Cold Blood was really hard to put down but it was very descriptive in the way 4 members of the same family were brutally murdered. If you enjoy gaining perspective on what a criminal might be going through mentally before and after committing a crime then you will enjoy this book. It was an interesting book to read but it won’t be a book I read again.

[Sue Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breakfast at Tiffany s

Just brought the book for the Tiffany story. I was interested to see the difference between that and the film.
In the book Holly is a call girl and it's very much to the fore front of the story.
Although certain story element are reflected in the film the book is spoken through the neighbour the would be writer. Worth a read.

[Larry W Seibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never gets tired…

In Cold Blood is not my cup of tea. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, though, is a masterpiece. It has many wonderful New York moments and is a witty and touching, though unconventional, love story. Holly is an unforgettable character, and has solidly achieved for Capote the immortality that he likely desired.

[Jon Lisle-Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as its legend

The writing is spare, no unnecessary words. Essentially a character study leaving the reader wanting to make Holly Golightly's acquaintance. The writer misses her and so does the reader. If you want to become a writer, this novella is a great place to start.

[Mary E. Nichols · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why?

I read Breakfast at Tiffany's because it is a poem book of some respectable standing. It is one of the most ridiculously stupid stories I have ever read. Why it is acclaimed or was made into a movie is beyond my understanding! It was a waste of my time to have read it.

[Pamela Wasserman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truman At his best

Good research on the perpetrators Of the Clutter Family murders and the guilty men that did it. Probably Capote's best work. Breakfast at Tiffany's was much better Green the movie but i did keep seeing Audrey Hepburn instead of Capote's blond Holly Golightly.

[Tom Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful tale

A great story by a wonderful writer. Holly Golightly is one of the most unforgettable literary characters ever. Breakfast at Tiffany's is a must read!

[Cathy Mellouët · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Cold Blood ☆☆☆
Breakfast at Tiffany's ☆☆

[Catherine]

Always loved the movie but the book is unbelievably more beautiful

[Joe Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely book

Incredibly well written and enjoyable short story. Would definitely recommend to others. I would give it nine out of ten.

[Desollado · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that seems very mundane and almost vain, and develops into a masterful sour ending.

[Lee]

I did not like 'In Cold Blood".

[ForestGardenGal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology contains the following two books:

In Cold Blood
Breakfast at Tiffany's

I have reviewed each work under its own title, noted above.

In respect to the anthology, this particular Kindle edition was accurate, with few if any transcription errors; however, the Table of Contents was flawed in the it was missing not only the chapters (and links) for In Cold Blood, but entirely missing any link to the two separate books! Therefore, reading straight through both books presents no problem, but navigation directly to the second book is impossible without flipping through the entire first book, unless you add book and chapter bookmarks in your supported Kindle Device. Pretty basic flaw for an e-book in my opinion.

Both books were great, but being very different types of stories, it was a bit odd to see them paired in this anthology.

[Douglas E. Grudzina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually a little disappointed in both of these after all the hype they'd both received my entire life.

I had seen the 1967 Robert Blake movie of In Cold Blood, but had never seen the George Peppard/Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's. I just could not relate to any of the characters or their plights.

I liked Cold Blood more, but it seemed as if the beautiful prose that made the early chapters so hauntingly beautiful to read just sort of faded out. This may have been an intentional narrative choose on Capote's part, but the language was one of the features I was enjoying. Somewhere around the part when the murders occur, it becomes just a straightforward narration of the facts of the case.

Maybe I should reread it as a record of Capote's own emotional/psychology state while he was working on the project.

[Carolyn DeGirolamo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breakfast at Tiffanys was not what I expected and not a great read. I haven't seen the movie but I will try to see it now just to compare it to the book. I was on a Truman Capote theme after seeing the "Feud" series that portrayed Truman and his "Swans". Time to move on.

[James Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Work

Two of Truman Capote's greatest works side by side. A completely different experience reading them both. But excellent all the way through.