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Conversations with Capote
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
244 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
59 people are currently reading
683 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Grobel
63 books27 followersLawrence Grobel (www.lawrencegrobel.com) is a novelist, journalist, biographer, poet and teacher. Five of his 31 books have been singled out as Best Books of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly and many have appeared on Best Seller lists. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for his fiction. PEN gave his Conversations with Capote a Special Achievement Award. The Syndicat Francais de la Critique de Cinema awarded his Al Pacino their Prix Litteraire as the Best International Book of 2008. James A. Michener called his biography, The Hustons, “a masterpiece.” His The Art of the Interview is used as a text in many journalism schools. Writer’s Digest called him “a legend among journalists.” Joyce Carol Oates dubbed him “The Mozart of Interviewers” and Playboy singled him out as “The Interviewer’s Interviewer” after publishing his interviews with Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Henry Fonda and Marlon Brando.
He has written for dozens of magazines and has been a Contributing Editor for Playboy, Movieline, World (New Zealand), and Trendy (Poland). He served in the Peace Corps, teaching at the Ghana Institute of Journalism; created the M.F.A. in Professional Writing for Antioch University; and taught in the English Department at UCLA for ten years. Since 2007 he has served as a jury member at the annual Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. He has appeared on CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Charlie Rose Show, NPR’s The Treatment, Marc Maron”s WTF and Adam Carolla’s podcasts, and in two documentaries, Salinger and Al Pacino’s Wilde Salome. His book, You, Talking to Me, highlights the lessons he’s learned from interviewing. His memoir, You Show Me Yours, takes him from the streets of Brooklyn to Marlon Brando’s island in Tahiti. Yoga? No, Shmoga! is his satirical take on staying healthy through stretching. His fiction includes 2 novels (Catch a Fallen Star, Begin Again Finnegan), a novella (The Black Eyes of Akbah), and 3 books of short stories (The Narcissist, Stuck, and Schemers, Dreamers, Cheaters, Believers). His most recent book is a memoir of his three years in the Peace Corps (Turquoise). His books are all available on Amazon and on his website. He is married to the artist Hiromi Oda and they have two daughters.
He has written for dozens of magazines and has been a Contributing Editor for Playboy, Movieline, World (New Zealand), and Trendy (Poland). He served in the Peace Corps, teaching at the Ghana Institute of Journalism; created the M.F.A. in Professional Writing for Antioch University; and taught in the English Department at UCLA for ten years. Since 2007 he has served as a jury member at the annual Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. He has appeared on CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Charlie Rose Show, NPR’s The Treatment, Marc Maron”s WTF and Adam Carolla’s podcasts, and in two documentaries, Salinger and Al Pacino’s Wilde Salome. His book, You, Talking to Me, highlights the lessons he’s learned from interviewing. His memoir, You Show Me Yours, takes him from the streets of Brooklyn to Marlon Brando’s island in Tahiti. Yoga? No, Shmoga! is his satirical take on staying healthy through stretching. His fiction includes 2 novels (Catch a Fallen Star, Begin Again Finnegan), a novella (The Black Eyes of Akbah), and 3 books of short stories (The Narcissist, Stuck, and Schemers, Dreamers, Cheaters, Believers). His most recent book is a memoir of his three years in the Peace Corps (Turquoise). His books are all available on Amazon and on his website. He is married to the artist Hiromi Oda and they have two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
August 1, 2016
Count on Capote to upset your equilibrium. Brilliant, outrageous and maybe a fantasist. We constantly hear, "Everyone has a right to his-her opinion." Perhaps, but very few have opines worth listening to. With Capote, you want to listen. In this entertaining 'conversation' he touches on everything from fame & sex to drugs & death. A friend often asks me, "Does soanso have an interesting mind?" Again, few do. Capote has a very interesting mind. On writers, some of his likes and dislikes:
Among the Greats : Flaubert, Dickens, Proust, Willa Cather.
Among the Goods: Thackeray, Trollope, Colette, Katherine Anne Porter.
The Stylists: Henry James, Turgenev. ("Faulkner fell into a style, but it wasnt a good style.")
Gert Stein's repetition: "A way of filling up the page."
Hemingway will "only be remembered for his short stories."
E M Forster,"beautiful prose." Virginia Woolf: "I cant think of a single novel that I like. But I love her criticism and I love her diary."
Sartre/ de Beauvoir: "God help us." Borges: "Very minor, but very good." Nabokov: "An artist." Thomas Pynchon: "Ghastly." Donald Barthelme: "Boring, fraudulent." Kerouac: "A joke." Saul Bellow: "A dull man and a dull writer." Joyce Carol Oates: "To read her is to vomit."
Eugene O'Neill: "Basically - an untalented man." (He cites Ten Williams as America's greatest playwright).
Isak Dinesen: "--should have gotten the Nobel Prize."
Graham Greene: "--or it should have been given to Graham. He wrote at least one fabulous book -- Brighton Rock. It's an incredibly beautiful, perfect novel."
Wm Golding & his Nobel: "One of the jokes of the century."
Oscar Wilde: "One of the people that I would have most liked to know."
Pop/trash writers: "I caused Jacqueline Susann's death. I was on TV and someone asked me what I thought of her. And I said, 'She looks like a truck driver in drag.' She fell out of bed...coughing up blood and never recovered. She sued me for a million dollars. She was told to drop the lawsuit because all they had to do was bring ten truck drivers into court..."
When asked if remarks can be literature, Capote replied, "No, but they can be art."
Among the Greats : Flaubert, Dickens, Proust, Willa Cather.
Among the Goods: Thackeray, Trollope, Colette, Katherine Anne Porter.
The Stylists: Henry James, Turgenev. ("Faulkner fell into a style, but it wasnt a good style.")
Gert Stein's repetition: "A way of filling up the page."
Hemingway will "only be remembered for his short stories."
E M Forster,"beautiful prose." Virginia Woolf: "I cant think of a single novel that I like. But I love her criticism and I love her diary."
Sartre/ de Beauvoir: "God help us." Borges: "Very minor, but very good." Nabokov: "An artist." Thomas Pynchon: "Ghastly." Donald Barthelme: "Boring, fraudulent." Kerouac: "A joke." Saul Bellow: "A dull man and a dull writer." Joyce Carol Oates: "To read her is to vomit."
Eugene O'Neill: "Basically - an untalented man." (He cites Ten Williams as America's greatest playwright).
Isak Dinesen: "--should have gotten the Nobel Prize."
Graham Greene: "--or it should have been given to Graham. He wrote at least one fabulous book -- Brighton Rock. It's an incredibly beautiful, perfect novel."
Wm Golding & his Nobel: "One of the jokes of the century."
Oscar Wilde: "One of the people that I would have most liked to know."
Pop/trash writers: "I caused Jacqueline Susann's death. I was on TV and someone asked me what I thought of her. And I said, 'She looks like a truck driver in drag.' She fell out of bed...coughing up blood and never recovered. She sued me for a million dollars. She was told to drop the lawsuit because all they had to do was bring ten truck drivers into court..."
When asked if remarks can be literature, Capote replied, "No, but they can be art."
February 9, 2011
Truman Capote gave free rein to his gossipy id in these conversations with Lawrence Grobel. Thus we learn that Greta Garbo hung two of her four Picassos upside down (allegedly), Adlai Stevenson was a very good friend (they lived together in London, allegedly), he loathed Jacqueline Onassis, and felt nothing but scorn for the work of Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Gore Vidal, Jack Kerouac, and Bernard Malamud, just to mention a few. Joyce Carol Oates (what she did to deserve it, I have no idea) comes in for the deepest bile: "She's a joke monster who ought to be beheaded in a public auditorium," "the most loathsome creature in America....I've seen her, and to see her is to loathe her. To read her is to absolutely vomit...She's written me extreme fan letters. But that's the kind of hoax she is." On John Updike: "I hate him. Everything about him bores me." (His evisceration of Updike is quite interesting, and what little I've read of Updike suggests Capote's stylistic analysis might be on the money.) Meryl Streep has "a nose like a chicken" and is "totally untalented." Capote reserves his undiluted affection for a tiny handful of people, including Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, and it's probably not accidental that they're long dead. If you lived long enough, you were bound to get on his bad side somehow.
James Michener, inexplicably, wrote the introduction to this book. When Grobel asks Capote who some possible Nobel prizewinners might be - might Michener fit the bill? Capote answers:
James Michener, inexplicably, wrote the introduction to this book. When Grobel asks Capote who some possible Nobel prizewinners might be - might Michener fit the bill? Capote answers:
Well, James Michener - it's a good thing publishers have him. I'm glad he's at Random House. They're my publishers. He keeps their cash flow flowing.
Have you ever read his work?
I never have, no, so I really have no opinion. He's never written anything that would remotely interest me. Why on earth would I be interested in reading a book called Chesapeake?
May 26, 2013
Truman Capote (September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was hired as a copyboy in the art department of The New Yorker at the age of 19 and was fired two years later. To me what came as a surprise was that he began writing at the age of 11, and that fact that he was so young when hired at The New Yorker.
This book was on my Kindle (I know, wrong edition, but liked picture) and I picked up from time to time between reading other books, so it took me a while to finish. Good thing, too, because it got somewhat boring hearing Capote say more than once what a great writer he was, how creative a person he was, what a precursor he was in the field of writing and how bad, terrible other writers were. Not only peers but Mark Twain? America’s favorite author? My, my, my, there was nothing wrong with Capote’s ego; that’s quite apparent.
It’s common knowledge that he was friends with and lived nearby Harper Lee (author of To Kill A Mockingbird) as a youngster in Alabama. Apparently one of the characters in Lee’s Pultizer Prize winning novel, was loosely based on friend Capote. Of course, Capote scoffs at all awards as set-ups, including the Pulitzer Prize.
This book is just what it’s titled, conversations with author Truman Capote by Lawrence Grobel over a period of time and at different locales, California, New York and other areas. There was a very enjoyable foreword by author James Michener who was obviously a close friend of Capote’s, and it seems to me, one of Capote’s handful of friends.
Capote was apparently an opinioned writer who was fearless in his response to questions. When asked if he liked a person, the answer was frank and immediate, no beating around the bush for Capote.
There was an open dislike between author Gore Vidal and Capote and at one time, Gore called Capote “a Republican housewife from Kansas with all the prejudices.” Ouch on a number of levels. One public remark, moved Vidal to sue Capote. Gossip filled the tabloids and gossip columns at the time on the open public animosity.
Capote was not only an author but quite a celebrity who moved easily in society’s circles (mostly in New York.) He loved all the publicity as much as he hated California.
His voice was so unique, high pitched and squeaky, as I remember it in the few times I heard him interviewed. Capote was short in stature with a definite attitude problem in my opinion from reading the book.
Photo taken when Capote was 23 by Harold Halma
Capote's Thoughts:
Disliked:
• Jackie Kennedy (claimed she lied on a specific she said/he said subject)
• Lee Radziwill (Kennedy’s sister for same reason as above)
• T. S. Eliot (…owes almost every to Pound (Ezra).
• Mark Twain (Now he was evil!)
• Joyce Carol Oates (…ought to be beheaded in a public auditorium…)
• John Updike (bores me, I hate him)
• Rod Steiger (worst actor that ever lived. The name makes me want to throw up.)
Liked/loves:
• Marilyn Monroe
• Graham Greene
• Noel Coward
• Fred Astaire
• Greta Garbo
Some questions and answers:
Q: It’s a question of learning to control the narrative so that it moves faster and deeper at the same time.
A: “Technically, I can maneuver just as well in both directions.”
Q: On comparing writing to other arts, such as music or painting?
A: I think it’s utterly separate.”
Q: Is short stoy the hardest form of writing?
A: “For the person who can really write it. Most people can’t really write it, so it doesn’t matter.”
Capote Quotes:
“…I have a very good sense of construction. I construct backward.”
“The Nobel Prize, to me, is a joke.”
“…I thought Lord of the Flies was one of the great rip-offs of our time. Complete steal from A High Wind in Jamaica.”
“Death is the central factor of life.”
In Cold Blood (chapter title and name of book)
Capote read a short piece in the New York Times about the murder of an entire family in a rural Kansas city. Since he knew nothing of the area, he decided he wanted to research the event and showed up in Holcomb, Kansas, the site of the murders, the day after the funeral of the four Clutter family members.
(It’s been documented that his childhood friend Harper Lee accompanied him to Kansas, however, Capote never mentions that fact in telling his story in the Conversations...)
Capote (with Lee’s assistance) got to know the residents and players in the unfolding murder investigation therefore got a ‘leg up’ on any other writers who were interested in writing about the event. The killers were found within six weeks of the murder while Capote was still research the killing and ongoing investigation.
Capote’s ‘leg up’ was the fact that he (with Lee Harper’s assistance) had gotten to know all the ‘players’ early and was able to interview them in depth as many times as they wanted. The locals knew Capote was a celebrity and apparently treated him as such which made his obtaining information easier than it would have been otherwise.
Further, Capote was able to interview at length the accused murderers getting to know Perry Smith especially. The other killer was Richard “Dick” Hickok who apparently did not develop the close relationship Capote had developed with Smith. Just prior to the execution, Perry Smith tells Capote, “Good-bye. I love you and I always have.” The book In Cold Blood was not published until after the convicted murderers were executed.
Capote says the book took him six years to write and he spent seven months on a Swiss mountain, mostly in solitude writing the book. The book, which appears to be unique in the field of novels at the time since it was considered a nonfiction novel.
Truman Capote was a fascinating person (character), a celebrity, author and to some, a great friend. This was a pretty interesting book in that I should have known but didn’t, that Capote sincerely felt he was the finest writer maybe, of all time. He thought very highly of himself, that’s for certain.
I’ll give credit where credit is due. I read In Cold Blood and gave it four stars and maybe should have given it five. Read it many years ago. This is a book for true Capotephiles. However, I would rather read his books than read this one again.
Since I did read it so many years ago, did not write review, however, Goodreads friend Jeff wrote an excellent review: In Cold Blood
This book was on my Kindle (I know, wrong edition, but liked picture) and I picked up from time to time between reading other books, so it took me a while to finish. Good thing, too, because it got somewhat boring hearing Capote say more than once what a great writer he was, how creative a person he was, what a precursor he was in the field of writing and how bad, terrible other writers were. Not only peers but Mark Twain? America’s favorite author? My, my, my, there was nothing wrong with Capote’s ego; that’s quite apparent.
It’s common knowledge that he was friends with and lived nearby Harper Lee (author of To Kill A Mockingbird) as a youngster in Alabama. Apparently one of the characters in Lee’s Pultizer Prize winning novel, was loosely based on friend Capote. Of course, Capote scoffs at all awards as set-ups, including the Pulitzer Prize.
This book is just what it’s titled, conversations with author Truman Capote by Lawrence Grobel over a period of time and at different locales, California, New York and other areas. There was a very enjoyable foreword by author James Michener who was obviously a close friend of Capote’s, and it seems to me, one of Capote’s handful of friends.
Capote was apparently an opinioned writer who was fearless in his response to questions. When asked if he liked a person, the answer was frank and immediate, no beating around the bush for Capote.
There was an open dislike between author Gore Vidal and Capote and at one time, Gore called Capote “a Republican housewife from Kansas with all the prejudices.” Ouch on a number of levels. One public remark, moved Vidal to sue Capote. Gossip filled the tabloids and gossip columns at the time on the open public animosity.
Capote was not only an author but quite a celebrity who moved easily in society’s circles (mostly in New York.) He loved all the publicity as much as he hated California.
His voice was so unique, high pitched and squeaky, as I remember it in the few times I heard him interviewed. Capote was short in stature with a definite attitude problem in my opinion from reading the book.
Photo taken when Capote was 23 by Harold Halma
Capote's Thoughts:
Disliked:
• Jackie Kennedy (claimed she lied on a specific she said/he said subject)
• Lee Radziwill (Kennedy’s sister for same reason as above)
• T. S. Eliot (…owes almost every to Pound (Ezra).
• Mark Twain (Now he was evil!)
• Joyce Carol Oates (…ought to be beheaded in a public auditorium…)
• John Updike (bores me, I hate him)
• Rod Steiger (worst actor that ever lived. The name makes me want to throw up.)
Liked/loves:
• Marilyn Monroe
• Graham Greene
• Noel Coward
• Fred Astaire
• Greta Garbo
Some questions and answers:
Q: It’s a question of learning to control the narrative so that it moves faster and deeper at the same time.
A: “Technically, I can maneuver just as well in both directions.”
Q: On comparing writing to other arts, such as music or painting?
A: I think it’s utterly separate.”
Q: Is short stoy the hardest form of writing?
A: “For the person who can really write it. Most people can’t really write it, so it doesn’t matter.”
Capote Quotes:
“…I have a very good sense of construction. I construct backward.”
“The Nobel Prize, to me, is a joke.”
“…I thought Lord of the Flies was one of the great rip-offs of our time. Complete steal from A High Wind in Jamaica.”
“Death is the central factor of life.”
In Cold Blood (chapter title and name of book)
Capote read a short piece in the New York Times about the murder of an entire family in a rural Kansas city. Since he knew nothing of the area, he decided he wanted to research the event and showed up in Holcomb, Kansas, the site of the murders, the day after the funeral of the four Clutter family members.
(It’s been documented that his childhood friend Harper Lee accompanied him to Kansas, however, Capote never mentions that fact in telling his story in the Conversations...)
Capote (with Lee’s assistance) got to know the residents and players in the unfolding murder investigation therefore got a ‘leg up’ on any other writers who were interested in writing about the event. The killers were found within six weeks of the murder while Capote was still research the killing and ongoing investigation.
Capote’s ‘leg up’ was the fact that he (with Lee Harper’s assistance) had gotten to know all the ‘players’ early and was able to interview them in depth as many times as they wanted. The locals knew Capote was a celebrity and apparently treated him as such which made his obtaining information easier than it would have been otherwise.
Further, Capote was able to interview at length the accused murderers getting to know Perry Smith especially. The other killer was Richard “Dick” Hickok who apparently did not develop the close relationship Capote had developed with Smith. Just prior to the execution, Perry Smith tells Capote, “Good-bye. I love you and I always have.” The book In Cold Blood was not published until after the convicted murderers were executed.
Capote says the book took him six years to write and he spent seven months on a Swiss mountain, mostly in solitude writing the book. The book, which appears to be unique in the field of novels at the time since it was considered a nonfiction novel.
Truman Capote was a fascinating person (character), a celebrity, author and to some, a great friend. This was a pretty interesting book in that I should have known but didn’t, that Capote sincerely felt he was the finest writer maybe, of all time. He thought very highly of himself, that’s for certain.
I’ll give credit where credit is due. I read In Cold Blood and gave it four stars and maybe should have given it five. Read it many years ago. This is a book for true Capotephiles. However, I would rather read his books than read this one again.
Since I did read it so many years ago, did not write review, however, Goodreads friend Jeff wrote an excellent review: In Cold Blood
February 18, 2018
A brilliant writer, unfairly discounted for his dissolute behaviour towards the end of his career. He may have been a car wreck in public occasionally, but he still wrote every day. If you read these interviews, you'll realize he had lost nothing of his rapier wit, nor his genius for writing.
December 30, 2017
FINAL RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Grobel: Do you think that remarks can be literature?
Capote: No, but they can be art
I believe that great interviewing can be considered a form of art. I think people underestimate how difficult it truly is to have people discussing their most personal issues while keeping your ears open for the smallest details without coming off as condescending or non-attentive. If there could be a master of the art of the contemporary interview, it would be Lawrence Grobel.
Grobel is not only respectful and calm toward those he's interviewing, he's very intelligent and does his research. He never conflates his opinions and asserts superiority with individuals he speaks with unlike a handful of journalists and most celebrity talk-show hosts.
So when I saw a 240-page long book where he interviewed literary master Truman Capote, himself, how could I not pass off such a tempting deal...and at $5.50? I was instantly smitten.
Capote is one of the most interesting men I have ever read about. If you are going to read about him, prepare to be mindf*cked a bit. You must take what he says with a grain of salt, as he garnered the reputation as being an egotistical, pathological liar. By the time I finished this book I found myself reading over some chapters in which I felt he contradicted himself. I'll let you draw your own conclusions for this one.
I've read about Capote before and came to the conclusion for a while that he was either a malignant narcissist or a sociopath. While I no longer find myself considering him to be malevolent, there are times in this book where I couldn't discern if he was legitimately a lonely, sensitive person who thought he could garner friendships with celebrities who pretended to be individuals they were not, or was a sociopath who wanted to exploit those living behind the facade of being "rich, famous, and beautiful" and their celebrity egos. Either way, he's an intellectual with a fiery spirit.
He's legitimately one of the most mysterious writers I've read about, which is quite amusing as he was one of the most prolific writer's and celebrities of his time.
I found Conversations with Capote to be entertaining, speculative, and though-provoking. A must-read for Capote fans.
Grobel: Do you think that remarks can be literature?
Capote: No, but they can be art
I believe that great interviewing can be considered a form of art. I think people underestimate how difficult it truly is to have people discussing their most personal issues while keeping your ears open for the smallest details without coming off as condescending or non-attentive. If there could be a master of the art of the contemporary interview, it would be Lawrence Grobel.
Grobel is not only respectful and calm toward those he's interviewing, he's very intelligent and does his research. He never conflates his opinions and asserts superiority with individuals he speaks with unlike a handful of journalists and most celebrity talk-show hosts.
So when I saw a 240-page long book where he interviewed literary master Truman Capote, himself, how could I not pass off such a tempting deal...and at $5.50? I was instantly smitten.
Capote is one of the most interesting men I have ever read about. If you are going to read about him, prepare to be mindf*cked a bit. You must take what he says with a grain of salt, as he garnered the reputation as being an egotistical, pathological liar. By the time I finished this book I found myself reading over some chapters in which I felt he contradicted himself. I'll let you draw your own conclusions for this one.
I've read about Capote before and came to the conclusion for a while that he was either a malignant narcissist or a sociopath. While I no longer find myself considering him to be malevolent, there are times in this book where I couldn't discern if he was legitimately a lonely, sensitive person who thought he could garner friendships with celebrities who pretended to be individuals they were not, or was a sociopath who wanted to exploit those living behind the facade of being "rich, famous, and beautiful" and their celebrity egos. Either way, he's an intellectual with a fiery spirit.
He's legitimately one of the most mysterious writers I've read about, which is quite amusing as he was one of the most prolific writer's and celebrities of his time.
I found Conversations with Capote to be entertaining, speculative, and though-provoking. A must-read for Capote fans.
April 21, 2025
Truman trovo sia sempre spumeggiante, brillante, ammaliante, tagliente e dannatamente un genio: un porto letterario sicuro, per me, al quale mi fa sempre piacere ritornare.
September 14, 2016
The only work by Truman Capote I'd read was IN COLD BLOOD, which I enjoyed in a unpleasant sort of way, and which I understood as a major breakthrough in journalistic literature. And of course I saw the movie of "Breakfast at Tiffany's." I was motivated into reading Grobel's "conversations" by Sketchbook's enticing examples of Capote's wit. And I was rewarded. Though not as amply as I had hoped. Rather, I was treated to getting acquainted with a man and author whom I had previously not paid much attention to. And he was worth knowing. Difficult, yes, but worthwhile. I'm not sure if he was the genius he, and many others, said he was. But he certainly was a distinct and colorful and very intelligent personality. I couldn't help but like him, though at times shake my head. And though he protested vehemently on several occasions over things others had said about him, I wasn't sure I believed him. But it doesn't really matter where the "truth" lies; that, after all, is part of his delightful, irreverent charm. I particularly liked his assessment of other authors, playwrights, and social celebrities. He had a sharp eye and keen perceptiveness. Though here again, I didn't always agree with him. But he made me think, and it was always fun. It was also sad. Truman had physical problems that he exacerbated with his life style, which wasn't always, or usually, "healthy." He died young, and not happily. (Yes, it is possible to die happy and happily. It's call a good death.) I am now going to read more of Capote's work. Thanks, Sketch.
July 20, 2017
Delightfully catty, devilish Capote dishes contempt, delivers commentary.
November 15, 2017
Nonostante il pochissimo sforzo messo nel fare le domande e collazionare le risposte, il genio di Capote emerge lo stesso, anzi più impietosamente vien da pensare che TC non avrebbe mai avvalorato una simile risciacquatura (ma fa venire voglia di rileggere i suoi scritti).
February 17, 2016
"Creo que juzgas a Truman con demasiada benevolencia cuando dices que es como un niño: se parece mas a una anciana dulcemente cruel." T.W
Una serie de entrevistas realizadas por Lawrence Grobel a Truman Capote durante los últimos dos años de su vida, entre California y Nueva York, y donde se habla de todo.
Truman nunca pareció tener muchos reparos para ser honesto y decir exactamente lo que pensaba de la gente, eso lo incluye a el mismo
"Durante toda mi vida he sido consciente de que podría coger un montón palabras y tirarlas al aire con la seguridad de que caerían en la posición correcta, soy un Paganini de la semántica"
Podría ser engreído sino fuera verdad. Capote hizo una serie de libros bellisimos, cogiendo cualquier tema, por el uso de las palabras y una particular sensibilidad hizo una literatura diferente teniendo como personaje principal a el mismo: Las ciudades que conocía, los pueblos perdidos donde vivió.
Luego se puso un reto aún mayor que revolucionaría el mundo de la literatura en su momento, y el periodismo para siempre: La escritura de "A sangre fría"
"Todo el mundo tiene su campo de especialización. El mio es el asesino múltiple."
En este libro decidió investigar el asesinato de una familia completa cometido en Kansas, con la mayor hondura posible; de donde sale no un libro de un crimen, sino el análisis de una sociedad que crea criminales y victimas.
" Me refiero a la exposición de un tema con características de Esquilo y sin moralizaciones deprimentes; a la precisa elección del vocabulario exacto; al despliegue de la tensión y del horror sin caer en lo patético; a la narración de una historia eminentemente personal, sin convertirse en personaje principal, y también a la exploración de un nuevo estilo de escribir novelas."
Como adquirió popularidad desde muy joven, y era rico, gay y brillante, lo recibían en los círculos más exclusivos de la farándula estadounidense, y él, que siempre había sido el foco de su propia literatura, aprovecha y nos cuenta todo de las celebridades que lo rodean.
"Toda la literatura no es en el fondo más que chismorreo"
Una entrevista que disfrutaran mucho aquellos conocedores de estrellas, actrices, bailarines y demás. Porque habla mal de ellos, porque Capote nunca tuvo pelos en la lengua.
"No se porque se ha enfadado tanto todo el mundo ¿a quien creían que tenían entre ellos, a un bufón de palacio? Pues tenían a un escritor."
Y dice, entre otras, cosas con las que no queda más que estar de acuerdo:
- No creo que William Burroughs posea el mas mínimo talento.
- Joyce me parece un escritor curioso. Me encanta su libro de cuentos "Dublineses" creo que es maravilloso. Sin embargo nunca me ha gustado otra cosa suya.
¿Conoce a Woody Allen?
- Tiene mucho talento, pero es bastante desigual. Puede hacer cosas bastante sorprendentes, y luego sale con algo completamente afectado.
¿De que fracasos ha aprendido mas en su vida?
- De todo lo relacionado con el teatro. Pero no la parte literaria, todo ese grupo periférico de nulidades que participan en un proyecto artístico y que en realidad tenían que estar vendiendo chicle delante de los almacenes Bloomingdale. Lo hacen imposible. Desperdicie tanto tiempo y tanto esfuerzo...bueno!
Por ser el mismo tan intensamente, por su búsqueda constante de amor, por su excentricidad defendida a toda costa y sobretodo, por la hermosa literatura que hizo y el personaje que construyó alrededor, es uno de mis escritores favoritos y deseo que sus plegarias hallan sido atendidas
"Ahora me tumbo a dormir, ruego al señor que proteja mi alma.
Y si antes del despertar debiera morir, ruego al señor que se lleve mi alma. Amén"
Una serie de entrevistas realizadas por Lawrence Grobel a Truman Capote durante los últimos dos años de su vida, entre California y Nueva York, y donde se habla de todo.
Truman nunca pareció tener muchos reparos para ser honesto y decir exactamente lo que pensaba de la gente, eso lo incluye a el mismo
"Durante toda mi vida he sido consciente de que podría coger un montón palabras y tirarlas al aire con la seguridad de que caerían en la posición correcta, soy un Paganini de la semántica"
Podría ser engreído sino fuera verdad. Capote hizo una serie de libros bellisimos, cogiendo cualquier tema, por el uso de las palabras y una particular sensibilidad hizo una literatura diferente teniendo como personaje principal a el mismo: Las ciudades que conocía, los pueblos perdidos donde vivió.
Luego se puso un reto aún mayor que revolucionaría el mundo de la literatura en su momento, y el periodismo para siempre: La escritura de "A sangre fría"
"Todo el mundo tiene su campo de especialización. El mio es el asesino múltiple."
En este libro decidió investigar el asesinato de una familia completa cometido en Kansas, con la mayor hondura posible; de donde sale no un libro de un crimen, sino el análisis de una sociedad que crea criminales y victimas.
" Me refiero a la exposición de un tema con características de Esquilo y sin moralizaciones deprimentes; a la precisa elección del vocabulario exacto; al despliegue de la tensión y del horror sin caer en lo patético; a la narración de una historia eminentemente personal, sin convertirse en personaje principal, y también a la exploración de un nuevo estilo de escribir novelas."
Como adquirió popularidad desde muy joven, y era rico, gay y brillante, lo recibían en los círculos más exclusivos de la farándula estadounidense, y él, que siempre había sido el foco de su propia literatura, aprovecha y nos cuenta todo de las celebridades que lo rodean.
"Toda la literatura no es en el fondo más que chismorreo"
Una entrevista que disfrutaran mucho aquellos conocedores de estrellas, actrices, bailarines y demás. Porque habla mal de ellos, porque Capote nunca tuvo pelos en la lengua.
"No se porque se ha enfadado tanto todo el mundo ¿a quien creían que tenían entre ellos, a un bufón de palacio? Pues tenían a un escritor."
Y dice, entre otras, cosas con las que no queda más que estar de acuerdo:
- No creo que William Burroughs posea el mas mínimo talento.
- Joyce me parece un escritor curioso. Me encanta su libro de cuentos "Dublineses" creo que es maravilloso. Sin embargo nunca me ha gustado otra cosa suya.
¿Conoce a Woody Allen?
- Tiene mucho talento, pero es bastante desigual. Puede hacer cosas bastante sorprendentes, y luego sale con algo completamente afectado.
¿De que fracasos ha aprendido mas en su vida?
- De todo lo relacionado con el teatro. Pero no la parte literaria, todo ese grupo periférico de nulidades que participan en un proyecto artístico y que en realidad tenían que estar vendiendo chicle delante de los almacenes Bloomingdale. Lo hacen imposible. Desperdicie tanto tiempo y tanto esfuerzo...bueno!
Por ser el mismo tan intensamente, por su búsqueda constante de amor, por su excentricidad defendida a toda costa y sobretodo, por la hermosa literatura que hizo y el personaje que construyó alrededor, es uno de mis escritores favoritos y deseo que sus plegarias hallan sido atendidas
"Ahora me tumbo a dormir, ruego al señor que proteja mi alma.
Y si antes del despertar debiera morir, ruego al señor que se lleve mi alma. Amén"
January 3, 2021
Scrivere era un’ossessione per Truman Capote, «semplicemente una cosa che dovevo fare e non capisco neanche io esattamente perché doveva essere così». Ma scrivere non lo rendeva troppo diverso da quello che era quindi, fin da piccolo, Truman inizia a inventare piccole bugie. Gli piaceva che gli altri pensassero a lui come a un bambino prodigio; per aumentare la portata del suo talento, poi, diceva di essere molto più piccolo della sua età e di non aver mai studiato seriamente. Parecchi anni dopo, durante una lunga intervista condotta da Lawrence Grobel, pubblicata da minimum fax nella raccolta Colazione da Truman, il nostro genio dirà che a sedici anni era già uno scrittore molto competente. È un libretto che consiglio a chi è incuriosito sia dal personaggio che dall’uomo.
Qui un approfondimento su Truman Capote
Qui un approfondimento su Truman Capote
January 30, 2023
An amusing and entertaining set of interviews with Capote not long before he died. While a lot of it is amusing, you do get the sense that his tongue is in his cheek most of the time. Grobel even adds his own side notes of verification or contradiction, which adds a little more veracity. if you want something a little more definitive, go for the two famous biographies by Plimpton and Clarke. For pure entertainment value and light reading, pick up this.
August 15, 2007
Grobel is a great interviewer, and his extended interview here (I seem to recall that it was actually a series of interviews) shows his abilities in full flower. Capote comes off as flawed, to say the least, but he's in rare form throughout and it makes for riveting reading. I'd say this book is a must for Capote's fans.
August 16, 2010
This was my first introduction to Capote. His other material is on my to read list. It gave a glimpse of what it would have been like to be a famous author in the 40's through the 80's and who's who in that period. He seems like an interesting but ridiculous person.
Currently reading
September 1, 2008Interviews with the tiny genius. Highly entertaining, filled with gossip and revenge. Look up "outrageous" in the dictionary and perhaps this book will pop into view...
April 25, 2017
Loved this format for a biography!
February 8, 2022
Nella prefazione a Musica per camaleonti lei scrive: "Quando Dio ti concede un dono, ti consegna anche una frusta; e questa frusta è intesa unicamente per l'autoflagellazione". Cosa voleva dire?
Volevo dire che qualunque dono Dio ci regali, saper comporre o saper scrivere, anche se è una cosa che ci dà piacere, sarà molto doloroso conviverci. È una vita davvero atroce trovarsi di fronte alla pagina bianca ogni giorno e doversi librare tra le nuvole e uscirne fuori con qualcosa.
(...)
Perciò la risposta alla domanda "I ricchi sono diversi?" è "Sì, hanno più soldi"?
No, no. La vera differenza tra le persone ricche e quelle normali è che le persone ricche servono a tavola delle verdure meravigliose. Delicate, piccole, minuscole verdure. Piccole cose fresche, appena colte. Cerealetti, pisellini, agnellini strappati al ventre materno. Questa è la vera differenza. Le verdure e le carni che servono sono tutte incredibilmente fresche e appena nate.
(...)
In Altre voci, altre stanze Dolores dice a Joel che è sorprendente quanto tempo ci mettiamo a scoprire noi stessi. Lei quanto ci ha messo?
Penso di aver scoperto il vero me abbastanza presto. Ci ho solo messo parecchio tempo a scoprire quanto posso resistere al dolore, quanto dolore posso realmente sopportare e continuare tuttavia ad andare avanti.
Quanto dolore prova adesso?
Non lo so. Quanto dolore prova chiunque di noi?
(...)
Lei ha scritto che nella vita esiste un punto di saturazione, in cui tutto diventa puro sforzo e ripetizione totale. Lei oscilla dentro e fuori da questo stato, oppure è una condizione stabile, legata alla sua natura?
Credo di oscillare dentro e fuori. Attraversi lunghi periodi in cui ti alzi la mattina e hai voglia di fare mille cose, e poi vengono periodi in cui non riesci nemmeno ad alzarti. Mi accorgo sempre quando sta arrivando un periodo di depressione perché non riesco nemmeno ad alzarmi dal letto.
(...)
La targa dice che è vietato entrare a piedi nudi o in pantaloncini, o ingozzarsi di panini al burro di arachidi e cose del genere.
Ma il suo avvocato non le aveva consigliato di mettersi un paio di pantaloni?
Mi aveva consigliato di togliermi i pantaloni e andare in un motel insieme a lui!
(...)
InMojave lei scrive che certe persone riconoscono la verità solo quando si ricorre a misure drastiche.
È vero. È inutile spiegarlo. È proprio come ho scritto. Certe persone non ammettono la verità su se stessi o su quello che hanno fatto fino a quando non gli dai fuoco.
Volevo dire che qualunque dono Dio ci regali, saper comporre o saper scrivere, anche se è una cosa che ci dà piacere, sarà molto doloroso conviverci. È una vita davvero atroce trovarsi di fronte alla pagina bianca ogni giorno e doversi librare tra le nuvole e uscirne fuori con qualcosa.
(...)
Perciò la risposta alla domanda "I ricchi sono diversi?" è "Sì, hanno più soldi"?
No, no. La vera differenza tra le persone ricche e quelle normali è che le persone ricche servono a tavola delle verdure meravigliose. Delicate, piccole, minuscole verdure. Piccole cose fresche, appena colte. Cerealetti, pisellini, agnellini strappati al ventre materno. Questa è la vera differenza. Le verdure e le carni che servono sono tutte incredibilmente fresche e appena nate.
(...)
In Altre voci, altre stanze Dolores dice a Joel che è sorprendente quanto tempo ci mettiamo a scoprire noi stessi. Lei quanto ci ha messo?
Penso di aver scoperto il vero me abbastanza presto. Ci ho solo messo parecchio tempo a scoprire quanto posso resistere al dolore, quanto dolore posso realmente sopportare e continuare tuttavia ad andare avanti.
Quanto dolore prova adesso?
Non lo so. Quanto dolore prova chiunque di noi?
(...)
Lei ha scritto che nella vita esiste un punto di saturazione, in cui tutto diventa puro sforzo e ripetizione totale. Lei oscilla dentro e fuori da questo stato, oppure è una condizione stabile, legata alla sua natura?
Credo di oscillare dentro e fuori. Attraversi lunghi periodi in cui ti alzi la mattina e hai voglia di fare mille cose, e poi vengono periodi in cui non riesci nemmeno ad alzarti. Mi accorgo sempre quando sta arrivando un periodo di depressione perché non riesco nemmeno ad alzarmi dal letto.
(...)
La targa dice che è vietato entrare a piedi nudi o in pantaloncini, o ingozzarsi di panini al burro di arachidi e cose del genere.
Ma il suo avvocato non le aveva consigliato di mettersi un paio di pantaloni?
Mi aveva consigliato di togliermi i pantaloni e andare in un motel insieme a lui!
(...)
InMojave lei scrive che certe persone riconoscono la verità solo quando si ricorre a misure drastiche.
È vero. È inutile spiegarlo. È proprio come ho scritto. Certe persone non ammettono la verità su se stessi o su quello che hanno fatto fino a quando non gli dai fuoco.
November 19, 2019
Here's a guy who had it all. At the height of his fame, which was from the time he was seventeen until his death, Truman Capote was pursued by The New Yorker, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Playboy, McCalls--by movie directors, high society, celebrities, and sometimes to their detriment (hello, Joyce Carol Oates, fangirl), his fellow writers. To classify Capote as a loose cannon would be an understatement; cannons take time and effort to reload. Capote was more a loose shotgun, using both birdshot and buckshot when taking potshots at anyone and everyone. A man with an endearing capacity for friendship, he reserved the vitriol-laced buckshot for his high profile contemporaries and former "great friends." The Beauvoir sisters, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer.
James Michener did an excellent, if patriarchal foreword here: Hang in there, Kiddo. We need you." But kudos to Lawrence Grobel, who managed to snag these candid, taped interviews with contemporary literature's enfant terrible, and did a wonderful job in capturing some essence of the artist and the man: the petulant, ebullient, bitchy genius that was Truman Capote.
* Having read most of Dominick Dunne's fiction and reportage, I can't help but compare his work with Capote's. Clearly, Dunne was the forerunner for Capote Lite.
James Michener did an excellent, if patriarchal foreword here: Hang in there, Kiddo. We need you." But kudos to Lawrence Grobel, who managed to snag these candid, taped interviews with contemporary literature's enfant terrible, and did a wonderful job in capturing some essence of the artist and the man: the petulant, ebullient, bitchy genius that was Truman Capote.
* Having read most of Dominick Dunne's fiction and reportage, I can't help but compare his work with Capote's. Clearly, Dunne was the forerunner for Capote Lite.
March 10, 2018
Only reason for 4 stars was due to work of Author....
The only reason I have this book rated as many stars as I do was based solely on the time, research and work put into it by the Author. Even though the Author was exceedingly kind to an exceedingly unkind man, he did not try to do a "snow job" on the reader. He left interpretation's of Mr. Capote's character entirely up to the reader and did a fairly good job of leaving his own personal opinions out of his biographical work. Though, it may be entirely tinged by my own opinion of Truman Capote, there were times when I felt the Author and I were "on the same page" regarding Mr. Capote's "truths" and factual truths. I'll admittedly own up to having a bit of a voyeur type interest in Truman Capote. It seems it's human nature to want to read the background and juicy tidbits of gossip on the repulsive celebrities as much as we do on the celebrities we admire! This book, while not providing anything new on Mr. Capote, was still entertaining.
The only reason I have this book rated as many stars as I do was based solely on the time, research and work put into it by the Author. Even though the Author was exceedingly kind to an exceedingly unkind man, he did not try to do a "snow job" on the reader. He left interpretation's of Mr. Capote's character entirely up to the reader and did a fairly good job of leaving his own personal opinions out of his biographical work. Though, it may be entirely tinged by my own opinion of Truman Capote, there were times when I felt the Author and I were "on the same page" regarding Mr. Capote's "truths" and factual truths. I'll admittedly own up to having a bit of a voyeur type interest in Truman Capote. It seems it's human nature to want to read the background and juicy tidbits of gossip on the repulsive celebrities as much as we do on the celebrities we admire! This book, while not providing anything new on Mr. Capote, was still entertaining.
June 21, 2020
I decided to read this one as part of my Pride Month reading. I think I’ve pretty much read everything I can find by Capote. I do think he was one of our more talented authors, and his short story “A Christmas Memory,” and then his novel “In Cold Blood,” are pretty much considered classics. But the guy was a jerk (Tennessee Williams called him “bitchy”) and it only got worse as he aged. Granted, there are many things that made him who he was, including drugs and alcohol, so I don’t want to be too judgy. But these interviews are hard to read at times as the man was an ass, and there’s a lot of fiction hidden in the truth.
April 4, 2022
Fascinating!
I have always had a fascination with Capote. This is a really unvarnished book about Truman Capote. One can only hope to meet a character if his stature. The author was unflinching in his questions and Capote gave some really insightful answers! This a pastiche of a lit of dam us people and Claire's thoughts about them. Capote wasn't afraid to speak his truth no matter how it might offend the golden people that he associated with and were in part his bread and butter.
I have always had a fascination with Capote. This is a really unvarnished book about Truman Capote. One can only hope to meet a character if his stature. The author was unflinching in his questions and Capote gave some really insightful answers! This a pastiche of a lit of dam us people and Claire's thoughts about them. Capote wasn't afraid to speak his truth no matter how it might offend the golden people that he associated with and were in part his bread and butter.
January 23, 2019
I was surprised by a great deal in this book from the end of his life. He had a wild array of opinions, esp. about women's rights and Reagan-era politics. He had beefs with a lot of people, and I can't imagine a series of authors wielding as much cultural power in the modern era. He was still highly articulate and clear despite some mountainous drug & alcohol problems. It was an engaging read and memorable.
May 23, 2021
this was an interesting collection of interviews. In a sense, it was difficult to follow, as the interviews seemed to bounce around. However, I think it was the nature of the subject( capote) more than the book. It gives a full picture of Capote, warts and all.It explores his feelings, grudges, grievances and predjudices. I have read a number of books about and by Capotes, and this really contributed to a good overall picture. I enjoyed this book.
December 30, 2024
"Colazione da Truman" è un'opera che illumina la personalità poliedrica di Truman Capote, evidenziando la sua capacità di affascinare e provocare attraverso parole incisive e riflessioni profonde. La lettura di questo libro non solo arricchisce la comprensione dell'autore stesso, ma incentiva anche un'esplorazione più ampia della letteratura e dei suoi protagonisti.
May 7, 2022
Entertaining and smooth reading.
April 5, 2024
Excellent!
March 24, 2025
ok this definately made me like him less which was kinda disappionting but whatever.
December 31, 2016
Veľmi zaujímavá kniha. Capote bol priamy človek s jedinečným názorom na život a ľudí.
January 6, 2023
I'm half way through the book. I've read almost everything written about TC. I think he lied his way through these conversations.
March 6, 2017
Sięgając po kolejną publikację znakomitego Lawrence'a Grobela o Trumanie Capote nie wiedziałem prawie nic. Nie czytałem żadnej z jego książek i - wstyd się przyznać - nie przypominam sobie, bym oglądał jakąkolwiek ekranizację jego prozy, ze "Śniadaniem u Tiffany'ego" włącznie. Dzięki Grobelowi poznałem jednak Capote tak dobrze, iż mam wrażenie, jakbym znał go od bardzo długiego czasu.
Dowcipny i złośliwy geniusz, arogancki oryginał, skandalista i obrazoburca, który przed Grobelem (i czytelnikami) odkrywa się całkowicie. Poznajemy jego - często kontrowersyjne - opinie o literaturze, muzyce, postaciach znanych z pierwszych stron gazet, politykach, aktorach i kolegach pisarzach. Najcenniejsze są jednak jego uwagi skupiające się na sztuce pisarskiej, procesie tworzenia prozy i poezji. Z całą pewnością Capote to jedna z najbardziej niesamowitych postaci kultury i popkultury. Grobel natomiast - w moim przypadku już po raz trzeci - udowadnia swój niezwykły talent do prowadzenia soczystych dialogów i zadawania interesujących i prowokacyjnych pytań. To po prostu kolejna książka, którą każdy miłośnik literatury i filmu winien przeczytać. Nawet, jeśli podobnie jak ja, nie wie nic o samym Capote.
A ja, w myśl porzekadła, że "lepiej później niż wcale" bez dalszej zwłoki zabieram się za "Z zimną krwią" i "Śniadanie u Tiffany'ego" Trumana Capote...
Dowcipny i złośliwy geniusz, arogancki oryginał, skandalista i obrazoburca, który przed Grobelem (i czytelnikami) odkrywa się całkowicie. Poznajemy jego - często kontrowersyjne - opinie o literaturze, muzyce, postaciach znanych z pierwszych stron gazet, politykach, aktorach i kolegach pisarzach. Najcenniejsze są jednak jego uwagi skupiające się na sztuce pisarskiej, procesie tworzenia prozy i poezji. Z całą pewnością Capote to jedna z najbardziej niesamowitych postaci kultury i popkultury. Grobel natomiast - w moim przypadku już po raz trzeci - udowadnia swój niezwykły talent do prowadzenia soczystych dialogów i zadawania interesujących i prowokacyjnych pytań. To po prostu kolejna książka, którą każdy miłośnik literatury i filmu winien przeczytać. Nawet, jeśli podobnie jak ja, nie wie nic o samym Capote.
A ja, w myśl porzekadła, że "lepiej później niż wcale" bez dalszej zwłoki zabieram się za "Z zimną krwią" i "Śniadanie u Tiffany'ego" Trumana Capote...
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