The author expands his reminiscences by documenting the renowned author's unfortunate shift in persona from prodigy to mascot for cafe society, in a memoir that draws on interviews with Capote himself
When still a boy, Brinnin's parents moved to Detroit, Michigan. Brinnin went to the University of Michigan for his undergraduate studies where he won three Hopwood Awards in 1938, 1939 and 1940. He worked his way through school in an Ann Arbor book store. During part of this time (1936–1938), Brinnin served as the editor of the journal Signatures. Graduating from Michigan in 1942, Brinnin went to Harvard University for graduate work.
From 1949 to 1956 Brinnin was Director of the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association Poetry Center, popularly known today as the 92nd Street Y. While there he raised the center to national attention as a focal point for poetry in the United States. He was, for example, the first person to bring Dylan Thomas to the United States and his 1955 book Dylan Thomas in America describes much of his attempt to befriend and help the troubled Welsh poet.
In addition to his work on Thomas, Brinnin published six volumes of his own poetry. Brinnin also wrote scholarly works on T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Truman Capote, and William Carlos Williams; and published three personal travelogues.
Brinnin taught in a number of universities over his career. At various times, he gave courses at Vassar College, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard University.
Brinnin died in Key West, Florida on June 25, 1998. His papers were left to the University of Delaware.
Brinnin give an intimate view into the mind of Truman Capote without intension. No cattiness, and a lot of respect that the kindest of person would find hard to do given Capote's self-absorption and abandonment of friends who get too close to his sun.
CAPOTE!!! The king. The goat. Love him or hate him (I love him), he's fantastic and Brinnin captures Capote's enigmatic character and affectionate yet off-putting nature incredibly well.
A quick read, but if you are not a Capote fan, it will probably be too peripheral. Unfortunately, the author divulges very little about his own life, which is a major disappointment. If Brinnin had been more honest about his own experiences, disappointments, life events, the novel would have been more fulfilling.