Capote, Truman

Capote, Truman (1924–84), New Orleans‐born author whose novels are Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), about a homosexually inclined boy painfully groping toward maturity; and The Grass Harp (1951, dramatized 1952), about innocent people, old and young, escaping social restraint by living in a tree house. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) is a novella about a light‐hearted, amoral playgirl of New York, Holly Golightly. Tree of Night (1949) contains stories, and Local Color (1950) collects travel sketches. House of Flowers (1954) is a musical play set in a West Indies bordello. The Muses Are Heard (1956) is a witty account of his travels with the black cast of Porgy and Bess through Russia. In Cold Blood (1966) examines a notorious multiple murder. A Christmas Memory (1966) and The Thanksgiving Visitor (1969) are tales; The Dogs Bark (1973) collects essays and other short pieces; and Then It All Came Down (1976) contains interviews and comments on current criminal justice. Music for Chameleons (1980) is another collection of pieces, a true murder tale, some recollections, and short stories. Toward the end of his life Capote published a slight memoir, One Christmas (1983), about traveling to spend the Yule with his father. After his death came Jug of Silver (1986), a previously anthologized story for youngsters, and an unfinished novel, Answered Prayers (1986), serialized a decade earlier in Esquire, presenting a malicious view of high society.