Capote: A Biography [Paperback]

Gerald Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the man who authored In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's, as well as with nearly everyone who knew him, this absorbing, definitive biography follows Truman Capote from his eccentric childhood in Alabama to the heights of New York society. Featuring many photographs, this book also candidly recounts a gifted and celebrated writer's descent into the life of alcohol and drugs that would ultimately consume his bulldog spirit and staggering talent—but not before he'd hobnob with the likes of Grace Paley and Lee Radziwill, feud outrageously with Gore Vidal and Jacqueline Susann, and stage at New York's Plaza Hotel the sensational Black and White Ball.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"In this riveting biography, Clarke, former Time writer, depicts the sad sequence of sparkling achievements and overwhelming despair that marked the life of Truman Capote," commented PW . "Readers will be dazzled both by the life lived and the compelling skill with which Clarke brings it before us." Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Clarke breaks Capote's life into four sections: a childhood spent mostly with relatives while his self-absorbed parents staggered through their disorderly lives; his years of discovery, when he had the two great romances of his life, traveled the world, and found his voice as a writer; the writing of In Cold Blood ; and the destructive obsessions with drugs, alcohol, and lovers that followed. Clarke's analysis tends to be superficial and his research, though impressive, has gaping holes. He is strongest in his portraits of Capote's first lover, the literary scholar Newton Arvin; the parade of men who disrupted the last 15 years of his life; and Capote's "swans," the very wealthy women who became addicted to his seemingly magic touch. Paradoxically, Clarke fails to produce a full portrait of Capote himself. The chaotic figure will need to be studied from many angles: Clarke provides a point of reference. Rob Schmieder, Boston
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 636 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786716614
• ISBN-13: 978-0786716616
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and Melancholic to the Bone!, June 20, 2006

By 

Vivek Tejuja "vivekian" (mumbai, maharashtra, india) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Capote: A Biography (Paperback)

I am almost completing "Capote: A Biography" by Gerald Clarke and my head is still reeling from the after effects. I loved the book. I haven't seen the movie yet but I know that it is bleak considering the book is not a light read either. Capote's life has been contained marvelously in this book. It has character and a lot of substance.

I wonder why every genius's life is so melancholic. Capote's life was no exception either. Abandoned by his parents at an early age he was forced to stay with his old cousins at Monroeville, Alabama and kept fantasizing about the day his parents would come and take him away. The day did come and Capote met his first love: New York City. Mr. Clarke's description of the New York Capote grew up in and flourished as a writer is simply outstanding. You can almost see all the sights and inhale its smells. Capote - the name was that of his step-father who eventually adopted him and who Truman grew close to.

One would think that "homosexuality" would run strong in the book considering Truman's preference; however that is not the case. What is captured brilliantly is his rise from working as a copy boy for "The New York Times" to becoming one of the famous twentieth century writers. His flamboyance, wit, anger, a streak of bitchiness, lavishness, fastidiousness and ultimately is downfall. Everything that Capote stood for is interestingly written about. Right from his affairs to his one-liners to his impulsive behaviour and his kindness [which wasn't known to all] to the torture a writer goes through while working on a book [it took him six years to finish "In Cold Blood" which is now heralded as a modern classic] and the frustration when the accolades aren't enough. The book successfully depicts his many friendships with the rich and the known to the downfall when he published a part of "Answered Prayers" [his self-proclaimed masterpiece] in Esquire and the characters were based on his rich friends, who did not forgive him for that.

This is the first time ever that I am reading a biography of a writer's life and I am so inclined to pick up more biographies of my favourite writers. To want to know more about their lives. I think next on my list has to be either F. Scott Fitzgerald or Anais Nin.

What I also loved about this book was that Mr.Clarke does not mince words at any stage. It is as real and honest as any biography can ever get. Tragic life of a Genius and ultimately how he all drained it away! Absolutely Fantastic!

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lovely Bio of an artist, July 8, 2004

By 

Patricia Graham "bookworm1942" (Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Capote: A Biography (Paperback)

I ran across this book and hadn't thought about Capote in years and got it on impulse. It is just a wonderful bio and captures what Capote was and why he attracted such attention. It is hard to imagine what a youngster he was when he came on the scene and how he was so very loved. The book is full of lovely stories and famous people. The chapters on the "swans" was my favorite but his relationships, the accounts of his writing, his amazing ambition and ability to have devoted friends and ultimately his terrible end are written like a novel. Capote was generous, brilliant, kind, warm, seductive,vicious at times and utterly captivating. I now want to reread his books. But the accounts of his travels abroad, his long stays at wonderful quaint places and the "moveable feast" of his early life made me long to have been there. I loved this bio.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only as tall as a shotgun, but definitely more noisey!, January 17, 2006

By 

billy c bowden "Jett" (dallas, texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capote: A Biography (Paperback)

Give Gerald Clarke, the senior former Time Magazine contributor and author of Capote, a hand for manuevering his ethereal subject, Truman Capote, into a bear-hug, and pinning him decisively on the mat, in this immensely readable and well written expose/biography..I literally laughed out loud on numerous occassions, at bitchy quotes from Capote, particularly when asked about Jacqueline Susann, at that time the author of the best selling book in the world, "Valley Of the Dolls"..Not surprisingly, Capote was confounded and chagrined at the avalanche of her success, moreso when Johnny Carson popped the question on The Tonite Show what Truman thought about it's author Ms. Susann, and Capote snidely weighed in on her noteably dark, exaggerated, masculine features.."Well, to me she rather looks like a truckdriver in drag."..Capote always understood the head-line value of a zinger, and knew the public cherishes the over-the-top one liner long after all else is forgiven, or forgotten!..And Capote traded on his New Orleans bred "queenie" charm to barter his way into a clubby-high society world inhabited by his "swans", the wives of the wealthiest tycoons of that era..Clark debriefs in scholarly detail exactly how Capote trafficked on his wit and wile to move up the ladder, both professionally and personally, despite his miniaturish staure, baby-talk voice, and fey Oscar Wildeian mannerisms, he was a firecracker..And a dead-eye for exquisite, ante-bellum detail, with a musical, melodic ear for phrasings, reminiscent of F.Scott Fitzgerald, except possibly more refined, more psychological..Read this biography, and then see "Capote", the film, the section of this book that deals with "In Cold Blood," the gothic retelling of a senseless slaughter of an upright, God-fearing family in Kansas by two low grade drifters..You will appreciate the movie that much more, and too, realize how multi-talented Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the actor is, to have captured the chameleon qualities of this obvious bounder, and how Truman Capote was for a time the Man of the Moment in American Letters.