Customer Reviews

Children on Their Birthdays

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"Children on Their Birthdays" is an excellent 1940s short story written by Truman Capote which has been published many times over in various anthologies. Penguin has made the choice to finally make it the feature story in a very slim volume of its own. The book also contains two other popular Capote short stories - "A Christmas Memory" and "A Tree of Night." The main story is 32 pages, and the other two round out the 74 page book. The three stories provide a nice balance to the book because the final two stories are nostalgic and gothic, respectively, and each provides a nice contrast to the titular story.

The main story - "Children on Their Birthdays" is set in the American South and features a protagonist named Miss Lily Jane Bobbit, who arrives on a bus one afternoon and sets a sleepy southern town a-flutter with all her precocious ways and odd notions (for a preteen). The title character is a showcase character for Capote whose characteristics appear later in Holly Golightly, the protagonist for Breakfast at Tiffany's, Capote's most famous novella. Miss Lilly Jane Bobbit embodies youthful innocence mixed with adult wisdom with her devil-may-care ways. The town itself is very southern and is a prominent part of the story with its conservative atmosphere. The narrative involves young boys vying for Miss Bobbit's attentions and the mothers of the neighborhood being appalled at everything going on. The dialogue and various descriptions are all delightful to take in while reading.

As a short-story, this is a great read, definitely 5 stars out of 5. You will know this without a doubt after reading the first page. As for the book, I would rate it 4 stars out of 5. It is great to have by your bed stand for a quick read, or perhaps an inexpensive volume if you are a teacher assigning students short-stories to read (without breaking a textbook budget). There is no introduction of any kind, literary or not, but there are a few blank pages at the end of the book one could take notes on. This book might also be good for travel for those without an e-reader because it is so small - no bigger than a post card and less than 1/2 inch thick.