A Christmas Memory: One Christmas, and The Thanksgiving Visitor (Modern Library) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Truman Capote (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 12, 1996

Taking its place next to Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood on the Modern Library bookshelf is this new and original edition of Capote's most famous short stories: "A Christmas Memory, " "One Christmas, " and "A Thanksgiving Memory." All three stories are distinguished by Capote's delicate interplay of childhood sensibility and recollective vision.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Taking its place next to Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood on the Modern Library bookshelf is this new and original edition of Capote's most famous short stories: "A Christmas Memory, " "One Christmas, " and "A Thanksgiving Memory." All three stories are distinguished by Capote's delicate interplay of childhood sensibility and recollective vision.

About the Author

Truman Capote (1924-1984). Based on his own boyhood in rural Alabama in the 1930s, A Christmas Memory was orginally published in Mademoiselle in 1956 and later was included in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: The Modern Library; Later Printing edition (November 12, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679602372
• ISBN-13: 978-0679602378
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm & Heartfelt December 5, 2001

By Sandra Mitchell

Format:Hardcover

Truman Capote does an amazing job of telling us three delightful stories of a young boy's favorite Christmas & Thanksgiving memories. Told with the candor and innocence that only a child can hold, you'll fall in love with Buddy and his favorite Aunt Sook. Buddy's love and affection for his dear Aunt Sook are evidenced in how he refers to her throughtout the stories...always calling her "my friend." Buddy & Sook will feel like your friends too! Plagued by a painful childhood and seemingly drawn on Capote's own life, Buddy is the victim of his parent's bitter divorce and custody battle and ends up living with his spinster aunts & hermit like uncle. It is during his time living here, that he recalls some of his most cherished memories. You'll remember the troubles of your youth as well as be amazed at this young boy's insightfulness. A great holiday tradition would be to re-read this book once a year.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Three polished and charming stories January 26, 2001

By Mike Christie

Format:Hardcover

The three stories in this little book--it's a hardback only slightly bigger than a paperback, and barely 100 pages--are skilfully told and charming; all are based on Capote's southern childhood. "A Christmas Memory" is the most straightforwardly nostalgic, told in the present tense, and covering the Christmas rituals the narrator, a little boy, shares with Miss Sook Faulk, an eccentric little old lady who appears in all three of these tales. The narrator of "One Christmas" is six years old and the child of divorced parents. He travels to New Orleans by bus to spend Christmas with his father, and the story is about his coming to terms with reality, as much as he can. The third story, "The Thanksgiving Visitor", is the tale of how Miss Sook invited the school bully to Thanksgiving dinner one year, and what happened.

All three are perfectly formed short stories. The first two are sad, or at least nostalgic; the third, the longest of them, is surprisingly upbeat. Capote was witty, precise and talented, and these three stories are a wonderful showcase for his talents. Recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a book, but a priceless holiday tradition August 9, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

These wonderful stories touch my heart and stir my spirit like no other holiday stories ever have. If you can read these, and NOT recall people in your past who the stories remind you of, laugh or get a tear in your eye, you may need your pulse checked. Not only are they loaded with sentiment, humor, and emotion but Capote's incredible talent and style paint a picture that make these treasures even more precious

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read during the holiday season November 3, 2002

By The Pete VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I love this book! Plain and simple. I always save it for the holiday season though and never read it at any other time. It's become a holiday tradition.

The three short stories all take place in holiday seasons during the depression and feature the same setting and characters, so they form a nice group for a single volume.

"A Christmas Memory" is my favorite short story ever. I've read it every Christmas for six or seven years now and I have the same powerful, emotional reaction every time. I smile, laugh, cry, and daydream about my own memories every time I read it. No other story affects me like this one, and I think everyone will see a little of themselves or their childhood somehwhere in these pages.

The other two stories are very well done. I'd probably rave about them much more if I could value each on its own merits, but they do get lost in the glare of "A Christmas Memory."

Excellent literary work, but I really value the beauty, simplicity, and truth in these stories. Highly recommended for a holiday evening with hot chocolate, a lit tree, and Xmas carols playing.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, indeed, but so much more as well. December 21, 1999

By Stephen Richmond VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

While as other reviewers have stated, these three stories unfailingly and unflinchingly touch the heart and celebrate the spirit in ways far too many holiday tales only aspire to, Capote's stories, like his longer finished works like IN COLD BLOOD, are also pure literary delights. The characters of Buddy, Miss Sook, Odd Henderson, and Buddy's New Orleans father are richly individual and fully realized, yet resonant of some of the most colorful characters in the vast and lovely muddy swamp of Southern literature. Capote has often been reviled as a dissipate, degenerate, and decadent social butterfly, but these tales show him to hold the highest moral standards, of such degree that his defamers could never mete. The appeal of his work is wide and varied. There is a bit of the Dickensian in his characters as well as echoes of Faulkner, Tenessee Williams, Flannery O'Connoer and his chum, Carson McCullers. Stylistically, if one listens carefully, Poe and Melville, even Hawthorne and Cooper, and especially Capote's beloved Proust ring through and true. Truly, a holiday treat. Read it annually.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You can go home again! July 24, 2000

By "iloveprovence"

Format:Hardcover

Truman Capote is the champion of the human heart in these tales of childhood memories that echo the spirit of love and celebration that we all wish for and find in these pages. Keep this volume on your bookshelf to warm the hearts of yourself and your loved ones throughout the year, and especially during those times that we rejoice in the love we have for one another.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Holiday Stories! December 3, 1999

By Angie

Format:Hardcover

This book is a great gift for anyone on your list. My family reads the stories annually. Every southerner will relate to these characters.