Capote, << kuh POH tee, >> Truman (1924-1984), was an American author known for his distinctive, polished style. He was also a leading celebrity of his day, and his friendships with rich and famous people were widely reported. His best-known work is In Cold Blood (1965). It combines facts with fiction to tell about two drifters who murder a Kansas farm family.
Capote was born in New Orleans on Sept. 30, 1924, and many of his works have Southern settings. His real name was Truman Streckfus Persons. Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948) tells of a boy’s bittersweet upbringing in the rural South. A Tree of Night, and Other Stories (1949) and the novel The Grass Harp (1951) present eccentric characters and unusual situations. The short novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) depicts a light-hearted young woman in New York City. He wrote the book and lyrics for House of Flowers (1954), a musical set in the Caribbean.
Capote also wrote much nonfiction. The Muses Are Heard (1956) describes his trip to the Soviet Union with the cast of George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. Music for Chameleons (1980) mixes fiction, reporting, and memoirs.
Several books were published after Capote’s death on Aug. 25, 1984. They include an unfinished novel, Answered Prayers (1986); The Complete Stories of Truman Capote (2004); Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote (2004); and his first novel, written in 1943, Summer Crossing (2005). Capote’s essays were collected in Portraits and Observations (2007).
