The Complete Stories of Truman Capote (Vintage International)
by Truman Capote
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Read in June, 2007
this review first appeared on intraspace.blogspot.com
you may not know this - i hadn't clicked - but truman capote wrote 'breakfast at tiffany's', which was turned into a classic film starring audrey hepburn. a classic film which, while i'm mentioning it, you should watch. all this, by the way, really doesn't have anything to do with this review, except as a piece of trivia about truman capote.
reading short stories is probably a...more
you may not know this - i hadn't clicked - but truman capote wrote 'breakfast at tiffany's', which was turned into a classic film starring audrey hepburn. a classic film which, while i'm mentioning it, you should watch. all this, by the way, really doesn't have anything to do with this review, except as a piece of trivia about truman capote.
reading short stories is probably a...more
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bookshelves:
libraryread
Read in January, 2006
I couldn't remember having read anything by Capote, except perhaps a short story in English class. The recent movie (which I haven't yet seen) helped me decide to try out this collection.
I enjoyed nearly every story, even the more depressing ones. Several were definitely in the Southern Gothic tradition - "Miriam" with the spooky little girl who invades the life of a spinster, and "A Tree of Night", where a young woman returning home from a funeral is accosted on a train....more
I enjoyed nearly every story, even the more depressing ones. Several were definitely in the Southern Gothic tradition - "Miriam" with the spooky little girl who invades the life of a spinster, and "A Tree of Night", where a young woman returning home from a funeral is accosted on a train....more
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I don't know if many people realize that Capote was first and foremost a Southern writer and that identity touched everything he wrote. In fact he was the inspiration for Harper Lee's character Dill in "To Kill a Mockingbird." My favorite among his short stories is "Children on their Birthdays." A story that is funny, perceptive as only Capote can be, and reminds us about life gone too soon.
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Read in December, 2007
My book group is reading the short story "A Christmas Memory" this month and I could not get that from the library, so I got this book, which contains the story. By reading the introduction to the book, I learned that the story is somewhat autobiographical. The story itself is rather sad, I thought. I read a few other stories in the book and frankly, they are just a bit too weird for me.
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recommends it for:
elizabeth, malena, maura
Truman Capote's writing is perfect. Not the least bit pretentious. He brings out the disappointments people and situations can bring, but he does so with such a quick and clever wit that you don't feel awful after reading. I would have been one of his fag hags.
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Read in May, 2008
These were good but I feel like I didn't appreciate them as much as I was supposed to. Luckily, this book was a gift so I own it. So I'm going to put it on my shelf and re-read it later down the road. Sometimes I get more out of books the second go around, after some time has passed. I have a feeling that this will be true for Capote's short stories.
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Read in May, 2008
This made for interesting reading. There appears to be quite a bit of autobiographical material in these stories. I enjoyed the introduction, which gave intriguing information about Capote's life story. I remember him mostly as a talk show guest from the 70's. He was a good writer.
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Read in January, 1994
i LOVE LOVE LOVE Capote's stories! A Christmas Memory is one of our favorite tear producers each year, and his early story - Miriam - was one of the best Adult Storytime sessions I ever did - just a the kind of subtle, overwhelming horror you find in Shirley Jackson or John Collier.
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Read in March, 2008
Great, great read. In every story is a piece of Capote -- from the Manhattan wives to the children of the rural South. His characters are broken, sad and lonely. Beautiful narratives that range from the mundane and quiet to Twilight Zone-esque mind benders.
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Read in July, 2006
This book is delightful! It has a little of everything...the dark side of Capote and the light hearted Southern charm of books like The Grass Harp. It has even his earliest short stories that are really weird...
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I think I'm a short story junkie. This is a nice collection. I especially appreaciate "A Christmas Memory". This stuff is beautifully written but not to flowery and over my head. I recomend it to everyone.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
I've never been a HUGE Truman Capote fan (after reading In Cold Blood and the one that was published posthumously that I can't remember) until reading this collection. Short stories were his true calling.
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Read in September, 2006
"A Beautiful Child" makes you feel as though you have just spent the day with Truman and Marilyn Monroe... Sipping warm champagne in a Chinese restaurant on the Upper East side at 10 AM is classic.
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bookshelves:
classics-smartypants,
short-stories
this was just a great collection. i think taht there are probably a lot of people out there that are unaware of just how good of a storyteller capote was. this is a great place to find out.
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Read in October, 2007
I learned that Capote definitely improved as a writer as the years passed, His 1943 story is hardly worth mentioning, but A Christmas Memory and House of Flowers are quite fine.
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bookshelves:
if-you-dare-wear-short-shorts
Read in January, 2006
A Whitman Sampler with no strawberry or orange-filled chocolates. I regret reading this, as it tempered my regard for Capote. Let me be enthusiastic, dang it!
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There must be a story in this book about his Thanksgiving as a child. It is the best short story I have ever read, even better than a Christmas Memory
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Read in January, 2005
recommended to Jason by:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
"He’d always been willing to confess his faults, for, by admitting them, it was as if he made them no longer exist."
Truman Capote, "Shut a Final Door"
Truman Capote, "Shut a Final Door"
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Read in May, 2008
WOW! Amazing short stories. My favorites were the creepy, creepy 'Miriam' and the masterfully crafted storytelling of 'Children on their Birthdays.'
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Read in February, 2007
Monroeville, AL has this mural with a big mockingbird on it that says, "The Home of Harper Lee". Where's the mural for Truman Capote?
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.18 (265 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.16 (235 ratings) number of reviews: 32popular shelves
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quote
"He’d always been willing to confess his faults, for, by admitting them, it was as if he made them no longer exist."
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