Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)

by Truman Capote

book data

9,232 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 905 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		27%
4		40%
3		26%
2		4%
1		0%

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published

January 13th 1994 (first published 1958) by Modern Library

binding

Hardcover, 176 pages

characters

Holly Golightly, Doc Golightly

setting

The United States

isbn

067960085X (isbn13: 9780679600855)

description

In this seductive, wistful masterpiece, Truman Capote created a woman whose name has entered the American idiom and whose style is a part of the liter...more

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05/29/07

Jessica added it (review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: read-in-2007

Read in January, 2007

Holiday Golightly. She’s quirky, comical, and glamorous. She’s fashionable, in-the-know, and in-the-now. She’s lonely, lost, and waiting to be rescued. You couldn’t resist her charm if you tried, and you can’t help but fall in love with her.

Well, at least in the Hollywood film version. Capote’s original novella paints a darker portrait of Miss Golightly. Unlike Audrey Hepburn’s adorable Holly, who needs a knight in slightly-rusted armor to save her, Capote’s girl is ...more Holiday Golightly. She’s quirky, comical, and glamorous. She’s fashionable, in-the-know, and in-the-now. She’s lonely, lost, and waiting to be rescued. You couldn’t resist her charm if you tried, and you can’t help but fall in love with her.

Well, at least in the Hollywood film version. Capote’s original novella paints a darker portrait of Miss Golightly. Unlike Audrey Hepburn’s adorable Holly, who needs a knight in slightly-rusted armor to save her, Capote’s girl is a “wild thing” who cannot be caged, trained, or rescued.

I can’t deny that the film is a classic and is one of my favorites. Audrey Hepburn may be the epitome of glamour and beauty, and Hollywood’s Holly can’t help but absorb Audrey’s charm. By the end of the film you find yourself rooting for “Fred” to save her from the nonsense of high society, reunite her with the cat, and wipe away her case of “the mean reds” forever. That is Hollywood, after all, and we would expect nothing less.

But the real Holly, Capote’s Holly, can never be caged by convention. It would be hard to imagine her ever settling down and being content with Fred (regardless of the fact that he is an implied homosexual in the book. Hollywood seemed to have “overlooked” that).

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the book’s Holly is a Bad Person; she’s just more layered and real. Think about it – how many people have you come across who create a new persona for themselves, based on what they perceive others to desire? People who feign interest in the popular styles/entertainment/notable people of the day, just to seem like a Very Important Person and garner adoration, fame, and possibly fortune. I could name a few.

But we get to go deeper than Holly’s exterior and see the scared and lonely girl at the core. She is terrified of being a caged animal, but also tired of being alone. She wants to seem as though she’s making a holiday out of life, but struggles with the need for stability and the desire for freedom.

The book I read also included three of Capote’s most famous stories, and I’d be remiss not to mention them as well: House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas Memory. The three short stories are amazingly intimate and touching, illuminating different sides of human emotion. I have not read Capote’s magnum opus, In Cold Blood, but after witnessing his detailed descriptions and haunting perceptions of human nature in these shorter forms, I have added his novel to my “to-read” list.(less)

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02/13/08

Josh rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone

I'll admit the truth that this is the first "classic" I have read, and right now the only. I'm truly not a person that can read anything, so the fact that I finished this novella proves it is something worth reading. The actual story of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" I read from beginning to end in one sitting, sipping on my bottomless cup of coffee. This is not an amazing feat due to it's skimpy 103 page-span, but the way the story captured me amazes me still since as i mention...more

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08/05/08

Madeline rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: the-list, the-movie-is-better

This is getting shelved under "The Movie is Better" but honestly, I can't decide which version I prefer. Because I am indecisive, let's make lists.

Reasons The Movie Is Better:
-Audrey Hepburn plays a considerably less racist and foul-mouthed Holly, which is nice. But let's be honest: Holly could spend the entire movie snorting crack off a sidewalk and Audrey Hepburn would make it the most elegant and classy crack-snorting anyone had ever seen.
-Holly actually set...more

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07/08/07

Kristin rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in September, 2007

I liked this book quite a bit better the second time around. Holly Golightly got on my nerves before because of her easy existence, the way she depended on others, particularly unattractive older men, for money, etc. But, this time, I think I understood her more. She reminds me, in personality, not actions, of a friend of mine and I finally get it, get her. I guess I'm also bothered by men being attracted to this type of flighty, possibly bright but wholly uneducated woman. If you're smart,...more

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02/13/09

Lavinia rated it:

(review of isbn 0141182792)

bookshelves: 2009, ebooks, fiction

Read in February, 2009

I've seen the film (which is excellent, if you ask me) quite many times so I wasn't exactly blown by the book. But I loved it anyway.

***
The instant she saw the letter she squinted her eyes and bent her lips in a tough tiny smile that advanced her age immeasurably. "Darling," she instructed me, "would you reach in the drawer there and give me my purse. A girl doesn't read this sort of thing without her lipstick."

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04/02/08

Beckie rated it:

Read in April, 2008

I wanted to read 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' to understand how the man who wrote 'In Cold Blood' could have authored the basis for the Audrey Hepburn movie.

Here's the short answer: the novella is nothing like the film. There are certain plot points in common, and the character of Holly Golightly, and even a few strands of dialogue. But the relationship between 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', the story, and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' the movie is roughly that between 'The Little Mermaid,' the H...more

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11/12/07

Peter added it (review of isbn 0679745653)

Read in November, 2007

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a natural partner text for The Great Gatsby; it is full of wealthy, careless people, and at least one character is a country bumpkin transplanted into the bright lights of New York City.

Really, the novella is a character sketch. It’s a character sketch the same way One Hour Photo, the film with Robin Williams, is a character sketch. There are slippery little mysteries that unfold in both, but the mysteries are just excuses to talk about the central cha...more

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10/28/07

Alison rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: classics, fivestars, southernwriters

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: manhattanites, writers, searchers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

"No fooling the fat woman almost had me. She was yakking up a storm....The mockery of it! But it's all that's ahead for us, my friend: this comedienne waiting to give you the old razz. Now do you see why I went crazy and broke everything?"

I read this novella probably fifteen years after watching the movie. The film version is important because it allowed Audrey Hepburn to become Holly Golightly--a lost, free-wheeling young Manhattan socialite with a mysterious past. S...more

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03/04/09

Endah rated it:

(review of other edition)

Read in March, 2009

Biasanya, “peraturan”-ku adalah: baca bukunya dulu baru kemudian menonton filmnya, karena jika sebaliknya, maka imajinasiku jadi terbatas. Aku akan terkungkung oleh ingatan kepada filmnya selama membaca bukunya. Dan itu sebuah situasi yang sangat tidak nikmat dalam membaca buku.

Namun, sayangnya aku tidak selalu bisa mematuhi peraturanku sendiri itu. Banyak faktor yang menyebabkannya. Salah satunya misalnya lantaran buku terjemahannya terbit lama setelah filmnya dibuat. Ya, seben...more Biasanya, “peraturan”-ku adalah: baca bukunya dulu baru kemudian menonton filmnya, karena jika sebaliknya, maka imajinasiku jadi terbatas. Aku akan terkungkung oleh ingatan kepada filmnya selama membaca bukunya. Dan itu sebuah situasi yang sangat tidak nikmat dalam membaca buku.

Namun, sayangnya aku tidak selalu bisa mematuhi peraturanku sendiri itu. Banyak faktor yang menyebabkannya. Salah satunya misalnya lantaran buku terjemahannya terbit lama setelah filmnya dibuat. Ya, sebenarnya itu karena aku yang malas baca buku versi Inggrisnya. Habis mahal dan belum tentu ada di Indonesia (Alasan saja, padahal sebab utamanya adalah kemampuan bahasa Inggrisku yang minus :D)

Maka, ketika suatu hari aku memperoleh kesempatan nonton film Breakfast at Tiffany’s yang legendaris itu, tak kusia-siakan, walaupun aku belum membaca novelnya. Novel Truman Capote yang terbit pertama kali pada 1958 ini, edisi bahasa Indonesianya baru terbit awal 2009. Filmnya dibuat tahun 1961 dengan bintang utamanya si jelita Audrey Hepburn. Malalui film ini, Audrey Hepburn telah sukses menjadi salah satu ikon Hollywood. Ia akan selalu dikenang lewat perannya sebagai Holly Golightly ini. Beruntunglah ia, sebab awalnya Capote ingin lakon tersebut dimainkan oleh Marilyn Monroe.

Maka, karena aku telah melanggar peraturan, terjadilah hal yang telah kusebutkan di atas. Imajinasiku terpenjara oleh filmnya. Sepanjang membaca bukunya, mau tak mau aku membayangkan sosok Holly Golightly seperti Audrey Hepburn itu. Celakanya lagi, cerita di buku tidak sama dengan yang di film. Banyak banget bedanya. Dan apa boleh buat, aku harus mengatakan, aku lebih bisa menikmati filmnya.

Plot di film lebih disederhanakan. Karakter-karakternya juga tidak serumit dan sebanyak di buku. Pendek kata, banyak terjadi penyimpangan di filmnya yang konon telah membuat Capote kecewa berat.

Lalu, mana yang lebih bagus? Hmm…dua-duanya bagus. Namun, karena keduanya merupakan media yang berbeda, tentu saja masing-masing memiliki kelemahan dan kelebihan. Pada novel, peluang untuk menyajikan detail lebih terbuka. Juga kesempatan untuk menggali karakter tokoh-tokohnya lebih memungkinkan. Sementara film memiliki kelebihan untuk bisa menghadirkan cerita dan tokoh-tokohnya menjadi hidup dalam gambar yang bergerak. Apalagi jika ditingkahi oleh ilustrasi musik dan efek visual yang bagus, maka akan terjadi apa yang disebut: menghidupkan buku.Bukan mustahil akan lebih keren dari bukunya. Contohnya, The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson).

Karakter utama kisah ini adalah Holly Golightly. Seorang wanita muda yang memiliki masa lalu suram di sebuah desa kecil di Texas. Suatu hari ia kabur dari rumahnya dan bertualang sebagai wanita penghibur di New York. Bermodalkan parasnya nan rupawan, dengan mudah Holly memperoleh uang untuk mengongkosi gaya hidupnya sebagai wanita kelas atas. Kecantikannya memungkinkan ia segera diterima oleh kalangan atas New York. Ia mengencani banyak pria dari berbagai kalangan. Mulai dari selebriti Hollywood, pengusaha, hingga politisi. Konon, Holly merupakan karakter fiktif favorit penulisnya. Bisa dimengerti, sebab kekuatan buku ini memang ada pada pengkarakteran Holly yang istimewa. Kompleks. Jika kita harus mengingat novel atau filmnya, maka yang pertama kita sebutkan adalah Holly Golightly.

Seting cerita adalah New York tahun 40-an, masa berkecamuknya Perang Dunia II. Kisahnya disampaikan melalui penuturan tokoh aku yang dipanggil Fred, nama kakak lelaki Holly (di film bernama Paul Varjak), seorang pria penulis yang jatuh cinta pada Holly. Sepertinya, novel ini merupakan gambaran masyarakat elit New York tahun 1940-an yang hidup serba-glamour, setiap malam berpesta, minum-minum, makan enak di restoran mewah, berbusana mahal dari rumah mode terkenal lengkap dengan perhiasannya. Sebuah kehidupan yang dilakoni oleh Truman Capote selaku pesohor Hollywood. Karena itulah ia mampu menggambarkannya dengan baik.

Jika aku boleh menyarankan, lebih baik baca novelnya dulu sebelum menonton filmnya.***
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6 comments

03/02/09

Evan rated it:

(review of isbn 0141182792)

bookshelves: currently-reading-slowly, to-read

Read in March, 2009

As of this writing I still haven't read "In Cold Blood." It sits poised and ready on the stack as it has for months. In the interim I let my sister borrow it and she read and enjoyed it. But I realized that, other than a few short pieces, I haven't really read any true novels by Tru. And barring getting to his most famous book, I thought I might give this short and very famous story a go. I happened to again see the episode of Seinfeld where George joins a reading group to impress a gi...more

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05/17/08

snackywombat (v.m.) rated it:

Read in May, 2008

recommended to snackywombat by: Fans of Capote's short stories

Aw, I loved this book. Of course I've seen the movie and it's one of my favorites, but the book is so much more layered and darker. This is really Capote at his endearingly detailed and socially sardonic best. He excels at creating fully-fleshed and idiosynchratic characters-- he's a portrait artist, really. The narration of Holly Golightly's story through the lens Paul (or "Fred" as Holly calls him), a struggling writer perhaps less like a Capote than a John Cheever, sets Holly's char...more

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09/24/07

Jonathan rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: 11thgradebooksread

Read in September, 2007

Breakfast at Tiffany's was a book my father borrowed for me. I wanted to read something that was good and somewhat of a classic. Breakfast at Tiffany's fits this. The book is written in a very simple manner. There is few hard words to comprehend and the style flows nicely. Truman Capote is a good writer and has written books that I have read, including In Cold Blood. I find that the story plot is surprisely simple too.
It is about a young man who is unable to get a grasp on li...more

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08/14/07

Alison rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

Read in January, 2004

I am an avid (obsessive?) devotee of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the movie. I love Audrey, I love Mancini, I love orange cats and New York and parties and little black dresses. So I was a little apprehensive about reading the book, as I knew it was considerably different than the film, and I was afraid it might retroactively taint it somehow. But then someone gave me a copy, and I just couldn't resist. Before going in, though, I resolved to treat the book and film as two different but related entiti...more

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03/25/09

Ririenz rated it:

bookshelves: sastra-modern

Read in January, 2009

BREAKFAST at TIFFANY’s
Truman Capote

Gratisan….
Beruntungnya Aq dapat doorprise buku sewaktu ada acara diskusi Breakfast at Tiffany’s di NewSeum Café hari selasa sore minggu lalu.

Don’t wanna sleep, Don’t wanna die,
just wanna go a travellin trought the pastures of the sky
(tak ingin tidur, tak ingin mati hanya ingin berkalana di hamparan langit)

Dalam novel di jelaskan bahwa lagu inilah yang sering dinyanyikan oleh Holly sambil...more

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01/17/09

Paul rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

Read in February, 2008

Truman Capote's novella differs significantly from the great movie that was based on it. I first saw the movie in my late adolescence, and it's the characteristics and insecurities of that stage in life that the book and the movie reflect.

The two main characters are outsiders. They are Holly Golightly ('Traveling' her card says) and the nameless narrator. Unlike the movie, there's no romantic tie between the two. Their connection is an asexual friendship, which facilitates viewing th...more

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12/02/08

Antof9 rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: 2008-read, unfulfilling

Read in January, 2008

So this ended up being my first "read" of 2008. Actually, I started it in 2007, had 12 people to my house for Christmas, and finished it in 2008 :)

So. I have to say that I've known of this book forever. And I think, in some back corner of my mind, I always knew it was by Truman Capote. What I couldn't reconcile in my head was Audrey Hepburn, the previously-read In Cold Blood, the Robin's Egg blue of Tiffany, and the title of this book. Not to mention Deep Blue Somethin...more So this ended up being my first "read" of 2008. Actually, I started it in 2007, had 12 people to my house for Christmas, and finished it in 2008 :)

So. I have to say that I've known of this book forever. And I think, in some back corner of my mind, I always knew it was by Truman Capote. What I couldn't reconcile in my head was Audrey Hepburn, the previously-read In Cold Blood, the Robin's Egg blue of Tiffany, and the title of this book. Not to mention Deep Blue Something's song, to which I love to sing harmony. All these conspired to confuse me, and having never read the book or seen the movie, they've floated around in my head for years.

Now I've finally read the book, and although I liked it ok, I have to say it was rather a let-down. But I'm still excited to see the movie. Whether or not it actually goes with the book (as we all know what happens when books are made into movies), I shall see, but at least maybe then I will understand it all.

Oddly, I liked In Cold Blood, gruesome though it may be, better. Again, perhaps this book is suffering from a lifetime of something in my head that was inaccurate. Regardless, this book was just kind of "meh" for me. It didn't really go anywhere or do anything; just followed around one flighty girl who might or might not have been married to a Bubba and might or might not have been old enough to drink and who definitely aided and abetted a mafia guy, whether she was aware of it or not. Certainly Holly is a character, and I don't think her last name is a coincidence, but the book sort of stops there. Mr. Capote gets me interested with the Yunioshi picture right from the beginning. He intrigues me with the Bubba from Texas and the politician from ... Brazil? I've already forgotten and don't care enough to go back and look. Not a promising sign. So he gets me to ask a lot of questions and then never answers them.

The book goes nowhere and says nothing. Is anything resolved? Are any questions answered? Not really. There was no there, there.

I'm still interested in the movie, though :)

Now, will I bother with the short stories in the back when I've already read what I'd consider one unfulfilling short story?(less)

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11/22/08

Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: 2008-bookstack, movie-is-better, new-york-city, school-books

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Christina by: Mrs. Moncrief

For a final test grade in my English class this year, my teacher read us Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.

{For the sake of this review, and the fact that it was read to us so I don’t have my own copy at hand, I’ve included my review from class. Therefore the summary is mixed in.}

In an Upper East Side brownstone and the surrounding neighborhood in New York City, we meet Holly Golightly and the people in her life, a small group of characters that form the basis...more For a final test grade in my English class this year, my teacher read us Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.

{For the sake of this review, and the fact that it was read to us so I don’t have my own copy at hand, I’ve included my review from class. Therefore the summary is mixed in.}

In an Upper East Side brownstone and the surrounding neighborhood in New York City, we meet Holly Golightly and the people in her life, a small group of characters that form the basis of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Holly’s life is presented not through her eyes, but from the viewpoint of a lonely young man who becomes acquainted with her wacky ways during their brief time together.

When Holly realizes that her carefree nature has brought her more trouble than good, she not only has to face her present circumstances, but is also confronted with an internal conflict that threatens to disprove everything she’s ever believed in.

When Holly and the narrator, who remains nameless throughout the entire story, first meet, I got a taste for her character pretty quickly as Holly enters the man’s small apartment through his window, saying she had to escape from an unpleasant guest. And though the narrator finds her forward, outgoing nature intriguing, it struck me more as oddly bold and somewhat intrusive. This apparent contradiction between the way Holly is meant to be characterized and the way her character was perceived seems to be a problem that plagues Breakfast At Tiffany’s from start to finish.

This was the main reason why the story felt cold and contrived to me. Holly, who is supposedly a fun and wacky playgirl, came off as self-absorbed and contrived. Saying “darling” in nearly every dialogue was an example of this that I found especially perturbing. To make matters worse, the narrator is smitten with her wild ways almost instantaneously, and finds her absolutely enchanting.

Their chance meeting meant little to Holly, and she promised she wouldn’t bother him anymore. But the narrator replies that she should bother him more often. And when she continues to be flaky and unresponsive, you might expect that the narrator would get the message, and proceed to leave her alone. However, he continues to pursue her, until they settle into a somewhat awkward, one-sided friendship. Instead of being annoyed by Holly, he is utterly taken by her, which not only made him difficult to relate to, but also made him all the more desperate and not at all respectable in my eyes.

I had very high expectations for Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and anticipated a wonderful novel that would be a great finale to the year’s end. Unfortunately, though I did find the plot somewhat amusing, I was completely turned off from the story by its forced, unrealistic characters that failed to engage me. I found them impossible to relate to, and because of this didn’t find the novel particularly enjoyable, which was a disappointing outcome to a novel that is revered as a great classic.

I did, on the other hand, enjoy the movie.(less)

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06/21/09

Shonali rated it:

(review of isbn 0679745653)

bookshelves: all-time-fav, books-vs-movies

Read in June, 2009

"I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together. I'm not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it's like.... It's like Tiffany's.... Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it's tacky to wear diamonds before you're forty... "

Now when Holly Golightly says this, you believe her. As much as you think she is lying about her past life , you have to believe her . You believe her sincerest desire to ...more "I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together. I'm not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it's like.... It's like Tiffany's.... Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it's tacky to wear diamonds before you're forty... "

Now when Holly Golightly says this, you believe her. As much as you think she is lying about her past life , you have to believe her . You believe her sincerest desire to have the best of both the worlds. You wonder what's with her name ..But still you believe her..

This the only Truman Capote I have read ,but I fell in love with the book. Not because of the movie ,because its such a lovely book. Holly is a call girl , a high society,older men preferring kind and she is hardly an adult herself (nineteen something hardly). She is lives life the way she wants to and tells people things they wouldn't want to hear about themselves but that's how she is. We get to meet her through her neighbour ,that's our narrator, who befriends her and their frequent meetings give us a glimpse of Holly's life.

So what's her fascination with Tiffany's?? Here's what Holly has to say about it ," What I've found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits... " Now reading that line made me kind of sad. She needs to call a place home but hasn't yet found it but she is not complaining she is just keeping a look out for that ,something special.You got to sympathise with her.

Narrator realises that there is more to Miss Golightly than that meets the eye but she hardly ever lets anything slip out. Its thru people that come in to her life ,that we are introduced to the real Holly..But do we really get to know her? That would be a good question. Enigma , was my word for her..I so loved her character. When I finished reading it, I just couldn't get myself to believe that it had ended because it leaves you wanting for more of her quirkiness , more of her smart comments , you desperately want to know what happened to her . Because by the end of the book you are so into Holly's life .. Now that is exactly what makes it a very highly recommended read..
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05/12/09

Ben rated it:

Read in May, 2009

This book is as lively and colorful as ever. I only pray it doesn't suffer too terribly from the insipid movie version. All the amazing narrative devices--the risque dialogue, the neurotic characters, the unresolvable resolution, and the consummate loser point of view--were sucked right out of the screenplay: mostly by right of Hollywood conventions.

Nevertheless, this book merits serious consideration not only as a romance but as a towering expression of Americaness as well as a ...more This book is as lively and colorful as ever. I only pray it doesn't suffer too terribly from the insipid movie version. All the amazing narrative devices--the risque dialogue, the neurotic characters, the unresolvable resolution, and the consummate loser point of view--were sucked right out of the screenplay: mostly by right of Hollywood conventions.

Nevertheless, this book merits serious consideration not only as a romance but as a towering expression of Americaness as well as a revolutionary stance on language and grammar. Many of the sentences in this book were written with a wholly new view on the full range of the keyboard. I could make a very strong argument that Truman Capote has already experimented with most every hip new grammar and type style currently in print (I know I'm totally geeking out!) with Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Further, I found the narrative point of view very interesting... the stance of the writer is normally not one I like, but the stance of the failed or naive author does cast an interesting introversion over the text. When the narrator celebrates his first notice of publication--without pay--my little black heart leaped in mutual excitement (yet another narrative point the movie opted out of in favor of meritocracy; I can see the producer saying, "An unpublished writer as a lead?! No way, baby! Make him a well received gigolo with a well received book of short stories, baby! Now that's a character... get me Warren Beatty.")

Finally, one of the most interesting aspects of this book... and I'm not completely sure how its done... is that the narrator changes or grows through the course of the story. Truman Capote doesn't belabor the point but the protagonist is ultimately revealed as the narrator and Holly Golightly becomes the true antagonist with an almost erotic lack of narrative sexuality. And, what is with the names? Sally Tomato, Mag Wildwood, etc. When paralleled with the anonymity of the narrator and the cat, I'm still not sure if they're indicative of some kind of mixed up allegory or a further mystery of identity. There is a great deal we may never know about all the mysteries of the this philosophical treatise on superficiality and the authenticity of being a fake.
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05/26/09

Katie rated it:

Read in May, 2009

As much as I was enamored with Capote's words and style of writing, I was put off by Breakfast at Tiffany's a bit. I really just couldn't stand the Holly Golightly character--she's just the sort of New York wannabe I try to avoid in this city. And yeah, I know she's lost, she's a searcher, she's afraid despite her facade of wit and charm, but I just didn't find her appealing. Now, I don't think you have to find her appealing to like the book--she's supposed to be flawed--but it was just a bit gr...more

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"I knew damn well I would never be a movie star. It's too hard; and if you are intelligent, it's too embarrassing. My complexes aren't inferior enough: being a movie star and having a big fat ego are supposed to go hand-in-hand; actually, it's essential not to have any ego at all. I don't mean I'd mind being rich and famous. That's very much on my schedule, and someday I'll try and get around to it; but if it happens, I'd like to have my ego, tagging along. I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany's." More quotes...