Music for Chameleons (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Truman Capote
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 809)
Read in April, 2006
I'd been teaching In Cold Blood for two semesters and used the preface to this to introduce In Cold Blood, so I figured I might as well read the rest of the book. This is late-period Capote, mostly a mishmash of personal essays, anecdotes, and a novella-length true crime story.
First of all, the preface makes Capote seem like a self-involved jackass (which he by most accounts was - remember the postscript to the movie saying he never recovered from writing In Cold Blood?), but it also reveal...more
First of all, the preface makes Capote seem like a self-involved jackass (which he by most accounts was - remember the postscript to the movie saying he never recovered from writing In Cold Blood?), but it also reveal...more
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Read in November, 2007
I liked the first two thirds of this book quite a lot. Capote was just an amazingly skilled writer, and his clean, thoughtful prose really worked for me. However, I found the last third (Conversational Portraits) pretty irritating. In the first part of the book, even though Capote is a character in all stories, and is a strong narrative presence, it didn't overwhelm the work. The third part, though, is Capote in full-blown egomaniac, name-dropping mode. I could've done without the nearly minute-...more
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First off, it may claim to be non-fiction but I'm going to call bullshit on the non-fictionality of some of these stories. I did a little research, and the "true crime" story Handcarved Coffins that forms the centerpiece of the book is not even slightly true. But just the same, it's riveting and probably the highlight (though the entire time I was reading it I kept thinking "no way is this story true"). The rest is sketches, some work, some don't. The title story does not...more
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Read in June, 2007
A collection of stories from Truman Capote. . . it's pretty good but I made the mistake of reading the intro and discovering what a pompous ass Capote was, and that tainted the book for me. Would he have been as good a writer if he wasn't so full of himself? The book definitely raised that question for me. I only read less than half of the stories, and still need to read "Handcarved Coffins," but after a few of the stories I began to be tired of his "revolutionary" (to paraph...more
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recommended to Amy by:
Taylor Rushing
I love Truman Capote.
I love his writing: how it captures the quality of life within a few pages, how it convinces me to yield to all of his views on life without even directly mentioning them. I love how Truman approaches writing, how he analyzes it, how he struggles through it until he finds the most pure, powerful and meaningful writing capable. And boy, is his writing effective. He, or I guess his writing helped me appreciate how every word has weight and importance.
My favorite par...more
I love his writing: how it captures the quality of life within a few pages, how it convinces me to yield to all of his views on life without even directly mentioning them. I love how Truman approaches writing, how he analyzes it, how he struggles through it until he finds the most pure, powerful and meaningful writing capable. And boy, is his writing effective. He, or I guess his writing helped me appreciate how every word has weight and importance.
My favorite par...more
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Read in October, 2007
If you can let go of petty fiction/nonfiction distinctions, and the fact that sometimes the most interesting people are self-centered (these are two major creative nonfiction complaints), you will adore this book. For one, I love Truman Capote; I love the way he values the quality of the prose over everything else. You might complain that there is no way he could possibly recall these conversations, but obviously they are filtered through his memory and experience, and they are gorgeous. The ...more
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Read in January, 1987
recommends it for:
everyone
I think it is safe to say that Capote was haunted by his early success with Other Voices, Other Rooms, the popularity of Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the burden of writing what Ernest Hemingway called, "the Classic American Novel," In Cold Blood. By the time that he wrote Music for Chameleons, Capote was drinking heavily and deeply depressed. This book is an pastiche of bit and pieces of Capote's writing. His interview with Bobby Beausoleil from the Manson...more
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This collection of short stories is a series of portraits of some of the people Truman Capote knew in his own life. There are people from his childhood in New Orleans, famous friends such as Pearl Bailey and Marilyn Monroe, and many other interesting characters.
Capote uses unique combinations of words and vivid imagery to bring the characters to life, whether he is describing their clothes, the smells around when he speaks with them, or the sounds they hear.
Capote also has a very strong...more
Capote uses unique combinations of words and vivid imagery to bring the characters to life, whether he is describing their clothes, the smells around when he speaks with them, or the sounds they hear.
Capote also has a very strong...more
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I love Capote's ear for dialog and eye for details. I like the work of journalists who combine the best of reporting skills with literary skills, and he's one of them.
Capote's stories have a lot more heart, sensitive protagonists, which I appreciate. He's not just going for that jaded, irreverent reporter's voice.
The imagery is so well done I can still see details from various scenes: the old woman at the piano while chameleons scurry across the floor; the vomit smell of the fortune te...more
Capote's stories have a lot more heart, sensitive protagonists, which I appreciate. He's not just going for that jaded, irreverent reporter's voice.
The imagery is so well done I can still see details from various scenes: the old woman at the piano while chameleons scurry across the floor; the vomit smell of the fortune te...more
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Read in April, 2006
recommends it for:
Yes
I know this is not the best book, but Truman Capote rubs me the right way. I loved this book- one of my favorites. A compilation of short stories, Capote offers the reader simple glimpses into sometimes simple, sometimes extravagant situations, so that in the end the reader can see some sort of universal thread of simplicity and gossamer running throughout all scenarios. Based on real events, one story involves a discussion with Marilyn Monroe at a funeral, another a discussion with a New York C...more
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Read in February, 2008
This is one of Capote's later books, mostly shorter bits in a direction that he described as arising from a desire to finally integrate all the kinds of writing he'd learned to do until then, fiction and non. He's lived enough at this point that he has plenty of names to drop and escapades to share, but probably less brain to manage it all with. He gets involved in yet another murder case, gossips with Marilyn, meets Willa Cather, interviews Bobby Beausoleil. It's not his best, but there is an o...more
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Read in August, 2007
This is a collection of beautiful, striking portraits. Capote forms characters, and I don't mean that in the literary sense of people in a plot. I mean they are wacky personalities, sometimes growing out of their landscape and other times defying it. I really enjoyed "Hidden Gardens" for its wonderful catch phrase of "Oh, honey, don't let me commence" and "Mojave" for its imaginative recasting of what a functional relationship can be. There is humor and t...more
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recommends it for:
any dingbat
First thing of capote's I read, and it was definitly interesting. Capote has a great eye for detail and a very refined prose style. Sometimes I think he drags on a little too long, but then he just doesn't like to leave anything out, and you have to respect that. There is one story in particular that was utterly disturbing, about a murdering bastard in Texas, that was handled with a lot of care and reported with appealing on pathos... intereting work to say the least, and some of the best as far...more
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This was the first book by Capote I ever read. I stumbled upon it on a bookshelf at a beach rental house and ended up taking it home with me because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind even though technically, I suppose, that would be considered stealing. To this day it might be my favorite book. I since gave that copy to a friend who told me that up until that point he had become totally disenchanted with reading, and that Music for Chameleons reignited his love of reading. It ...more
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Read in January, 1998
recommends it for:
people who like US Weekly
Truman was a pompous, pitiful ass, and Lord knows you did NOT want to get into one of his books--one of the few writers you can say about. With that being said, it is an utterly fabulous collection of celebrity and old money back in the good ol' days scrumptious scandal could be had--with your panties on!
I recommend reading this collection of short stories relaxing in your favorite lingerie, red nails, and a shaker of your favorite martini:) Bring on the Sin!
I recommend reading this collection of short stories relaxing in your favorite lingerie, red nails, and a shaker of your favorite martini:) Bring on the Sin!
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Read in January, 2005
I think the best piece in this book, Hand Carved Coffins, is even better than In Cold Blood - it is also true crime and so suspenseful and chilling that if you read it at home alone you will get scared. Also "A Beautiful Child," the best written portrait of Marilyn Monroe (she uses the word "shlong") and "A Day's Work", in which Capote spends the day going to people's apartments with a black maid, are hilarious and heartbreaking.
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Read in April, 2008
"Hand Carved Coffins" is definitely the best non-fiction account of amphetamine snake killings I've found so far in my young life.
I feel like the only thing missing from my edition was a little publisher's note at the end that was like: "Psyche! Yeah, he made it all up." That and a scene where Truman solves the murders by playing absinthe chess with the killer, then trusses him up with a Burberry scarf.
I feel like the only thing missing from my edition was a little publisher's note at the end that was like: "Psyche! Yeah, he made it all up." That and a scene where Truman solves the murders by playing absinthe chess with the killer, then trusses him up with a Burberry scarf.
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recommends it for:
Anyone
The Conversational Portraits in this book are not to be missed. "A Day's Work" is hilarious and sad, and "Beautiful Child" is the only story about Marilyn Monroe I can tolerate - it's good. Finally, "Hand Carved Coffins" is truly chilling. This book has a little bit of everything in it. I'm not wild about In Cold Blood, but I really love Truman Capote's short stories and essays and these are the best.
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This book was evenly split, half being fascinating, and the other half being flourid pretentious bullshit. But the half that is good, is fucking great, like Truman Capote getting drunk at a funereal with Marilyn Monroe, or going around to clean houses and smoke pot with his maid. Capote, while being a little too formal in his prose for my taste, is a weirdo of the finest variety.
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Read in January, 2002
recommended to Daniel by:
almodovarrecommends it for: everyone
Capote finally steps out from behind the imaginary curtain, ceases to be the invisible outsider and joins the fray. I love this book- it's funny as hell, truly sad, and totally engaging. From small character sketches to a full length true-crime novella, it creates a web of characters and events that begins to outline a more human surface to the enigma of TC.
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