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The Thanksgiving Visitor / A Christmas Memory
Companion tales: The Thanksgiving Visitor and A Christmas Memory in one boxed edition.
103 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1967
3 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Truman Capote
347 books7,306 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Truman Capote was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognised literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays.
He was born as Truman Streckfus Persons to a salesman Archulus Persons and young Lillie Mae. His parents divorced when he was four and he went to live with his mother's relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. He was a lonely child who learned to read and write by himself before entering school. In 1933, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her new husband, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born businessman. Mr. Capote adopted Truman, legally changing his last name to Capote and enrolling him in private school. After graduating from high school in 1942, Truman Capote began his regular job as a copy boy at The New Yorker. During this time, he also began his career as a writer, publishing many short stories which introduced him into a circle of literary critics. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, published in 1948, stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks and became controversial because of the photograph of Capote used to promote the novel, posing seductively and gazing into the camera.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Capote remained prolific producing both fiction and non-fiction. His masterpiece, In Cold Blood, a story about the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, was published in 1966 in book form by Random House, became a worldwide success and brought Capote much praise from the literary community. After this success he published rarely and suffered from alcohol addiction. He died in 1984 at age 59.
Truman Capote was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognised literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays.
He was born as Truman Streckfus Persons to a salesman Archulus Persons and young Lillie Mae. His parents divorced when he was four and he went to live with his mother's relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. He was a lonely child who learned to read and write by himself before entering school. In 1933, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her new husband, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born businessman. Mr. Capote adopted Truman, legally changing his last name to Capote and enrolling him in private school. After graduating from high school in 1942, Truman Capote began his regular job as a copy boy at The New Yorker. During this time, he also began his career as a writer, publishing many short stories which introduced him into a circle of literary critics. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, published in 1948, stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks and became controversial because of the photograph of Capote used to promote the novel, posing seductively and gazing into the camera.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Capote remained prolific producing both fiction and non-fiction. His masterpiece, In Cold Blood, a story about the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, was published in 1966 in book form by Random House, became a worldwide success and brought Capote much praise from the literary community. After this success he published rarely and suffered from alcohol addiction. He died in 1984 at age 59.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 24, 2017
Rating: 5 perfect stars
I am second to none in my admiration for Truman Capote's major work, In Cold Blood, but it isn't a feel-good read or an uplifting one. This story is both.
It is perfectly constructed. It leads the reader from room to room, place to place, experience to memory, without ever breaking the literary fourth wall. Yes, it's a memory, in French this form would be called a récit; but it's never Narrated By A Future Self. Seldom does a wide-ranging reader come across so perfect an example of a memory told as a story as ordinarily authors use this technique in order to comment on either the nature of or the facts within a memory.
Capote tells his adult readers what happened on one happy day and leaves them to it.
There is always an element of summary in any memory, in any récit (brief, streamlined novelish things that they are); here it is the outgrowth of listening to the man Capote's story instead of Capote Making A Point.
This is a favorite reading experience for me and has stood well the cruel test of time when periodically re-read. If this is your first reading of it, I am glad for you that you have found your way here. I hope to see you in our company again soon.
I am second to none in my admiration for Truman Capote's major work, In Cold Blood, but it isn't a feel-good read or an uplifting one. This story is both.
It is perfectly constructed. It leads the reader from room to room, place to place, experience to memory, without ever breaking the literary fourth wall. Yes, it's a memory, in French this form would be called a récit; but it's never Narrated By A Future Self. Seldom does a wide-ranging reader come across so perfect an example of a memory told as a story as ordinarily authors use this technique in order to comment on either the nature of or the facts within a memory.
Capote tells his adult readers what happened on one happy day and leaves them to it.
There is always an element of summary in any memory, in any récit (brief, streamlined novelish things that they are); here it is the outgrowth of listening to the man Capote's story instead of Capote Making A Point.
This is a favorite reading experience for me and has stood well the cruel test of time when periodically re-read. If this is your first reading of it, I am glad for you that you have found your way here. I hope to see you in our company again soon.
November 30, 2020
Check out my individual reviews on each story.
June 18, 2017
If I had to choose one piece of literature to be my all time favorite, it would be Truman Capote's, A Christmas Memory. I love The Thanksgiving Visitor as well, but next to A Christmas Memory, which is perfection, it is merely fantastically wonderful.
November 16, 2013
I hope I get to read more of this new-to-me author.
http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpres...
November 28, 2020
These two tender stories have at their core a young boy, Buddy, with only one friend, his elderly cousin, Miss Sook. The relationship they share may be an unusual one, but they complement each other, each fulfilling a need in the other one. In “The Thanksgiving Visitor,” a schoolmate who torments Buddy is invited to Thanksgiving dinner by Miss Sook. An action committed by the guest results in a surprising lesson that changes lives. In “A Christmas Memory,” Miss Sook and Buddy make their traditional fruit cakes, thirty of them, to give to special people. It’s a touching story, written in a lyrical style that differs from much of Capote’s other works. A passage from it was read at Capote’s memorial service, when Joanne Carson quoted Capote as saying that it was his most perfect work.
November 16, 2013
This book of two short stories ranks up there with Alice's Restaurant, A Child's Christmas in Wales, and A Christmas Story. It is both warm and fuzzy but with import. I'd recommend it for the seasons coming up; it evokes a lot of my own memories.
December 12, 2018
I just love these holiday stories about Capote’s childhood. What a moving story of friendship.
January 1, 2025
This third and final holiday story is told by Capote in remembering a Thanksgiving with his relatives and a sworn enemy. It is an account of how he was tormented by a bully. When the opportunity presents itself, Capote decides to take his revenge only to end up being the one who is taught a lesson. Although the reader can see what is coming, the book can't be put down.
A master of his craft, Capote's tale unfolds through the eyes of a child experiencing one of those many moments when lessons are learned the hard way.
I've enjoyed this trio of short stories and look forward to hunting down a copy of his first novel. Apparently his first novel was thought to be lost, but was discovered after Capote's death and printed for the first time in 2004. I'm on the hunt for "Summer Crossing".
A master of his craft, Capote's tale unfolds through the eyes of a child experiencing one of those many moments when lessons are learned the hard way.
I've enjoyed this trio of short stories and look forward to hunting down a copy of his first novel. Apparently his first novel was thought to be lost, but was discovered after Capote's death and printed for the first time in 2004. I'm on the hunt for "Summer Crossing".
December 24, 2020
Very well-written and poignant. I don't want to say too much here, but these short stories make quite a remarkable reading experience. A folksy style, an easy tone, and innocent characters might become trite in the hands of a lesser writer, but here, they are matched with the gritty reality and sorrows of life. I have read A Christmas Memory three times now, and each time, I am blown away, all over again, at the power of Capote's words, and at the incredible skill with which he uses them. I have read Christmas stories before. I probably have even read hundreds of them, and many are the same. But I have never read anything quite like these. Somewhat cynical, and still fondly reminiscent; bleak, sorrowful, and wretched, and yet strangely hopeful; these stories tell of separation and death, of irredeemable loss, and yet they offer a glimpse of something wholesome and never quite breakable.
December 22, 2024
I love everything about this book, including the packaging - the box with the picture of a young Capote ad his cousin Miss Sook. These two stories, just over 100 pages for both, provide a wonderful introduction to the holiday season. The Thanksgiving Visitor tells of Miss Sook's invitation to Thanksgiving dinner of the boy's 12 year old bully. A Christmas Memory tells of baking fruitcakes and other Christmas preparations of Miss Sook and the young boy.
I have owned and read this book a number of times and enjoyed it each time.
I have owned and read this book a number of times and enjoyed it each time.
October 20, 2022
I read this short story every year. It is heartwarming and so uplifting. Feels very autobiographical. Truman Capote at his finest.
January 12, 2025
This is the sweetest recollection of growing up and celebrating Christmas without money for huge gifts. But the better part of the story is the memory of his aunt, his best friend who celebrated all the best of the year with him beginning with the day she declares it is fruitcake weather and right up to Christmas morning when they share their excitement over the handmade gifts that await them under the tree.
My ached a bit when they were separated due to age and “growing up” by him heading off to military school and leaving her behind to carry on the tradition of fruitcake weather. The imagery of two heart shaped kites drifting toward heaven had me weeping. Just lovely from beginning to end for me.
My ached a bit when they were separated due to age and “growing up” by him heading off to military school and leaving her behind to carry on the tradition of fruitcake weather. The imagery of two heart shaped kites drifting toward heaven had me weeping. Just lovely from beginning to end for me.
December 15, 2024
Chin on my hands, eyes gazing up… full-attention mode. This guy can really pull you into a story. Each sentence is full of rhythm and imagery, yet he makes it seem so effortless.
I imagined his best friend (cousin) as Emily Dickinson—an older spinster who tamed hummingbirds and entered baking competitions. She said the Chrysanthemums were fierce like lions and that power of imagination made me love her all the more.
I imagined his best friend (cousin) as Emily Dickinson—an older spinster who tamed hummingbirds and entered baking competitions. She said the Chrysanthemums were fierce like lions and that power of imagination made me love her all the more.
January 6, 2026
Just a perfect little collection of tender, sweet, heartbreaking-and mending, stories.
March 26, 2016
Despite a very sad childhood, Truman had one shining star. His elderly cousin Sooke navigated him through a tough patch, teaching him right from wrong, and good from evil.
When he was dumped in rural Alabama by parents who did not want to be responsible in raising him, this bright, sensitive, lonely boy temporarily found an anchor in Sooke.
Bullied abusively by many, but in particular by a near do well named Odd, he dreaded going to school. Told by Odd that he was beating him to "toughen him up", Truman truly never did toughen up. Both as a child and an adult, Truman was an incredibly insecure person.
In this story, when he confesses to Sooke that he fears Odd, she explains that Odd and his family are poorer than most, that his father is not exactly a great man, and that his mother does the best she can.
Sooke tells Truman he must invite Odd to the family Thanksgiving dinner. Sooke paves the way, and Thanksgiving day finds Odd in Truman's company. Jealous beyond comprehension, Truman seethes when Odd is given attention by family members.
The opportunity for revenge strikes when Truman observes Odd stealing Sookes one and only valuable item -- an old cameo.
Deliberately embarrassing Odd, Truman waits for the opportunity to announce to those at the table that Odd is a thief.
Sooke becomes incredibly angry at Truman, berating him and noting that it is never right to deliberately exhibit cruelty.
Sadly, in the pages of the book Truman seems to understand this lesson. If real life, this adage is not carried through.
Five stars for this well-written, poignant tale.
When he was dumped in rural Alabama by parents who did not want to be responsible in raising him, this bright, sensitive, lonely boy temporarily found an anchor in Sooke.
Bullied abusively by many, but in particular by a near do well named Odd, he dreaded going to school. Told by Odd that he was beating him to "toughen him up", Truman truly never did toughen up. Both as a child and an adult, Truman was an incredibly insecure person.
In this story, when he confesses to Sooke that he fears Odd, she explains that Odd and his family are poorer than most, that his father is not exactly a great man, and that his mother does the best she can.
Sooke tells Truman he must invite Odd to the family Thanksgiving dinner. Sooke paves the way, and Thanksgiving day finds Odd in Truman's company. Jealous beyond comprehension, Truman seethes when Odd is given attention by family members.
The opportunity for revenge strikes when Truman observes Odd stealing Sookes one and only valuable item -- an old cameo.
Deliberately embarrassing Odd, Truman waits for the opportunity to announce to those at the table that Odd is a thief.
Sooke becomes incredibly angry at Truman, berating him and noting that it is never right to deliberately exhibit cruelty.
Sadly, in the pages of the book Truman seems to understand this lesson. If real life, this adage is not carried through.
Five stars for this well-written, poignant tale.
November 30, 2018
Truman Capote lived with some distant, elderly relatives in Alabama until he was 10 years old and was sent away to a military boarding school. He was especially fond of his cousin Miss Sook, who was quite childlike herself. This books recounts two tales from Capote's childhood. Both are rather somber affairs, the Christmas story more so than the Thanksgiving one. Don't expect to feel uplifted at the end.
Update:
I chose these 2 stories as my pick for a book club I am hosting in November 2018, so I reread them to refresh my memory. I actually liked them better the 2nd time around and raised my rating from 3 stars to 4, although I still find the stories bittersweet. I added "One Christmas" into the mix this time, which adds dimension to the other 2 stories.
I drew a definite comparison between these stories and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Capote's friend Harper Lee. The Odd Henderson and Walter Cunningham characters and story lines are practically interchangeable. (Dispel the rumor - Truman Capote did NOT play Dill in TKAM. That actor's name was John Megna. I don't know how that rumor got started.)
I found a 5-part video on YouTube of the 1968 Geraldine Page version that is a very faithful production of "The Thanksgiving Visitor". I couldn't find it on DVD anywhere, though.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Update:
I chose these 2 stories as my pick for a book club I am hosting in November 2018, so I reread them to refresh my memory. I actually liked them better the 2nd time around and raised my rating from 3 stars to 4, although I still find the stories bittersweet. I added "One Christmas" into the mix this time, which adds dimension to the other 2 stories.
I drew a definite comparison between these stories and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Capote's friend Harper Lee. The Odd Henderson and Walter Cunningham characters and story lines are practically interchangeable. (Dispel the rumor - Truman Capote did NOT play Dill in TKAM. That actor's name was John Megna. I don't know how that rumor got started.)
I found a 5-part video on YouTube of the 1968 Geraldine Page version that is a very faithful production of "The Thanksgiving Visitor". I couldn't find it on DVD anywhere, though.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
June 13, 2020
Home for the holiday is not applicable to people at some point in life and A Christmas Memory touches upon this emotion. Seasonal advertising is all about family returning home to gather, but ignores people who are not part of that "norm." After my parents passed on, there really was no home to return to for the holidays except in my memory or my own physical home. A Christmas Memory touches upon traditions with loved ones and what it feels like when that is no longer possible. The writing is lovely and Capote captures this neglected situation of the holiday.
Individuals who grew up with divorced parents can relate to the child's challenges in One Christmas. The absent parent seeking affirmation they are loved; spending time with a parent that feels like a familiar stranger. An interesting story, but not one I feel compelled to read more than once.
The Thanksgiving Visitor is an interesting story, but did not leave much of an impression.
Individuals who grew up with divorced parents can relate to the child's challenges in One Christmas. The absent parent seeking affirmation they are loved; spending time with a parent that feels like a familiar stranger. An interesting story, but not one I feel compelled to read more than once.
The Thanksgiving Visitor is an interesting story, but did not leave much of an impression.
January 1, 2017
Confession: I was supposed to read these when I was working on my thesis. I did start them and really liked them, but I stopped reading after a few pages once I figured out they weren't going to relate to my topic because, well, I had deadlines.
Anyway, I figured it was time to actually get around to finishing them, and I'm glad I did because they were excellent. They're superb examples of Capote's short fiction, which I think is highly underrated and is among his best work.
They're wry, witty, astute, hilarious, and poignant and well worth a read. Great holiday stories.
Anyway, I figured it was time to actually get around to finishing them, and I'm glad I did because they were excellent. They're superb examples of Capote's short fiction, which I think is highly underrated and is among his best work.
They're wry, witty, astute, hilarious, and poignant and well worth a read. Great holiday stories.
January 6, 2021
I found a collection that included these 2 stories along with "One Christmas". I can't actually say what I was expecting from Truman Capote but I can assure you it wasn't what I received. These stories are so sweet, charming and tender. The language and style are endearing and I wished that they would go on and on. I never read Breakfast at Tiffany's but have seen the film countless times. Yet, even that could not prepare me for the endearing voice found in these short stories. A really lovely surprise.
November 14, 2014
Found a beautiful old copy in a second hand bookstore! Boxed edition and fabric covered. Oh joy.
Love how honest he is, yet so gentle.
Cant wait to read more of Truman Capote. Wonder if he is another author like Roald Dahl - jumping from delightful children's fiction (Big friendly giant) to a thriller (Skin) to a sexy comedy (My uncle Oswald)?
Love how honest he is, yet so gentle.
Cant wait to read more of Truman Capote. Wonder if he is another author like Roald Dahl - jumping from delightful children's fiction (Big friendly giant) to a thriller (Skin) to a sexy comedy (My uncle Oswald)?
December 23, 2012
They weren't awful to read... the christmas stories both ended very sadly, and the Thanksgiving story was very anti-climatic, I was expecting something to happen and nothing ever did. So-so. Good for a quick read.
December 5, 2012
Till now the only thing I'd read by Truman Capote was "In Cold Blood." I was by myself at night and it scared me silly. I also watched Capote on tv and thought he was pretty strange. But this little book, read for book group, is beautifully written about his childhood and explains him a bit.
December 8, 2020
Truman Capote’s masterful ability to depict his characters, including himself, vividly and completely makes for a most beautiful autobiographical Thanksgiving narrative. The amazing gift of friendship and the lessons learned both strike and change this reader!
August 3, 2021
These are two wonderful stories so well written, that I felt I was there. The relationship between Buddy and his Ms. Sook, will live in my memory for a long time.
Truman Capote so descriptive, and beautiful in his prose, let me know that my mind was in the hands of real accomplished writer.
Truman Capote so descriptive, and beautiful in his prose, let me know that my mind was in the hands of real accomplished writer.
November 25, 2023
This was a pretty good Thanksgiving story, and Capote's writing style is terrific. I'd have to say that I enjoyed Louisa May Alcott's Thanksgiving story more, but both are nice classics for this time of year.
December 26, 2012
the version I read actually had three stories--two Christmas and the Thanksgiving one. All brilliant and beautiful tributes to his older cousin/friend who cared for him.
June 19, 2013
Well done, he writes well - clear description and characterization.
April 16, 2016
Rating for A Christmas Memory only.
May 9, 2014
I've read these two short books several times. They are sitting on my "most favorite books" shelf. I expect that I'll read these again in a few years.
November 28, 2014
Terrific autobiographical stories of Truman's childhood. Great for the holidays.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews