What do you think?
Rate this book
Portraits and Observations
Perhaps no twentieth century writer was so observant and elegant a chronicler of his times as Truman Capote. Whether he was profiling the rich and famous or creating indelible word-pictures of events and places near and far, Capote’s eye for detail and dazzling style made his reportage and commentary undeniable triumphs of the form.
Portraits and Observations is the first volume devoted solely to all the essays ever published by this most beloved of writers. From his travel sketches of Brooklyn, New Orleans, and Hollywood, written when he was twenty-two, to meditations about fame, fortune, and the writer’s art at the peak of his career, to the brief works penned during the isolated denouement of his life, these essays provide an essential window into mid-twentieth-century America as offered by one of its canniest observers. Included are such celebrated masterpieces of narrative nonfiction as “The Muses Are Heard” and the short nonfiction novel “Handcarved Coffins,” as well as many long-out-of-print essays, including portraits of Isak Dinesen, Mae West, Marcel Duchamp, Humphrey Bogart, and Marilyn Monroe.
Among the highlights are “Ghosts in Sunlight: The Filming of In Cold Blood, “Preface to Music for Chameleons, in which Capote candidly recounts the highs and lows of his long career, and a playful self-portrait in the form of an imaginary self-interview. The book concludes with the author’s last written words, composed the day before his death in 1984, the recently discovered
“Remembering Willa Cather,” Capote’s touching recollection of his encounter with the author when he was a young man at the dawn of his career.
Portraits and Observations puts on display the full spectrum of Truman Capote’s brilliance. Certainly, Capote was, as Somerset Maugham famously called him, “a stylist of the first quality.” But as the pieces gathered here remind us, he was also an artist of remarkable substance.
Portraits and Observations is the first volume devoted solely to all the essays ever published by this most beloved of writers. From his travel sketches of Brooklyn, New Orleans, and Hollywood, written when he was twenty-two, to meditations about fame, fortune, and the writer’s art at the peak of his career, to the brief works penned during the isolated denouement of his life, these essays provide an essential window into mid-twentieth-century America as offered by one of its canniest observers. Included are such celebrated masterpieces of narrative nonfiction as “The Muses Are Heard” and the short nonfiction novel “Handcarved Coffins,” as well as many long-out-of-print essays, including portraits of Isak Dinesen, Mae West, Marcel Duchamp, Humphrey Bogart, and Marilyn Monroe.
Among the highlights are “Ghosts in Sunlight: The Filming of In Cold Blood, “Preface to Music for Chameleons, in which Capote candidly recounts the highs and lows of his long career, and a playful self-portrait in the form of an imaginary self-interview. The book concludes with the author’s last written words, composed the day before his death in 1984, the recently discovered
“Remembering Willa Cather,” Capote’s touching recollection of his encounter with the author when he was a young man at the dawn of his career.
Portraits and Observations puts on display the full spectrum of Truman Capote’s brilliance. Certainly, Capote was, as Somerset Maugham famously called him, “a stylist of the first quality.” But as the pieces gathered here remind us, he was also an artist of remarkable substance.
673 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
275 people are currently reading
1956 people want to read
About the author
Truman Capote
379 books7,148 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
April 19, 2015
Portraits and Observations, what a fitting title for this collection of poetic oddities and fluid cognizance. Capote's work is what you label belletrist, because be it fiction or nonfiction, the magnetism of his artful prose is the transfixing element. I was enthralled by “Master Misery,” and since then, I’ve bought Portraits and the nonfiction piece that helped transform journalism: In Cold Blood (which he discusses in this collection).
“I believe a story can be wrecked by a faulty rhythm,” Capote once said. “Henry James is the maestro of the semicolon, Hemingway is a first-rate paragrapher. From the point of view of ear, Virginia Woolf never wrote a bad sentence. I don’t mean to imply that I successfully practice what I preach. I try, that’s all.” Try, he did—I would venture to say he did more than try:
During the sixties, Capote spent some time around fame: Elizabeth Taylor, Harper Lee (in fact the character Dill, in To Kill a Mocking Bird, is supposedly him), Willa Cather, Louis Armstrong, and Tennessee Williams. He also spent some time quietly observing America (New York especially), and creating portraits of Europe through the written word. He was a writer’s writer and I wonder why he was never considered a travel writer, because I certainly would call him one.
The essays in this collection are a vast bunch—this is what I loved most about them; although I could have done without some of the longer (and perhaps more popular) ones. One minute you’re in Brooklyn, but soon, you find yourself in Venice, and then Haiti. One minute you’re reading about movie stars and murders, and the next minute, you’re gleaning behind-the-scenes knowledge of the writing craft, and everything that went into, In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and The Muses are Heard: “I wanted to produce a journalistic novel, something on a large scale that would have the credibility of fact, the immediacy of film, the depth and freedom of prose, and the precision of poetry.”
It's disheartening to think about the downturn his life (and writing life) took, the addiction and controversy, or the book he talked about for years but didn't get to finish. Still, we have his classics. And most of all, we have the poetic simplicity he so firmly believed in:
“I believe a story can be wrecked by a faulty rhythm,” Capote once said. “Henry James is the maestro of the semicolon, Hemingway is a first-rate paragrapher. From the point of view of ear, Virginia Woolf never wrote a bad sentence. I don’t mean to imply that I successfully practice what I preach. I try, that’s all.” Try, he did—I would venture to say he did more than try:
On winter nights, when the wind brings the farewell callings of boats outward bound and carries across rooftops the chimney smoke of evening fires, there is a sense, evanescent but authentic as the firelight’s flicker, of time come circle, of ago’s sweeter glimmerings recaptured.
During the sixties, Capote spent some time around fame: Elizabeth Taylor, Harper Lee (in fact the character Dill, in To Kill a Mocking Bird, is supposedly him), Willa Cather, Louis Armstrong, and Tennessee Williams. He also spent some time quietly observing America (New York especially), and creating portraits of Europe through the written word. He was a writer’s writer and I wonder why he was never considered a travel writer, because I certainly would call him one.
The essays in this collection are a vast bunch—this is what I loved most about them; although I could have done without some of the longer (and perhaps more popular) ones. One minute you’re in Brooklyn, but soon, you find yourself in Venice, and then Haiti. One minute you’re reading about movie stars and murders, and the next minute, you’re gleaning behind-the-scenes knowledge of the writing craft, and everything that went into, In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and The Muses are Heard: “I wanted to produce a journalistic novel, something on a large scale that would have the credibility of fact, the immediacy of film, the depth and freedom of prose, and the precision of poetry.”
It's disheartening to think about the downturn his life (and writing life) took, the addiction and controversy, or the book he talked about for years but didn't get to finish. Still, we have his classics. And most of all, we have the poetic simplicity he so firmly believed in:
Soothing, and also disquieting. The blackness, the longer one gazes into it, ceases to be black, but becomes a queer silver-blue, the threshold to secret visions; like Alice, I fell on the edge of a voyage through a looking-glass, one I’m hesitant to take.
February 9, 2023
This quote captures it all...
"Portraits and Observations puts on display the full spectrum of Truman Capote’s brilliance. Certainly, Capote was, as Somerset Maugham famously called him, “a stylist of the first quality.” But as the pieces gathered here remind us, he was also an artist of remarkable substance."
"Portraits and Observations puts on display the full spectrum of Truman Capote’s brilliance. Certainly, Capote was, as Somerset Maugham famously called him, “a stylist of the first quality.” But as the pieces gathered here remind us, he was also an artist of remarkable substance."
February 5, 2022
This book catalogs and celebrates Capote’s brilliant reinvention of journalism as a form worthy to be called a fine art. Essays written throughout his career are collected in this book, from Local Color to The Muses Are Heard to Music for Chameleons. The most successful of these essays are the ones centered around the fascinating people he befriended throughout his life and the portraits he creates of them to immortalize their world views in the span of a brief moment shared with him. This is especially true of his essays focused on celebrities that entrusted in him a glimpse into their psyches, from Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe to Elizabeth Taylor and Tennessee Williams. But there are also essays about his colorful relatives (such as his aunt Mary Ida Carter and his paternal grandmother) and his travels around the world (such as Tangiers and Greece). Here are some highlights of the essays included in this book:
Hollywood: “A teacher here recently gave a vocabulary test in which she asked her students to provide the antonym of youth. Over half the class answered death”
To Europe: “I was not a part of Europe, I never would be. Safe, I could leave when I wanted to, and for me there was only the honeyed, hallowed air of beauty.”
The Duke of His Domain - Marlon Brando: “‘They don’t know what’s happening. Before they realize it. They’re all entangled, involved. I have them. And suddenly, sometimes, I’m all they have.’l
Pablo Picasso: “Born in Malaga, Spain, a country of figs and stone and guitars, Picasso was a child prodigy who stayed one: that is, remained a prodigy and something of a child, a man inhabited by a boy’s fooling-around impatience, hatred of system, fresh-eyed curiosity.”
Louis Armstrong: “For me the sweet angel of Armstrong’s trumpet, the froggy exuberance of his cone-to-be-baby mouthing, are a piece of Proust’s Madeleine cake: they make Mississippi moons rise again, summon the muddy lights of river towns, the sound, like an alligator’s yawn, of river horns.”
Lola: “One day it occurred to me that Lola did not know she was a bird. She thought she was a dog. Graziella agreed with me. And we both laughed; we considered it a delightful quirk, neither one foreseeing that Lola’s misconception was certain to end in tragedy: the doom that awaits all of us who reject our own natures and insist on being something else other than ourselves.”
Hollywood: “A teacher here recently gave a vocabulary test in which she asked her students to provide the antonym of youth. Over half the class answered death”
To Europe: “I was not a part of Europe, I never would be. Safe, I could leave when I wanted to, and for me there was only the honeyed, hallowed air of beauty.”
The Duke of His Domain - Marlon Brando: “‘They don’t know what’s happening. Before they realize it. They’re all entangled, involved. I have them. And suddenly, sometimes, I’m all they have.’l
Pablo Picasso: “Born in Malaga, Spain, a country of figs and stone and guitars, Picasso was a child prodigy who stayed one: that is, remained a prodigy and something of a child, a man inhabited by a boy’s fooling-around impatience, hatred of system, fresh-eyed curiosity.”
Louis Armstrong: “For me the sweet angel of Armstrong’s trumpet, the froggy exuberance of his cone-to-be-baby mouthing, are a piece of Proust’s Madeleine cake: they make Mississippi moons rise again, summon the muddy lights of river towns, the sound, like an alligator’s yawn, of river horns.”
Lola: “One day it occurred to me that Lola did not know she was a bird. She thought she was a dog. Graziella agreed with me. And we both laughed; we considered it a delightful quirk, neither one foreseeing that Lola’s misconception was certain to end in tragedy: the doom that awaits all of us who reject our own natures and insist on being something else other than ourselves.”
September 10, 2018
Norman Mailer, not one to praise his fellow writers gratuitously, once called Truman Capote (1924-1984) "the most perfect writer of my generation." Mailer was on to something, and this anthology shows this versatile and engaging writer at his pre-IN COLD BLOOD best. Mostly from the Fifties, Capote's "observations" (some essay-length, at least one a full-length book) and "portraits" (biographical sketches of celebrities) show very well Capote's amazing gifts as a stylist and hard-nosed reporter of facts. Here you can read Capote's portrait of Marlon Brando ("The Duke in His Domain," for ESQUIRE magazine), scrupulously accurate yet so excoriating Capote allegedly had to hide from Brando the rest of his life (it has also just recently been released as a standalone from Penguin).
This carefully curated, deckle-edged 2003 hardcover (purple cover)* has gone up in price since its release five years ago, but not by much. That is the one that contains THE MUSES ARE HEARD. Used copies are relatively easy to find -- especially considering that PORTRAITS AND OBSERVATIONS is an irreplaceable summa of Capote joys inside one cover. After IN COLD BLOOD, the novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and the breakthrough first novel OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, this book is the place to go for Capote, especially if you want to see much of the best of his non-fiction. Also recommended for those with a serious interest in Capote: Gerald Clarke's Capote, still the best cradle-to-grave literary bio in this reviewer's opinion.
_______
* The reason I'm awarding this volume (Capote on cover) three stars and not four is that the later version (violet background, disembodied torso) has the same name, but nearly 80 pages more text.
This carefully curated, deckle-edged 2003 hardcover (purple cover)* has gone up in price since its release five years ago, but not by much. That is the one that contains THE MUSES ARE HEARD. Used copies are relatively easy to find -- especially considering that PORTRAITS AND OBSERVATIONS is an irreplaceable summa of Capote joys inside one cover. After IN COLD BLOOD, the novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and the breakthrough first novel OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, this book is the place to go for Capote, especially if you want to see much of the best of his non-fiction. Also recommended for those with a serious interest in Capote: Gerald Clarke's Capote, still the best cradle-to-grave literary bio in this reviewer's opinion.
_______
* The reason I'm awarding this volume (Capote on cover) three stars and not four is that the later version (violet background, disembodied torso) has the same name, but nearly 80 pages more text.
September 10, 2018
Norman Mailer, not one to praise his fellow writers gratuitously, once called Truman Capote (1924-1984) "the most perfect writer of my generation." Mailer was on to something, and this anthology shows this versatile and engaging writer at his pre-IN COLD BLOOD best. Mostly from the Fifties, Capote's "observations" (some essay-length, at least one a full-length book) and "portraits" (biographical sketches of celebrities) show very well Capote's amazing gifts as a stylist and hard-nosed reporter of facts. Not only will you be able to read Capote's portrait of Marlon Brando ("The Duke in His Domain," for ESQUIRE magazine), scrupulously accurate yet so excoriating Capote allegedly had to hide from Brando the rest of his life, but you'll get my favorite, THE MUSES ARE HEARD, about an American opera company that was the first to tour PORGY AND BESS inside the U.S.S.R. in Stalin's aftermath. (And nigh-unto-impossible to find as a standalone.)
This carefully curated, deckle-edged hardcover (purple cover) has gone up little in price since its release five years ago*, but used copies are relatively easy to find -- especially considering that PORTRAITS AND OBSERVATIONS is an irreplaceable summa of Capote joys inside one cover. After IN COLD BLOOD, the novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and the breakthrough first novel OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, this book is the place to go for Capote, especially if you want to see much of the best of his non-fiction. Also recommended for those with a serious interest in Capote: Gerald Clarke's Capote, still the best cradle-to-grave literary bio in this reviewer's opinion.
_______
* The earlier 2007 version (photo of older Capote), which confusingly bears the same name, is less extensive.
This carefully curated, deckle-edged hardcover (purple cover) has gone up little in price since its release five years ago*, but used copies are relatively easy to find -- especially considering that PORTRAITS AND OBSERVATIONS is an irreplaceable summa of Capote joys inside one cover. After IN COLD BLOOD, the novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and the breakthrough first novel OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS, this book is the place to go for Capote, especially if you want to see much of the best of his non-fiction. Also recommended for those with a serious interest in Capote: Gerald Clarke's Capote, still the best cradle-to-grave literary bio in this reviewer's opinion.
_______
* The earlier 2007 version (photo of older Capote), which confusingly bears the same name, is less extensive.
January 15, 2021
This is one of those books that I had put aside early on a while ago, coming back to it now. Good thing that I did as I was certainly in the mood for it once I gave the first couple of essays a chance!
My devoted fans are aware that I am a huge travel narrative fiend, pleasantly surprised to see that Capote does a terrific job with those entries. Another area where he really shines in this book has to do with the transition between the last gasp of Old New York (which pretty much died out prior to World War II), and the modern city most of us would recognize. The later entries didn't interest me as much as some of them contain serious name-dropping elements, though still up to his high standard rather than just plain gossipy.
The stories are arranged in chronological order of publication (a few being "flashbacks"). In my opinion the novella-length entries "The Muses are Heard" and "Handcrafted Coffins" would be better off reading afterwards; they had a bit of a "speed bump" effect for me in terms of flow.
Bottom line: the quality is so high I'd have found the book easily worth purchasing had it not been available as a library book.
My devoted fans are aware that I am a huge travel narrative fiend, pleasantly surprised to see that Capote does a terrific job with those entries. Another area where he really shines in this book has to do with the transition between the last gasp of Old New York (which pretty much died out prior to World War II), and the modern city most of us would recognize. The later entries didn't interest me as much as some of them contain serious name-dropping elements, though still up to his high standard rather than just plain gossipy.
The stories are arranged in chronological order of publication (a few being "flashbacks"). In my opinion the novella-length entries "The Muses are Heard" and "Handcrafted Coffins" would be better off reading afterwards; they had a bit of a "speed bump" effect for me in terms of flow.
Bottom line: the quality is so high I'd have found the book easily worth purchasing had it not been available as a library book.
June 28, 2020
This book is full of examples of the wonderful ways Capote had of creating art with words. His genius really shines here.
April 12, 2017
Siempre que he leído a Capote he terminado con buen sabor de boca la lectura y en esta ocasión no ha sido diferente. En este caso el libro recopila los retratos literarios que hizo de personajes de la cultura del siglo pasado. El delicioso dedicado a marilyn también aparece en música para camaleones. El libro a pesar de no llegar a 200 páginas se puede dividir en dos partes. La primera copada mayoritariamente por las grandes estrellas del cine mas extensos y una segunda parte en la que aparecen figuras relevantes de otras artes como la pintura, escritura o fotografía en los que las fotografías del famoso fotografo Richard Avedon sirvieron de inspiración a Capote para dejar estas semblanzas de personajes como Picasso, Coco Chanel o Luis Armstrong entre otros.
March 19, 2019
Lo importante de estas crónicas de Capote no es lo que cuenta (aunque a nadie la amarga un cotilleo), lo importante es cómo nos lo cuenta. No tienes la sensación de estar ante unas crónicas periodísticas, te parece estar leyendo el diario de un señor que presume (y hace bien) de sus famosas "amistades".
Muy recomendable, en especial me han gustado la de Taylor y la de Monroe, aunque en este último me ha dado bastante pena el tono disciplente del autor hacia la actriz, a pesar de alabarla como actriz.
Muy recomendable, en especial me han gustado la de Taylor y la de Monroe, aunque en este último me ha dado bastante pena el tono disciplente del autor hacia la actriz, a pesar de alabarla como actriz.
May 30, 2022
Retratos de personalidades de la época dorada de Nueva York.
A ver, algunos me encantaron como el de Marilyn, a pesar de que me parece que Capote cuenta de más, algo que ella le compartió en una situación de confianza, siendo su amiga.
La prosa es tan amable, tan inteligente que Capote gusta igual, a pesar de sus indiscreciones.
A ver, algunos me encantaron como el de Marilyn, a pesar de que me parece que Capote cuenta de más, algo que ella le compartió en una situación de confianza, siendo su amiga.
La prosa es tan amable, tan inteligente que Capote gusta igual, a pesar de sus indiscreciones.
May 6, 2018
Retratos es una recopilación de crónicas en donde el señor Truman capote cuenta su experiencia con personajes reconocidos de diferentes ámbitos. Es un libro que está muy bien escrito, pero no tiene ningún factor sorpresa y en ocasiones se torna un poco arrogante. 3.7
December 1, 2019
4. 5 stars
May 20, 2021
Love Truman Capote’s writing. Fascinating. He packs more into a short story than almost any other. Often haunting, with moments that linger in the aftermath.
June 16, 2025
how can a snob be such an empath?
February 25, 2017
I was introduced to Capote’s oeuvre, as is so often the case, when my high school psychology teacher instructed me to read In Cold Blood for a personal assignment. I had bonded with Mr. Christopher over a number of things including our mutual love of American literature and my passing interest in military history. During one of our many discussions, he produced a yellowed and shelf-worn copy of In Cold Blood and told me to read it carefully.
Considering that it took me just a few days to return it to him, it’s safe to say that I adored it.
I have read only a handful of “modern” authors who can, so completely, capture their readers with the mere quality of their prose. And Capote is one of them. Too often, in my most humble opinion, modern authors rely on the content of their works (e.g. the plot, their characters, etc.) rather than the artistry of their prose. Capote’s primary strength as a writer rests in his careful manipulation of language. Each sentence, each paragraph, and each chapter serves a purpose and is constructed in such a way as to transport the reader.
Portraits and Observations, by focusing on this prosaic artistry, is one of the best compilations of Capote’s shorter works. I laughed through The Muses Are Heard (a vastly underappreciated “non-fiction novella” on the Porgy and Bess performances in the Soviet Union), sobbed at the end of Lola (a tender tribute to his oft-photographed pet raven), chuckled through Nocturnal Turnings (a surprisingly personal retrospective essay), and was stunned by Handcarved Coffins (a deeply disconcerting “true crime” piece).
While I recommend all of the above pieces, there’s something about the careful witty description in Music for Chameleons that encapsulates Capote’s style. The piece, a vivid nonfiction account of an evening with a “Martinique aristocrat,” appeals to each of the five senses and, in just ten pages, transports you to the Caribbean. It’s masterful.
In short, this collection is worthy of your money and your attention. ...It also has a handsome cover.
Considering that it took me just a few days to return it to him, it’s safe to say that I adored it.
I have read only a handful of “modern” authors who can, so completely, capture their readers with the mere quality of their prose. And Capote is one of them. Too often, in my most humble opinion, modern authors rely on the content of their works (e.g. the plot, their characters, etc.) rather than the artistry of their prose. Capote’s primary strength as a writer rests in his careful manipulation of language. Each sentence, each paragraph, and each chapter serves a purpose and is constructed in such a way as to transport the reader.
Portraits and Observations, by focusing on this prosaic artistry, is one of the best compilations of Capote’s shorter works. I laughed through The Muses Are Heard (a vastly underappreciated “non-fiction novella” on the Porgy and Bess performances in the Soviet Union), sobbed at the end of Lola (a tender tribute to his oft-photographed pet raven), chuckled through Nocturnal Turnings (a surprisingly personal retrospective essay), and was stunned by Handcarved Coffins (a deeply disconcerting “true crime” piece).
While I recommend all of the above pieces, there’s something about the careful witty description in Music for Chameleons that encapsulates Capote’s style. The piece, a vivid nonfiction account of an evening with a “Martinique aristocrat,” appeals to each of the five senses and, in just ten pages, transports you to the Caribbean. It’s masterful.
In short, this collection is worthy of your money and your attention. ...It also has a handsome cover.
December 18, 2016
Truman Capote deja ver en esta obra, su conocimiento sobre los personajes de una época, y su sentido mordaz. También se deja entrever que de algún modo hay escritores que nunca llegan a ser parte del espectáculo, sino se sienten más cómodos asumiendo el papel de cronista. Me gusto sobre todo el capítulo referente a Marilyn Monroe, y un poco decepcionante el de Marlon Brandon.
May 7, 2019
Absolutely fantastic. This made me want to read everything he’s ever written.
July 28, 2020
ñose pq me maravilla tanto leer los cahuines de los y las escritores, artistas y actores del sXX.
March 7, 2021
La conversación que tiene con Marilyn Monroe es todo lo que uno busca en un amigo.
Da lo mismo la historia que cuente, como lo cuenta es una genialidad.
Da lo mismo la historia que cuente, como lo cuenta es una genialidad.
September 20, 2022
me ha encantado asomarme a las intimidades de la flor y nata de la sociedad neoyorquina de mediados del siglo XX a través de los ojos algo frívolos y cínicos de Truman Capote.
November 3, 2024
This is a difficult review to write.
What makes it difficult is also part of the reason why I love it so:
This book covers a lot of territory.
Some fiction, mostly non-fiction.
The world through Capote’s eyes and ears.
Oh, the people and places he knew.
His life was an amazing adventure.
I had already read at least half of the 500 pages elsewhere.
But there was one specific story that I was determined to find and it was here I found it.
It was about an adventure of his, that he titled The Muses Are Heard.
In December 1955 / January 1956, he was a member of a group of Americans (including Mrs. Ira Gershwin) that accompanied a troupe consisting of fifty-eight actors, seven backstage personnel, two conductors, assorted wives and office workers, six children and their schoolteacher, three journalists, two dogs and one psychiatrist to Russia to perform the stage musical of Porgy and Bess.
I was intrigued and the story did not disappoint.
To name a few of the other topics included:
Places
NYC in August:
….Toward midafternoon, as the heat closed in like a hand over a murder victim’s mouth, the city thrashed and twisted, but with its outcry muffled, its hurry hampered, its ambitions hindered, it was like a dry fountain, some useless monument…
Hollywood:
The thing…which most intrigued me was the way she applied make-up—such a brutally objective performance; cold-eyed, calculating, she wields her paints and powders all together as if the face belongs to someone else, managing, in the process, to smooth away whatever time had given her.
Europe:
In London a young artist said to me, “How wonderful it must be for an American traveling in Europe the first time; you can never be a part of it, so none of the pain is yours, you will never have to endure it—yes, for you there is only the beauty.”
…The name of The Orient Express evoked for me the most spine-tingling expectations: think of the extraordinary things that have occurred on that train, at least if one is to believe Miss Agatha Christie or Mr. Graham Greene…
Capote quotes:
…All art is composed of selected detail, either imaginary or, a distillation of reality…Thus reality, via an object, extends itself into art…
Failure? Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor…
…Bob Dylan: a sophisticated musical (?) con man pretending to be a simple-hearted (?) revolutionary but sentimental hillbilly.
Suddenly, everything is again spinning backward; my friend Miss Faulk is making a scrap-quilt, the design is of roses and grapes, and now she is drawing the quilt to my chin. There is a kerosene lamp by the bed; she wishes me happy birthday, and blows out the light.
And at midnight when the church-bell chimes I’m eight.
Other quotes:
Keep in mind an Arab proverb: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”
Elizabeth Taylor:
“What do you suppose will become of us? I guess, when you find what you’ve always wanted, that’s not where the beginning begins, that’s where the end starts.”
Wonderful
What makes it difficult is also part of the reason why I love it so:
This book covers a lot of territory.
Some fiction, mostly non-fiction.
The world through Capote’s eyes and ears.
Oh, the people and places he knew.
His life was an amazing adventure.
I had already read at least half of the 500 pages elsewhere.
But there was one specific story that I was determined to find and it was here I found it.
It was about an adventure of his, that he titled The Muses Are Heard.
In December 1955 / January 1956, he was a member of a group of Americans (including Mrs. Ira Gershwin) that accompanied a troupe consisting of fifty-eight actors, seven backstage personnel, two conductors, assorted wives and office workers, six children and their schoolteacher, three journalists, two dogs and one psychiatrist to Russia to perform the stage musical of Porgy and Bess.
I was intrigued and the story did not disappoint.
To name a few of the other topics included:
Places
NYC in August:
….Toward midafternoon, as the heat closed in like a hand over a murder victim’s mouth, the city thrashed and twisted, but with its outcry muffled, its hurry hampered, its ambitions hindered, it was like a dry fountain, some useless monument…
Hollywood:
The thing…which most intrigued me was the way she applied make-up—such a brutally objective performance; cold-eyed, calculating, she wields her paints and powders all together as if the face belongs to someone else, managing, in the process, to smooth away whatever time had given her.
Europe:
In London a young artist said to me, “How wonderful it must be for an American traveling in Europe the first time; you can never be a part of it, so none of the pain is yours, you will never have to endure it—yes, for you there is only the beauty.”
…The name of The Orient Express evoked for me the most spine-tingling expectations: think of the extraordinary things that have occurred on that train, at least if one is to believe Miss Agatha Christie or Mr. Graham Greene…
Capote quotes:
…All art is composed of selected detail, either imaginary or, a distillation of reality…Thus reality, via an object, extends itself into art…
Failure? Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor…
…Bob Dylan: a sophisticated musical (?) con man pretending to be a simple-hearted (?) revolutionary but sentimental hillbilly.
Suddenly, everything is again spinning backward; my friend Miss Faulk is making a scrap-quilt, the design is of roses and grapes, and now she is drawing the quilt to my chin. There is a kerosene lamp by the bed; she wishes me happy birthday, and blows out the light.
And at midnight when the church-bell chimes I’m eight.
Other quotes:
Keep in mind an Arab proverb: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”
Elizabeth Taylor:
“What do you suppose will become of us? I guess, when you find what you’ve always wanted, that’s not where the beginning begins, that’s where the end starts.”
Wonderful
October 30, 2016
Truman Capote fue un novelista y periodista estadounidense que combinó en sus obras el reportaje periodístico con la ficción narrativa, hecho por el que se le conoció como uno de los padres del Nuevo Periodismo. Tuvo el don de la observación y la habilidad de relacionarse con las personas más influyentes de su época; ambas cualidades le permitieron llevar a cabo algunos de sus trabajos periodístico-literarios. Es el caso de ‘Retratos’, un libro que recoge algunas de las experiencias del autor con sus más célebres conocidos. Capote plasma en sus páginas recuerdos y conversaciones que configuran el perfil de estas celebridades y sus vidas.
El gran trabajo de ambientación permite que el lector se sienta presente en el desarrollo de la acción. La minuciosidad con la que Capote describe gestos, cambios de humor, la manera en que introduce los diálogos; todo ello transporta al lector a la escena y hace que incluso parezca posible oír la conversación. Es tal esa sensación, que por momentos puede parecer que la lectura es un acto de espionaje contra los retratados, como si se estuviera presenciando la escena sin permiso.
La construcción de los retratos se realiza a través de la relación del autor con los personajes. Capote tiene tendencia a convertirse a sí mismo en el centro para ir desgranando la historia a partir de ahí y no se deja nada en el tintero: transcribe conversaciones que no se tendrían en el contexto de una entrevista, cotilleos e intimidades tanto de los retratados, como de terceras personas. Mientras que algunos le tildarían de egocéntrico, podría decirse que en su narcisismo reside precisamente su genialidad: al hablar de personajes y situaciones, Capote habla de sí mismo, de sus vivencias y de sus pensamientos.
El libro se divide en dos partes: la primera, compuesta por seis relatos más extensos que el resto, muestra los perfiles de Marlon Brando, Jane Bowles, Cecil Beaton, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe y Tennessee Williams. Es especialmente reseñable el primero, ‘El duque en sus dominios’, relato al que dedica unas 60 páginas de 163. Jugando con la ambientación y los cambios de tiempos, Capote envuelve al lector en un retrato biográfico que muestra el lado de Marlon Brando que no eran capaces de captar las cámaras de cine: el del hombre sensible, filosófico y quizá algo depresivo, al que nada de lo que hacía le parecía lo suficientemente bueno. Un hombre inaccesible, que no se dejaba conocer y que buscaba algo más que la fama aunque ni él supiese bien qué anhelaba.
Merecen ser igualmente destacados ‘Elizabeth Taylor’, donde encontramos a una mujer mucho más inteligente de lo que a simple vista parecía, y ‘Una adorable criatura’, en el que la figura de Marilyn queda expuesta con gran delicadeza.
La segunda parte es ‘Observations’, titulada así en alusión al libro del mismo nombre de Richard Avedon; recoge una serie de fotografías de Avedon a personajes tales como Chaplin, Picasso, Chanel, etc. Capote colaboró aportando comentarios sobre ellos. Estos retratos son mucho más breves y se echa en falta mayor profundidad, como es el caso de ‘Pablo Picasso’ y de ‘Louis Armstrong’, en los que se limita a expresar su admiración; además, en el segundo apenas se menciona a Armstrong, puesto que Capote enseguida divaga sobre otras cuestiones. Más interesante es el de Ezra Pound, poeta despreciado por su ideología fascista del que se destaca su amabilidad sin límites con sus amigos, llegando incluso a financiar sus obras.
Tras la lectura, queda la impresión de que Capote cumplió su objetivo. Hace humanas a las inalcanzables estrellas de su época desvelando sus pasiones, sus inseguridades y sus miedos. Les muestra tal y como son: sensibles, introvertidos, caprichosos, incluso destructivos. Saca a la luz lo que les hace iguales al resto de los mortales y eso les convierte en figuras con las que empatizar. Al fin y al cabo, podemos admirar a quienes parece que lo tienen todo, pero solo se llega a querer a aquellos con quienes nos podemos identificar.
El gran trabajo de ambientación permite que el lector se sienta presente en el desarrollo de la acción. La minuciosidad con la que Capote describe gestos, cambios de humor, la manera en que introduce los diálogos; todo ello transporta al lector a la escena y hace que incluso parezca posible oír la conversación. Es tal esa sensación, que por momentos puede parecer que la lectura es un acto de espionaje contra los retratados, como si se estuviera presenciando la escena sin permiso.
La construcción de los retratos se realiza a través de la relación del autor con los personajes. Capote tiene tendencia a convertirse a sí mismo en el centro para ir desgranando la historia a partir de ahí y no se deja nada en el tintero: transcribe conversaciones que no se tendrían en el contexto de una entrevista, cotilleos e intimidades tanto de los retratados, como de terceras personas. Mientras que algunos le tildarían de egocéntrico, podría decirse que en su narcisismo reside precisamente su genialidad: al hablar de personajes y situaciones, Capote habla de sí mismo, de sus vivencias y de sus pensamientos.
El libro se divide en dos partes: la primera, compuesta por seis relatos más extensos que el resto, muestra los perfiles de Marlon Brando, Jane Bowles, Cecil Beaton, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe y Tennessee Williams. Es especialmente reseñable el primero, ‘El duque en sus dominios’, relato al que dedica unas 60 páginas de 163. Jugando con la ambientación y los cambios de tiempos, Capote envuelve al lector en un retrato biográfico que muestra el lado de Marlon Brando que no eran capaces de captar las cámaras de cine: el del hombre sensible, filosófico y quizá algo depresivo, al que nada de lo que hacía le parecía lo suficientemente bueno. Un hombre inaccesible, que no se dejaba conocer y que buscaba algo más que la fama aunque ni él supiese bien qué anhelaba.
«Las películas tienen muchas posibilidades. Uno puede decir cosas importantes a un montón de gente. Acerca de la discriminación, el odio, los prejuicios. Quiero hacer películas que exploren los temas del mundo de hoy»
«Necesitaba encontrar algo en la vida, algo dentro de sí que sea verdadero de forma permanente, y necesita dedicar su vida a ello. Para una personalidad tan intensa, nada inferior serviría»
Merecen ser igualmente destacados ‘Elizabeth Taylor’, donde encontramos a una mujer mucho más inteligente de lo que a simple vista parecía, y ‘Una adorable criatura’, en el que la figura de Marilyn queda expuesta con gran delicadeza.
«Es tan frágil y delicada que solo puede captarlo una cámara. Es como el vuelo de un colibrí: solo una cámara puede expresar su poesía»
La segunda parte es ‘Observations’, titulada así en alusión al libro del mismo nombre de Richard Avedon; recoge una serie de fotografías de Avedon a personajes tales como Chaplin, Picasso, Chanel, etc. Capote colaboró aportando comentarios sobre ellos. Estos retratos son mucho más breves y se echa en falta mayor profundidad, como es el caso de ‘Pablo Picasso’ y de ‘Louis Armstrong’, en los que se limita a expresar su admiración; además, en el segundo apenas se menciona a Armstrong, puesto que Capote enseguida divaga sobre otras cuestiones. Más interesante es el de Ezra Pound, poeta despreciado por su ideología fascista del que se destaca su amabilidad sin límites con sus amigos, llegando incluso a financiar sus obras.
Tras la lectura, queda la impresión de que Capote cumplió su objetivo. Hace humanas a las inalcanzables estrellas de su época desvelando sus pasiones, sus inseguridades y sus miedos. Les muestra tal y como son: sensibles, introvertidos, caprichosos, incluso destructivos. Saca a la luz lo que les hace iguales al resto de los mortales y eso les convierte en figuras con las que empatizar. Al fin y al cabo, podemos admirar a quienes parece que lo tienen todo, pero solo se llega a querer a aquellos con quienes nos podemos identificar.
August 1, 2014
"Una persona sensible recibe cincuenta impresiones mientras que cualquier otra recibiría sólo siete. Las personas sensibles son muy vulnerables; pueden sentirse tratadas con crueldad y sentirse heridas muy fácilmente porque son sensibles. Cuento más sensible es uno, más seguro es que sienta la crueldad ajena y trate de inmunizarse contra ella levantando barreras. No evolucionas. No te permites el lujo de sentir nada, porque siempre sientes en exceso". (15).
"¿Qué otra razón hay para vivir, excepto el amor? Ése ha sido mi problema principal. No he podido amar a nadie". (52).
"De qué demonios podría hablar con ellos aquella mujer tremendamente despierta y de mente rápida? Bueno, una no siempre logra cobrar la pieza que desearía. A algunos de los hombres que realmente me gustaban, no les gustaban las mujeres". (82-83).
"La alegría tiene la brevedad de la cocaína, la felicidad al menos dura un poco más". (85).
"La juventud no me conmueve. Muy raramente descubro algo realmente hermoso en un rostro joven. Y sí, en cambio, en la curva descendente de los labios de Maugham o en las manos de Isak Dinesen". (130-131).
"¿No es cierto que una impresión de frialdad, por lo general falsa, acompaña a la perfección? Y ¿no será que lo que las voces críticas sienten realmente es miedo? En presencia de los muy bellos, como en presencia de los inmensamente inteligentes, el miedo forma parte de nuestra reacción global, y es tanto el temor como la admiración lo que causa ese escalofrío semejante a una punzada de carámbano que durante un instante nos deja anonadados cuando un cisne aparece nadando ante nosotros". (141).
"¿Y por qué no ha de ser mi dedicación al ajedrez una actividad artística? Una partida de ajedrez es muy plástica. La elabora uno mismo. Es escultura mecánica, y con el ajedrez uno crea hermosos problemas, y esa belleza se hace con la cabeza y con las manos". (146).
Truman Capote es un gran escritor y, por tanto, un gran conocedor del género humano. Eso es lo que dejan traslucir sus retratos de personajes famosos. La mezcla del ingenio de Capote y Marlon Brando o Elizabeth Taylor plasmada en la página resulta casi explosiva. Brillante.
"¿Qué otra razón hay para vivir, excepto el amor? Ése ha sido mi problema principal. No he podido amar a nadie". (52).
"De qué demonios podría hablar con ellos aquella mujer tremendamente despierta y de mente rápida? Bueno, una no siempre logra cobrar la pieza que desearía. A algunos de los hombres que realmente me gustaban, no les gustaban las mujeres". (82-83).
"La alegría tiene la brevedad de la cocaína, la felicidad al menos dura un poco más". (85).
"La juventud no me conmueve. Muy raramente descubro algo realmente hermoso en un rostro joven. Y sí, en cambio, en la curva descendente de los labios de Maugham o en las manos de Isak Dinesen". (130-131).
"¿No es cierto que una impresión de frialdad, por lo general falsa, acompaña a la perfección? Y ¿no será que lo que las voces críticas sienten realmente es miedo? En presencia de los muy bellos, como en presencia de los inmensamente inteligentes, el miedo forma parte de nuestra reacción global, y es tanto el temor como la admiración lo que causa ese escalofrío semejante a una punzada de carámbano que durante un instante nos deja anonadados cuando un cisne aparece nadando ante nosotros". (141).
"¿Y por qué no ha de ser mi dedicación al ajedrez una actividad artística? Una partida de ajedrez es muy plástica. La elabora uno mismo. Es escultura mecánica, y con el ajedrez uno crea hermosos problemas, y esa belleza se hace con la cabeza y con las manos". (146).
Truman Capote es un gran escritor y, por tanto, un gran conocedor del género humano. Eso es lo que dejan traslucir sus retratos de personajes famosos. La mezcla del ingenio de Capote y Marlon Brando o Elizabeth Taylor plasmada en la página resulta casi explosiva. Brillante.
July 25, 2019
This is the end of an era!
I bought this book in 2010 in the famed Powell's bookstore in Portland, where I was attending a conference (during the Vancouver - the city I lived in at the time - Olympics, no less). At the time I also bought Breakfast at Tiffany's which I read shortly thereafter.
According to the 'date started' I entered here, I didn't start reading Portraits and Observations for 5 years, although I suspect I started it in 2010, didn't get far, and then started again in 2015.
This suspicion comes from the years-long experience of this book having been the monkey on my back. What a long and torturous journey! I love Capote's writing, and I loved some of the essays, but then I was terribly bored by others (ex. The Muses Are Heard) so I'd get discouraged and stop. Over these last 4 years (if not 9), I'd will myself to pick it up and finish whenever I was between other books, occasionally succeeding in doing so until I'd meet another snag and stop again. But about 1-2 weeks ago, I picked it up again, and this time I finished it! And what a consistent experience - yet again, I was obsessed with some stories and bored by others. I excitedly recounted one story to my husband while we made dinner while camping (Handcarved Coffins), and told it so well he wanted to read it (which is very rare)! Overall, during this most recent experience of taking a crack at it, the delight far exceeded the boredom, and for that reason as well as the fact I simply love Truman Capote's writing, I can't help but rate the book very highly, despite it all. When it comes down to it, this book has a special place in my heart, like a misbehaving but very charming child.
I bought this book in 2010 in the famed Powell's bookstore in Portland, where I was attending a conference (during the Vancouver - the city I lived in at the time - Olympics, no less). At the time I also bought Breakfast at Tiffany's which I read shortly thereafter.
According to the 'date started' I entered here, I didn't start reading Portraits and Observations for 5 years, although I suspect I started it in 2010, didn't get far, and then started again in 2015.
This suspicion comes from the years-long experience of this book having been the monkey on my back. What a long and torturous journey! I love Capote's writing, and I loved some of the essays, but then I was terribly bored by others (ex. The Muses Are Heard) so I'd get discouraged and stop. Over these last 4 years (if not 9), I'd will myself to pick it up and finish whenever I was between other books, occasionally succeeding in doing so until I'd meet another snag and stop again. But about 1-2 weeks ago, I picked it up again, and this time I finished it! And what a consistent experience - yet again, I was obsessed with some stories and bored by others. I excitedly recounted one story to my husband while we made dinner while camping (Handcarved Coffins), and told it so well he wanted to read it (which is very rare)! Overall, during this most recent experience of taking a crack at it, the delight far exceeded the boredom, and for that reason as well as the fact I simply love Truman Capote's writing, I can't help but rate the book very highly, despite it all. When it comes down to it, this book has a special place in my heart, like a misbehaving but very charming child.
August 27, 2022
I'm not entirely sure why I downloaded this - essays aren't usually my thing and anything smacking of "travel writing" (with the exception of early Bill Bryson) even less so, and after a couple of pages I was wondering whether I'd let myself in for a dull few days. Then the unique charm of Capote's prose began to work its magic and I was hooked. Pieces I particularly enjoyed were "Lola", an account of his pet raven, "Ghosts in Sunlight" on the filming of In Cold Blood, and his piece on Elizabeth Taylor, from whom he elicits this strangely moving line:
“What do you suppose will become of us? I guess, when you find what you’ve always wanted, that’s not where the beginning begins, that’s where the end starts.”
Another stunner is "Handcarved Coffins" which is billed as "a non-fiction account of an American crime" though one suspects he made the whole thing up.
By the end I was wishing it was twice the length.
“What do you suppose will become of us? I guess, when you find what you’ve always wanted, that’s not where the beginning begins, that’s where the end starts.”
Another stunner is "Handcarved Coffins" which is billed as "a non-fiction account of an American crime" though one suspects he made the whole thing up.
By the end I was wishing it was twice the length.
March 20, 2016
Ooohh, such lovely writing that the topic is irrelevant. This is a collection of over 500 pages of Truman Capote essays from 1946 to 1984. It covers time spent in various American cities, plus vignettes from many other parts of the world. The longest is a diary written during the tour of an American troupe performing Porgy and Bess in Russia in 1956, at the height of the Cold War. The name dropping of his friends and acquaintances is legendary so we have intimate portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, the list seems endless. The most astounding thing about this book for me is its recreation of conversations copied verbatim, making the reader feel like another party to the actual conversation. A master of his time and now his work acts as a window on life from the 30s to the 80s.
April 2, 2012
Having never read any Capote before, I feel this book was the perfect introduction. I wanted some thematically-appropriate reading while on vacation in New Orleans, as well as something substantive yet easy to pick up and put down. Capote's vignettes of people and places were lyrical, acerbic, vulnerable, all too revealing of the foibles of their subjects (and their author, who would sometimes retell the same allegedly-real anecdote in different pieces with significant details changed). Reading this makes you want to travel the world and then get together for a really good gossip over cocktails with a sharp-tongued friend.
February 2, 2021
Siempre he sentido que Truman Capote nunca fue el mismo después de A sangre fría; en aquella crónica, aquel reporte novelado, Capote se dejó la vida, y estoy seguro que aprendió muchas cosas. Una de ellas fue que la vida es siempre más emocionante que la ficción; Capote supo encontrar las grietas en la vida de las personas de las que habló: grietas de amor, dolor, desesperanza. No sé si escribía para la posteridad, pero lo que hoy leo es un testimonio bello de un tiempo que ya nunca podrá volver.
December 31, 2021
Una lectura muy interesante, me encanta como escribía Truman, así que este libro me llamo la atención por su portada; como una gran fanática de Marilyn Monreo. Nos habla como Truman conoció a mucha gente del mundillo del espectáculo como Brandon Marlon, Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monreo pero también de la literatura como Jane Bowles, Tennesse Williams. Si quieres leer un libro que te hable un poco de la época en la que Truman se movía este el indicado, los ensayos me gustaron mucho y fue una lectura muy divertida.
Read
December 10, 2016"El autor describe con agudeza y una visión muy personal tanto virtudes como excentricidades, manías e inseguridades de aquellos que desfilan por sus páginas". Más en https://capitulocuarto.wordpress.com/...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews