Home
/
Fiction
/
A Capote Reader
A Capote Reader
Dec 6, 2025 6:16 AM

Author:Truman Capote

A Capote Reader

'The only four things that interested me were: reading books, going to the movies, tap-dancing and drawing pictures. Then one day I started writing . . .' Truman Capote began writing at the age of eight, and never looked back. A Capote Reader contains much of the author's published work: his brilliant and prolific oeuvre of fiction, travel sketches, portraits, reportage and essays. It includes all twelve of his celebrated short stories, together with The Grass Harp and Breakfast at Tiffany's. There are vivid sketches of places from Tangiers to Brooklyn, and fascinating insights into the lives of his contemporaries, from Jane Bowles and Cecil Beaton to Marilyn Monroe and Tennessee Williams. Generous space is devoted to reportage including 'The Muses Are Heard', on his trip to Communist Europe in the 1950s with the cast of Porgy and Bess. In all, A Capote Reader demonstrates the chameleon talents of one of America's most versatile and gifted writers.

Reviews

A tour de force in which every paragraph uncoils with vertiginous twists and turns, lightning metaphors, genuine learning, unstoppable laughter, and a passionate sense of literary pleasure

—— Independent

Amis's gifts - vigilance, wit, energy of language... A collection that reaffirms him as the suavest and funniest critic of his generation

—— Mail on Sunday

We have here a literary critic of startling power... Often being right and being funny are, in this book, aspects of the same sentence... Amis is the best practitioner-critic of our day - just what Pritchett was in his prime...

—— London Review of Books

[Written] with intelligence and ardor and panache... Speaks not just to a lifetime of reading but also to a fascination with individual writers mature

—— New York Times

Brilliant prose... [Amis] proselytizes for talent by demonstrating it, by doing it... He is a master

—— New York Times Book Review

A perceptive, tears-trickling-down-the-side-of-your-nose-on-the-bus brilliant read

—— Company

Moving and intelligent

—— Independent

A poignant tale of life, love and loss

—— Mirror

Traditional, light-hearted romantic fiction at its best

—— Literary Review

Poignant and humorous

—— Now

A buoyant tale that will have you laughing and crying from start to finish

—— Woman's Journal

The twists and turns in the plot will leave you dizzy

—— New Woman

The story is original and the suspense is skilfully built. An infuriatingly enjoyable feel-good read

—— The List

An engaging and original plot

—— New Statesman
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved