Truman Capote

Truman Capote was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and actor. Born in New Orleans in 1924, Capote spent much of his childhood in Alabama, where he was a neighbor and friend of the author Harper Lee. His early work is considered to have evolved out of the Southern Gothic tradition. Capote, who was openly gay, gained notoriety following the publication of his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), which was lauded for both its fine prose style and its frank discussion of homosexual life. In 1958, he published the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, an instant success that rocketed Capote to stardom and was later adapted into an award-winning film. Following this, Capote became increasingly interested in journalism and wrote In Cold Blood (1966), which he dubbed a “nonfiction novel” and which is considered by many to be his masterpiece. During his lifetime, Capote enjoyed a level of celebrity uncommon for a writer and about which he felt conflicted. He spent his final years struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, and died in Los Angeles at the age of fifty-nine.