Truman Capote

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Lore & Background

Capote had a troubled childhood caused by his parents' divorce, a long absence from his mother, and multiple moves. He was sent to Monroeville, Alabama, where for the following four to five years he was raised by his mother's relatives. He formed a fast bond with his mother's distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk, whom Truman called 'Sook.' In Monroeville, Capote was a neighbor and friend of Harper Lee, who would also go on to become an acclaimed author and a lifelong friend. Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird likely models Dill's characterization upon Capote. As a lonely child, Capote taught himself to read and write before he entered his first year of school. He was often seen at age five carrying his dictionary and notepad, and began writing fiction at age 11. He was given the nickname 'Bulldog' around this age. In 1932, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her second husband, José García Capote, a former Spanish colonel. He attended the Trinity School, St. Joseph Military Academy, Greenwich High School, and the Franklin School, graduating in 1942. While still attending Franklin in 1942, Capote began working as a copy boy in the art department at The New Yorker, a job he held for two years before being fired for angering poet Robert Frost. He was called for induction into the armed services during World War II but was found to be 'too neurotic.'

Reader's Guide

Capote began his professional career writing short stories. The critical success of 'Miriam' (1945) attracted the attention of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf and resulted in a contract to write the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). He achieved widespread acclaim with Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958)—a novella about a fictional New York café society girl named Holly Golightly—and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home. Capote spent six years writing In Cold Blood, aided by his lifelong friend Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). Between 1943 and 1946, Capote wrote a continual flow of short fiction, including 'Miriam,' 'My Side of the Matter,' and 'Shut a Final Door,' for which he won the O. Henry Award in 1948 at age 24. In June 1945, 'Miriam' was published by Mademoiselle and won a prize, Best First-Published Story, in 1946. In the spring of 1946, Capote was accepted at Yaddo, the artists and writers colony at Saratoga Springs, New York. After Lee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and Capote published In Cold Blood in 1966, the authors became increasingly distant from each other.

Did You Know?

• Capote taught himself to read and write before entering his first year of school and was often seen at age five carrying his dictionary and notepad.
• He was given the nickname 'Bulldog' around age 11.
• Capote was fired from his copy boy job at The New Yorker for angering poet Robert Frost.
• He was called for induction into the armed services during World War II but was found 'too neurotic.'
• Capote based the character of Idabel in Other Voices, Other Rooms on his Monroeville neighbor and best friend, Harper Lee.