Peter Ackroyd
English author
Truman Capote was an acclaimed American writer known for works like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood. He had a troubled upbringing that inspired his writing, and he collaborated with Harper Lee on some of his most famous projects.
Table of Contents
About the Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capotewas an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’sand the true crime novel In Cold Bloodattracted the attention of Random House publisher Bennett Cerf and resulted in a contract to write the novel Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). Capote earned the most fame with In Cold Blood (1966), a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family in their home. Capote spent six years writing the book, aided by his lifelong friend Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
Frequently Asked Questions
Truman Capote’s full name was Truman Streckfus Persons.
Truman Capote’s most famous works include the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the true crime novel In Cold Blood.
Truman Capote had a difficult childhood due to his parents’ divorce and frequent moves, which inspired much of his writing and subject matter.
Truman Capote collaborated with his lifelong friend Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, while writing In Cold Blood.
More than 20 of Truman Capote’s short stories, novels, and plays have been adapted into films and television productions.
Truman Capote was planning to become a writer by the time he was eight years old.
The critical success of Truman Capote’s short story ,Miriam, in 1945 attracted the attention of a publisher and resulted in a contract to write his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms.
27 Quotes by Truman Capote
- 1.
Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t have too many friends because then you’re just not really friends.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 2.
I like to talk on TV about those things that aren’t worth writing about.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 3.
Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 4.
I can see every monster as they come in.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 5.
Fame is only good for one thing – they will cash your check in a small town.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 6.
I was eleven, then I was sixteen. Though no honors came my way, those were the lovely years.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 7.
Well, I’m about as tall as a shotgun, and just as noisy.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 8.
When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended for self-flagellation solely.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 9.
That isn’t writing at all, it’s typing.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 10.
Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 11.
I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 12.
To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about, but the inner music that words make.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 13.
Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 14.
Mick Jagger is about as sexy as a pissing toad.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 15.
Sometimes when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 16.
Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good writing and bad and, even more terrifying, the difference between it and true art. And after that, the whip came down.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 17.
All literature is gossip.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 18.
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 19.
No one will ever know what ‘In Cold Blood’ took out of me. It scraped me right down to the marrow of my bones. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 20.
I got this idea of doing a really serious big work-it would be precisely like a novel, with a single difference: Every word of it would be true from beginning to end.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 21.
It is the want to know the end that makes us believe in God, or witchcraft, believe, at least, in something.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 22.
A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That’s why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 23.
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 24.
My major regret in life is that my childhood was unnecessarily lonely.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 25.
I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 26.
The quietness of his tone italicized the malice of his reply.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)
- 27.
Love is a chain of love as nature is a chain of life.
Truman CapoteAmerican author (1924-1984)