Tag: truman capote

American Fiction, Book Review, Classic, Fiction, Novel

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote vs. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a non-fiction novel based on the murder of the Clutter family, husband and wife, son and daughter, all four killed in their own home by Perry Smith and his accomplice Dick Hickock in 1959. Mr. Capote’s accomplishment is not that he tells a compelling story of murder and the subsequent search for justice which he does, but that … Continue reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote vs. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

james b chester
American Fiction, Book Review, Fiction, LGBT, Noir, Novel

Capote in Kansa by Kim Powers and an Interview with the Author

Capote in Kansas by Kim Powers takes a lot of chances. Recreating the lives of not one but two well known and well respected American writers and dealing with subject matter that has not only been covered by others, but covered very well. It is to Mr. Powers great credit that he pulls it off, giving readers an entertaining and haunting experience by telling us … Continue reading Capote in Kansa by Kim Powers and an Interview with the Author

james b chester2 Comments
American Fiction, Book Review, Classic, Fiction, LGBT, Non-fiction

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

It must have taken some nerve to write a sympathetic portrayal of a gay man in 1948.  Even more nerve to do so in your first novel. Truman Capote had a lot of nerve. Other Voices, Other Rooms, Truman  Capote’s first novel, can be read as a bildungsroman–the story of the artist as a young man–if we read the main character Joel Harrison Knox as autobiographical. … Continue reading Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

james b chester4 Comments
American Fiction, Book Review, Classic, Fiction, LGBT, Novel

Harper Lee vs. Truman Capote: Round Two

I’ve been reading both Harper Lee and Truman Capote simultaneously this summer: To Kill a Mockingbird and Other Voices, Other Rooms.  It’s easy to argue that both books are based on the author’s childhoods; the authors who knew each other as children were life long friends.  Truman Capote is probably the basis for the character of Dill in Mockingbird; Harper Lee is certainly the basis for  Idabel … Continue reading Harper Lee vs. Truman Capote: Round Two

james b chester4 Comments
American Fiction, Book Review, Classic, Fiction, LGBT

Harper Lee vs. Truman Capote

Earlier this year when I read a review of Truman Capote’s first novel, Other Voices Other Rooms which is about growing up in a small rural Southern town, I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to read  in tandem with Harper Lee’s novel about growing up in a small rural Southern town To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee and Truman Capote had what is probably the … Continue reading Harper Lee vs. Truman Capote

james b chester5 Comments