Conversations With Capote

Who but Truman Capote would dare to say that about (among many, many others) Jacqueline Onassis, Norman Mailer, Montgomery Clift, André Gide, Marilyn Monroe, Lee Radziwill, Tennessee Williams, J. D. Salinger, Gore Vidal, and Elizabeth Taylor? Equally pointed is Capote's talk about himself-his childhood and early fame, his bouts with drugs and alcohol, his homosexuality, his assessment of his talent and his work, including In Cold Blood. He has definite opinions about good writing, and he isn't shy about saying who he thinks the biggest phonies are among his fellow writers. Conversations with Capote-which Capote intended to be the definitive in-depth interview-makes both the man and his times come alive and has what the San Diego Union called the "quality that will bring readers to it again and again."