Before In Cold Blood , Truman was a normal, if ambitious, person, |
Before Truman, journalism and non-fiction weren't taken very seriously. |
Before Truman, journalism and non-fiction weren't taken very seriously. Journalism was seen as a hack profession that had very little style, very little grace. After In Cold Blood , people saw real-life stories in a different way. |
He did tell me that 'In Cold Blood' scraped him down to the marrow of his bones. That's how he phrased it. He achieved fame, money, everything a writer ever, ever wants in the world, and it ruined his life. |
He identified with Perry Smith, ... Perry Smith had a terrible childhood. Perry's was much worse than Truman's. Perry was really, really miserable. Truman's was just really miserable. But the loneliness--both of them shared this loneliness. |
He identified with Perry Smith. Perry Smith had a terrible childhood. Perry's was much worse than Truman's. Perry was really, really miserable. Truman's was just really miserable. But the loneliness--both of them shared this loneliness. |
He probably gave the impression [to other writers] that he wrote copy rather than delivered it. |
He said at the time that the book scraped him down to the marrow of his bones. It changed him. |
His theory was that non-fiction could be as artful as fiction. |
I don't think Capote loved Smith. But he did make a deep connection. It upset some people, because that had never been the approach to journalistic crime writing, to look into the mind of the killer. |
I don't think there are many Capote letters that I have not seen for my biography and for 'Too Brief a Treat.' But there are undoubtedly some that I have not seen and that I hope will come to light someday. |
In the writing of memoirs, as in the production of shows, too much caution causes the audience to nod and think of other channels. |
It was the most dramatic and probably the most important period in his life, and it changed him radically in all sorts of ways, |
Perry didn't want the title to be |
That did happen. He may have made a connection with Perry, but Truman was ultimately a writer. A writer trying to get the story. |