"The genius dwarf" Truman Capote: a favorite of women and men, who did not justify trust
The first story of this writer conquered America and made him famous. Later, the whole world learned about him and his "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cold-blooded Murder" became classics of literature of the XX century. But being successful and happy is not the same thing at all, so all his life Truman Capote was a very unhappy and dissatisfied person.
Truman Capote was an unwanted child and felt it at a very early age. The parents of the future literary genius, Lilly Mae Folk and Arculus Persons, constantly found out the relationship and broke up when the boy was only four years old.
The aunts who were left in the care of Truman doted on him, but they could not replace his mother. The boy was very different from his peers — he himself studied writing and arithmetic, and preferred books to children's games. Later, the writer said that the decision to become a writer came to him at a very early age, along with the first stories and novels he read.
When the boy turned nine, something happened that he wanted most of all. Lilly finally got married and decided to take her son. Her new husband, Joseph Capote, adopted the boy and gave him his last name. It was in the house of his stepfather that Truman first began to study literature. He was only 11 years old, but when he came home from school, the boy always spent at least three hours writing stories.
A mother could be proud of such a smart and purposeful son, but Lilly, on the contrary, was ashamed of her Truman. The boy was short, ungainly, with a big head and a squeaky voice. Peers also disliked the young Capote, mocked him and teased him with a "pocket Merlin".
But Truman was not too upset by such trifles — he had colossal ambitions and knew perfectly well who he would become in the future and what his abusers would be like. From 1939 to 1942, the boy studied at a school in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he was unexpectedly evaluated.
Capote wrote articles for the school newspaper and scripts for plays, was a welcome guest at parties and even made friends with one of the most popular girls of the school. She was also fond of literature and dreamed of becoming a writer. Capote's girlfriend was interested in him and she was not even embarrassed by the fact that he was a head shorter than her.In 1943, Truman Capote began to publish actively, but these were not his first works. In 2013, the writer's teenage stories were accidentally discovered, created at the age of 11-19 years, and they turned out to be so good that in 2015 they were published as a separate book. So we can confidently say that Capote simply did not know how to write badly.
From small stories, the writer gradually moved on to larger-scale works. His first novel, Voices of Grass, published in 1951, made him the most famous writer in the United States. Capote had a reputation as a superman — he was called a genius dwarf, a devil, a god and he was a welcome guest of the most fashionable parties and the most respected families.
Capote was basking in the rays of his fame. He had an amazing effect on people — men offered him patronage from the very first minutes of acquaintance, and women considered him "their boyfriend" and shared their most intimate secrets. It is known that Capote had a special notebook in which he wrote down the names of famous people who became his friends.
He had enough money, but it was these records that Truman considered his main treasure. When he was alone with himself, the writer flipped through the pages of the book and enjoyed the ever-growing list of names. Despite his unattractive appearance, Capote gathered around him a real harem of successful and famous fans. Jacqueline Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Gloria Guinness were crazy about this big-headed dwarf.
Women were not interested in Capote as sexual objects, since he was gay, but he got great pleasure from communicating with them. As an experienced psychoanalyst, Truman understood at the very beginning of the conversation what the lady wanted to hear and gave it to her in full. He could be an adviser and a keeper of secrets, who was trusted more than the closest friend.
In communicating with men, Capote had a special tactic — he talked about his childhood deprived of love and affection, about bullying and complexes. No one has ever seen in On the contrary, everyone tried to give him all possible help and support him in some way.
The writer skillfully manipulated people — he could live for weeks in the luxurious mansions of stars and spend days and nights in the companies of the wives of millionaires and politicians. The most intimate secrets were shared with him, not considering that this could have consequences. Truman Capote was like a toy or a harmless pet for the powerful of this world.
Capote claimed that it would not be difficult for him to put any of the women he knew to bed, and perhaps he was not exaggerating. But Truman's heart belonged to men and on this front he also had tremendous success. The literary genius met with real handsome men, and the writer Jack Daphne became the love of his life.
In 1966, Capote organized the so-called "black and white ball", to receive an invitation to which was an honor for any celebrity. Capote enjoyed his power over others and gradually began to lose his sense of reality.
In 1975, Esquire magazine published the first chapter of the novel "Prayers Answered", conceived by Capote as the most significant work in his life. The creation of a genius was supposed to cause the effect of an exploding bomb and it happened, but not at all as many thought.The chapter entitled "La Côte Basque 1965" came as a shock to many friends and patrons of the writer — in it he unexpectedly revealed the biggest secrets that were once entrusted to him in private conversations. It was a complete collapse-from Absolutely everyone turned away from Capote. Adoration, money, fame, trust-all this is left in the past and everyone's favorite instantly turned into an outcast.
Even the faithful lover Jack Daphne left the writer, explaining that he could not be near a man who was destroying himself with drugs and alcohol. This was not an exaggeration — after the doors of the houses of celebrities closed in front of Truman, he began to lean on alcohol and cocaine.
The author has repeatedly tried to justify himself, telling in an interview that his story "La Côte Basque 1965" is completely based on fiction and any coincidences are accidental. No one believed in this, since many of the characters of the work were easily recognizable. The next two chapters of "Prayers Answered" only worsened the situation and did not leave Capote a single chance to return to the past life that he loved so much, but did not appreciate.
Truman Capote spent the last years of his life in an alcohol-drug frenzy. Periodically, he tried to escape from the embrace of vices and underwent a course of treatment, but the moments of enlightenment became shorter and shorter. The "genius dwarf" had no more reason to live and he understood this perfectly well. Truman Capote died in 1984 from severe liver damage caused by years of abuse of alcohol, drugs and antidepressants.
Keywords: Alcoholism | Genius | Stars | Dwarfs | Classics | Literature | Favorites | Writer | Short story | Novel