Truman Capote

The main character is based on the real-life person Truman Capote. Capote was an American novelist, famous for his novel, In Cold Blood, which narrated the murders of the Clutter family in Kansas. Truman is described as an effeminate little man. He grew up in Monroeville, Alabama and eventually moved to New York City, though he had homes across the U.S. Swan Song focuses on the latter part of Truman’s life, after he had written In Cold Blood and when he was in the process of writing Answered Prayers, and unfinished manuscript which took him 20 years to write.

Truman is seen as part of high society, frequenting social groups of the privileged and wealthy. In particular, he befriends a group of women that he lovingly refers to as his Swans. Truman travels the world with these women, all the while sharing secrets and the most...