Truman Capote

Truman Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. He was famous for his novella-turned-film Breakfast at Tiffany’s and his true-crime novel In Cold Blood.

Raised in the Deep South by his mother’s relatives after his mother divorced when he was four, Capote befriended neighbor Harper Lee, who went on to write To Kill a Mockingbird.

In The Swans of Fifth Avenue, author Melanie Benjamin fictionalizes Truman Capote and his friendships with other real-life individuals, particularly the elite socialites whom he comes to call his “Swans.” The novel focuses largely on the fallout of Capote’s short story for Esquire magazine titled "La Côte Basque, 1965." This printed short-story is the first chapter in Capote’s novel Answered Prayers, and despite the use of pseudonyms, highlights the dirty secrets of his friends in the upper-set.

Following the publication of "La Côte Basque, 1965" in...