Truman Capote

The author of Queer Chivalry presents a biographical study of the celebrity writer ';rich with insight into [his] literary and cinematic achievements' (Publishers Weekly). Truman Capote's legacy is in many ways defined by his complex relationship with Hollywood. InTruman Capote: A Literary Life at the Movies, Tison Pugh explores the author and his literature through a cinematic lens, weaving elements of Capote's biographyincluding his flamboyant public persona and his friendships and feuds with notable starswith critical analysis of the films, screenplays, and adaptations of his works. Capote's masterful prose made him an iconic twentieth century author, and his screenplays, includingBeat the Devil,Indiscretion of an American Wife, andThe Innocents, allowed him to collaborate with such Hollywood heavyweights as Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, and David O. Selznick. But the beloved and acclaimed adaptations of his literature, most notablyBreakfast at Tiffany'sandIn Cold Blood, undercut his daring treatment of homosexuality in favor of heterosexual romance. Pugh demonstrates how Capote's gay southern identity influenced perceptions of his literature and its adaptations. Illuminating Capote's successes and disappointments in the film industry, Pugh delivers a revealing and nuanced portrait of the author's literary life.