Description
Author Duet: Truman Capote’s Complete Short stories PLUS Capote’s lost tale “Another Day in Paradise”
Truman Capote rose to international prominence in 1948 with the publication of his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. Among his celebrated works are Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Tree of Night, The Grass Harp, Summer Crossing, A Christmas Memory, and In Cold Blood, widely considered one of the greatest books of the twentieth century. Twice awarded the O. Henry Short Story Prize, Capote was also the recipient of a National Institute of Arts and Letters Creative Writing Award and an Edgar Award. He died August 25, 1984, shortly before his sixtieth birthday.
Reynolds Price is the James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University and the distinguished author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, poetry, drama, and essays. He lives in North Carolina.
Most readers know Truman Capote as the author of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s and “In Cold Blood; or they remember his notorious social life and wild and witty public appearances. But he was also the author of superb short tales that were as elegant as they were heartfelt, as grotesque as they were compassionate. Now, on the occasion of what would have been his eightieth birthday, the Modern Library presents the first collection that includes all of Capote’s short fiction-a volume that confirms his status as one of the masters of this form.
Among the selections are “A Tree of Night,” in which an innocent student, sitting on a train beside a slatternly woman and her deaf-mute companion, enters a seductive nightmare that brings back the deepest fears of childhood . . . “House of Flowers,” the inspiration for a celebrated Broadway musical, which tells of a superstitious prostitute who learns to love in a way no one else can ever understand . . . the holiday perennial “A Christmas Memory,” famously adapted into a superb made-for-TV movie . . . and “The Bargain,” Capote’s melancholy, never-before-published 1950 story about a suburban housewife’s shifting fortunes.
From the gothic South to the chic East Coast, from rural children to aging urban sophisticates, all the unforgettable places and people of Capote’s oeuvre are captured in this first-ever compendium. “The Collected Stories of Truman Capote should restore its author to a place above mere celebrity, to the highest levels of American letters.
Unpublished Truman Capote Story
The Strand is excited to share Truman Capote’s unpublished, complete, lost short story “Another Day in Paradise.” The story remained unpublished until found handwritten in a red and gold scrolled Florentine notebook. Like so much of Capote’s other works, it features autobiographical elements. This story also highlights Capote’s signature style—evocative descriptions, wry humor, and all too human characters. Capote will forever be associated with his 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, made more famous by the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and his 1966 true-crime novel In Cold Blood. However, short stories were the author’s first love and enduring passion. Once again, here is an unforgettable story from the quintessential mid-century American author.
The incomparable, always unique, and ever-prolific Joyce Carol Oates returns to The Strand with “The Chair of Tranquility,” a haunting tale that feels simultaneously classic and contemporary. John M. Floyd speeds us to more modern times with an AI-inspired caper. His work incorporates a couple of teenagers and a captivating car in “Liz and Drew and Mary Lou.” And what would an issue of The Strand be without a Sherlock Holmes yarn? Derrick Belanger has Holmes taking a back seat this time, allowing Watson to try his hand at detecting in “Dr. Watson Takes the Case.”
Headlining this issue’s interview is Martin Cruz Smith, the legendary creator of the Arkady Renko series. In this insightful interview with Strand managing editor Andrew Gulli, Cruz Smith shares his perspective on writing, his career in journalism, and the state of affairs in Eastern Europe. As usual, The Strand’s team of expert book reviewers has the scoop on the latest offerings from the mystery world.
In addition to featuring this unpublished short story by Truman Capote, we’ve featured scores of unpublished works by legendary authors, including Shirley Jackson, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, H. G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Tennessee Williams, Louisa May Alcott, John Steinbeck, and Ray Bradbury.
