[clackers]

"Imagination, of course, can open any door - turn the key and let terror walk right in. Tuesday, at dawn, a carload of pheasant hunters from Colorado - strangers, ignorant of the local disaster - were startled by what they saw as they crossed the prairies and passed through Holcomb; windows ablaze, almost every window in almost every house, and in the brightly lit rooms, fully clothed people, even entire families, who had sat the whole night awake, watchful, listening. Of what were they frightened? 'It might happen again.'"

In 1959 Kansas, a farming family were murdered in their house, and Truman Capote covered the investigation and trial with 'In Cold Blood' in the form of a novel, complete with dialogue and fantastic narrative prose.

It's taken me many years to finally get around to this, and I'm glad I did. I'd only read 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' of his, and if we were to believe the old rumours, 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.

[RobA_Oz]

"Imagination, of course, can open any door - turn the key and let terror walk right in. Tuesday, at dawn, a carload of pheasant hunters from Colorado - strangers, ignorant of the local disaster - were startled by what they saw as they crossed the prairies and passed through Holcomb; windows ablaze, almost every window in almost every house, and in the brightly lit rooms, fully clothed people, even entire families, who had sat the whole night awake, watchful, listening. Of what were they frightened? 'It might happen again.'"

In 1959 Kansas, a farming family were murdered in their house, and Truman Capote covered the investigation and trial with 'In Cold Blood' in the form of a novel, complete with dialogue and fantastic narrative prose.

It's taken me many years to finally get around to this, and I'm glad I did. I'd only read 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' of his, and if we were to believe the old rumours, 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.

I hadn’t heard that rumour before, but Harper Lee was a friend and supporter of Truman Capote. Anyway, ‘In Cold Blood’ was a great read, and there was no suggestion of anyone else writing it, to the best of my knowledge.

I should get around to reading ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, but I have a fear that the imagery from the Audrey Hepburn movie might still overshadow it, for me. Maybe not.

[clackers]

I hadn’t heard that rumour before, but Harper Lee was a friend and supporter of Truman Capote.

It was a bit more than that. They were childhood neighbours back in Alabama, and appeared as characters in each other's writing (Capote is 'Dill' in Mockingbird).

For In Cold Blood, Lee in fact was Capote's assistant, doing several of the interviews, AFAIK, so they kept in touch and there was literary collaboration.

Because To Kill A Mockingbird seemed to come out of nowhere (and to me resembles Breakfast In Tiffany's in style and theme, but in a different setting), I think it might've been tempting that it could be regarded as a Capote side project/literary hoax with his good friend a beneficiary.

But there were in fact drafts to the editor beforehand.

If you were going to do a practical joke, you'd just write the entire manuscript and submit it 'as is', wouldn't you? Prep work and going back and forth with a publisher would be a grind, you're now serious, not humorous.

[robgski]

I hadn't heard of the Capote-Lee connection before, very interesting.

I need to get finished with a few books so I can move on to new ones I've just discovered.

[lesmore49]

"Imagination, of course, can open any door - turn the key and let terror walk right in. Tuesday, at dawn, a carload of pheasant hunters from Colorado - strangers, ignorant of the local disaster - were startled by what they saw as they crossed the prairies and passed through Holcomb; windows ablaze, almost every window in almost every house, and in the brightly lit rooms, fully clothed people, even entire families, who had sat the whole night awake, watchful, listening. Of what were they frightened? 'It might happen again.'"

In 1959 Kansas, a farming family were murdered in their house, and Truman Capote covered the investigation and trial with 'In Cold Blood' in the form of a novel, complete with dialogue and fantastic narrative prose.

It's taken me many years to finally get around to this, and I'm glad I did. I'd only read 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' of his, and if we were to believe the old rumours, 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.

I had not heard of that rumour before either. As Rob says...interesting to think about. Parts of the Hoffman movie were filmed around my province, as both Kansas and Manitoba are located on the Great Plains of North America...some similarity in locale appearance.

'Capote is a 2005 biographical film about Truman Capote directed by Bennett Miller. It follows the events during the writing of Capote's 1966 non-fiction book In Cold Blood. Philip Seymour Hoffman won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his critically acclaimed portrayal of the title character. The film was based on Gerald Clarke's 1988 biography Capote. It was filmed mostly in Manitoba in the autumn of 2004 and released September 30, 2005, coinciding with Capote's birthday.'

-from Wikipedia

Many years ago talk show host Johnny Carson would have Capote on his TV show and the interviews were interesting.

Jay Leno who took over the show regularly featured a southern lady who had a great sense of humour and could be very direct. Jay billed her as the fruitcake lady, a title she appeared to enjoy and she was a very sharp, observant individual who was a keen observer of human foibles. She was also Truman Capote's aunt .

Marie Rudisill - Wikipedia

[gaweidert]

Many years ago talk show host Johnny Carson would have Capote on his TV show and the interviews were interesting.

Still miss Johnny Carson. As to books, I am rereading "Winston's War" by Max Hastings. Very good look at the man during WWII.


My favorite WC quote is "History will be very kind to me. I intend to write it myself.". His "History of the Second World War" is epic on some scale, but not particularly accurate.


Since I had an ancestor named Spencer Churchill Arlidge I may be related to him. Maybe even Princess Di too? But I was not invited to the wedding so maybe not related to her.

[lesmore49]

Still miss Johnny Carson. As to books, I am rereading "Winston's War" by Max Hastings. Very good look at the man during WWII.


My favorite WC quote is "History will be very kind to me. I intend to write it myself.". His "History of the Second World War" is epic on some scale, but not particularly accurate.


Since I had an ancestor named Spencer Churchill Arlidge I may be related to him. Maybe even Princess Di too? But I was not invited to the wedding so maybe not related to her.

My wife and I subscribed to Ancestry, amazing where that led us regarding discovering some ancient British familial links.

I'm another big fan of WC. Some great stories, funny, snappy lines from him, and of course spiced with his inimitable sense of humour.

A book I picked up recently, might appeal to you.

Titled....'Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' and written by Giles Milton, it looks at some of the groups and individuals who were responsible for some creative sabotage that plagued Hitler's forces during WW2. I found it well written and entertaining.

[Chris_K]

Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

Great insight into modern science from an unusual perspective.

[aslyfox]

Have found a 5 book series

historical fiction Napoleonic war era

" Worth Their Colours " (105th Foot. Wessex Regiment. Book 1)

by Martin McDowell

[kevinWE]

I purchased what they call a 'Kindle Horror 20 Pack'. The problem with the series is navigation and clearly titled pages as to which book you are currently reading.

I recently started a vampire book based in post-apocalyptic Chicago, but for the life of me I currently do not remember the title or the author. I just checked my reader but the book title is not mentioned at top of pages nor is the author's name. I could jump back to the start and grab the title, but the navigation is not made easy either. Once I go back I may have to struggle a bit to find my current page and I simply do not have the energy to mess around this morning.

I will post title after I have had my coffee.

OK, after some jumping around I actually found the title and author. (Thank you coffee)

Afterage by Yvonne Navarro
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1153408.Afterage?ac=1&from_search=true&q...crYr10g&rank=1

I'm not a huge fan of vampire novels (although I have read my fair share). This book was chosen as a random read suitable for the halloween season.

[Gorgarath]

This reminds me that Kim Harrison recently released a new book in her Hollows series that I've been meaning to pick up. B&N has been closed, maybe it's open now, I'm not sure, so I've not picked up a physical copy yet, but perhaps I'll go and pick up my digital copies today. (I own the whole series in both physical and digital as well.)

[robgski]

Yvonne Navarro

I read her Final Impact and Red Shadows books, interesting premise and ideas.

For fiction, I am starting "A Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe, and for non-fiction I'm enjoying "The Shortest Leap" by A. L. van den Herik. weighty but well written.

[sasastro]

Just finished The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes. Nick shows the links between land, powerful people and political interests as he trespasses his way around the UK

[dbs]

Since magazines are disappearing from newsagents at an alarming rate i am having to re read older volumes.
Australian Artist at the moment

[paulh]

The Fourth Estate, by Jeffrey Archer. 800 pages to look forward to!