Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 288 pages
- Published by: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition January 25, 2001
- ISBN 10 Number: 0141184612
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0141184616
-
Book Dimensions:
7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
- Weighs: 7.8 ounces
Product Review
"An incomparable stylist and entertainerclean and cool[with a] superb, near-perfect pitch with dialogue." --
The New York Times Book Review"Everything is displayed in this book: insights and recollections of the famous and the obscure; old jokes and fresh witThese stories and vingettes will endure." --
New Republic
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
In these gems of reportage Truman Capote takes true stories and real people and renders then with the stylistic brio we expect from great fiction. Here we encounter an exquisitely preserved Creole aristocrat sipping absinthe in her Martinique salon; an enigmatic killer who sends his victims announcements of their forthcoming demise; and a proper Connecticut householder with a ruinous obsession for a twelve-year-old girl he has never met. And we meet Capote himself, who, whether he is smoking with his cleaning lady or trading sexual gossip with Marilyn Monroe, remainds one of the most elegant, malicious, yet compassionate writers to train his eye on the social fauna of our time.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Music for Chameleons (Paperback)
From each country I visit, I buy a book as a souvenir. While on interrail this summer, I stumbled over the "Music for Chameleons" in Prague. I have not read a lot of Capote, but nevertheless, this must be Capote at his best. His writing is simple and direct, yet beautiful and elegant. In a way, his economic writing style reminds me of Hemingway. Eloquent, with not one word out of place. "Music for Chameleons" had my attention from the preface to the very last page. The author has this amazing ability to grab the reader's attention and hold on to it. When reading this book, I was a part of it. I was there; I could feel the emotions of each of the characters in the different stories. The book contains several short stories and one non-fiction novel. I don't normally like short stories, but after reading this book, I am now a great fan of short stories. At least Capote's short stories. They are extraordinary! My favorite among these stories is the story of his dope-smoking cleaning lady. A truly wicked story. The longer piece in this book, the novel, "Handcarved Coffins", is about his investigation of a murder case in Kansas. Great mystery, many details, and I read the whole story in one sitting. "Music for Chameleons" is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read and I read it in 50 page gulps. A compelling read. Highly recommended!
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