truman capote's - music for chameleons

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in it - what do you think of 'hand carved coffins' - is it a shot at former glories of 'in cold blood' and was it based in fact? i thought it was a decent parody of 'in cold blood' - do you think it was meant as such?

― griffin doome, Monday, 22 December 2003 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

hmm, you've got me questioning whether it is based in fact, i'm so gullible.....i really like the interviews at the end though, the ones with the cleaning lady, marilyn & mansons friend are great pieces of 'new' journalism.

― zappi (joni), Monday, 22 December 2003 13:29 (twenty-two years ago)

the monroe and cleaning lady interviews were good. but the 'hand carved coffins' reeks of parody of 'in cold blood'; i always heard that harper lee was the one responsible for 'in cold blood'. i've done searches on the case of 'hand carved coffins' and nothing has come up on the internet or any books i hold. i wonder why? maybe because he invented it?

― griffin doome, Monday, 22 December 2003 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm going to the library in a minute, will do some research into this!

― zappi (joni), Monday, 22 December 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Harper Lee was one of his researchers for 'In Cold Blood' as far as I know, the two were old friends and Capote is the model for Dill in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

― LondonLee (LondonLee), Monday, 22 December 2003 14:06 (twenty-two years ago)

hmm..the only reference i could find was in george plimptons biography of capote, where it was implied that there was an original case that 'handcarved coffins' was based on, but capote was more than a little creative with the facts.
some NaCl with your coffins, sir?

― zappi (joni), Monday, 22 December 2003 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Whatever you do, don't read the introduction to MfC. So sickeningly arrogant and egotistical that it put me off reading the rest of the book for a long time.

― Prude (Prude), Monday, 22 December 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i read a convincing case online which stated that capote invented the majority of the facts of 'hand carved coffins' in an effort to reprise the celebrity he recieved for 'in cold blood'.

other weird facts:

a) he had a gay relationship with one of the killers from 'in cold blood';

b) its been suggested that harper lee wrote large parts of 'in cold blood' because of her easy southern charms - the populace of the town had taken to her more than they did with capote - by and large an outlandlish gay character dressed in white.

but don't get me wrong - capote is brilliance.

makes me think - why had harper lee not written anything since to kill a mockingbird?

― griffin doome, Monday, 22 December 2003 16:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I never knew that she had anything to do with In Cold Blood. That's cool. And isn't there some debate about HER actually writing To Kill A Mockingbird? I don't know anything about that though. I just remember hearing something.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 22 December 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

never heard that -- but had heard that harper lee was very influential on capote's writing and life and as mentioned before - capote was the basis of the dill character (so ostensibly harper was scout).

i was surprised that harper lee is still alive. and still scowling at anyone who bothers her!

― griffin doome, Monday, 22 December 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

nice christmas short story by Harper Lee here

― zappi (joni), Monday, 22 December 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

And isn't there some debate about HER actually writing To Kill A Mockingbird?

i think there's a rumor that capote wrote it, but i have no idea as to the veracity of this.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 22 December 2003 23:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sure Capote could not have kept that a secret!

― jed (jed_e_3), Monday, 22 December 2003 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

they probably had a fight and then he STARTED the rumour.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 22 December 2003 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

both very good points!

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 00:19 (twenty-two years ago)

ten years pass...

i read handcarved coffins yesterday -- it's amazing anyone could think it as real nonfiction, but it's not bad writing, leans toward like a pulp detective story but like soft-boiled instead of hard-boiled if that makes sene

i also really like the line/thought he gives pepper of "Sometimes, when i'd had a snootful, i used to talk about amy and her amethyst eyes, and my wife didn't think it was one bit funny."

― johnny crunch, Saturday, 13 December 2014 17:04 (eleven years ago)

two weeks pass...

marilyn is p funny - re: the queen of england 'what's that cunt got to do with it?'

― johnny crunch, Sunday, 28 December 2014 00:13 (eleven years ago)

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