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Capote's Women
- A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
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Publisher's Summary
New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."
“There are certain women,” Truman Capote wrote, “who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich.” Barbara “Babe” Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy’s sister)—they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. Capote befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and startling way possible.
Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer’s block. While enjoying all the fruits of his success, he was struck with an idea for what he was sure would be his most celebrated novel…one based on the remarkable, racy lives of his very, very rich friends.
For years, Capote attempted to write Answered Prayers, what he believed would have been his magnum opus. But when he eventually published a few chapters in Esquire, the thinly fictionalized lives (and scandals) of his closest female confidantes were laid bare for all to see, and he was banished from their high-society world forever. Laurence Leamer re-creates the lives of these fascinating swans, their friendships with Capote and one another, and the doomed quest to write what could have been one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.
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What the critics say
One of NY Post’s 35 Best Book Gifts for Everyone on Your 2021 Holiday List
One of NY Post’s Must-Have Books for Fall 2021
One of Town & Country’s Must-Read Books of Fall
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One of Garden & Gun's Favorite Books of 2021
One of PopSugar’s October Must-Reads
“Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest...they were the stars of '50s and '60s society. They were also the women Truman Capote loved, flattered—and betrayed. A fascinating look at their world.”—People
"Laurence Leamer deftly tells the stories of the stylish, glamorous women whose trust Capote cultivated and then betrayed. Mr. Leamer has delivered a fast-paced, sensitive tale of the swans, their tumultuous lives and their dismay at Capote’s treachery.”—Wall Street Journal
“In this delicious dissection of the writer and the women he befriended, Laurence Leamer uncovers what it meant to let Capote into your inner circle, how each of these women found friendship and frustration with him, and what happened when he committed the ultimate betrayal.”—Town & Country
What listeners say about Capote's Women
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- TRE
- 2022-02-11
Interesting Capsule of a Time Passed
Multiple interesting stories of people woven togerher. Enjoyed it. You can leave it and pick it up again.
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- JAP
- 2024-04-18
It's An Ok Read for Background on the TV show
I read this book only because I was trying to get into the TV series Fued:The Swans and I had no idea who any of the women "swans" were and was looking for background. I have vague memories of Truman Capote appearing on talk shows when I was a child and had always wondered why he was famous. (I eventually read In Cold Blood as a teen). Unfortunately the book (and TV series) were just not very interesting.
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