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"A gift from an unbridled genius. Exciting...irresistible...should be cherished as top-flight work from a master." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
Although Truman Capote's last novel was unfinished at the time of his death, its surviving portions offer a devastating group portrait of the high and low society of his time.
As it follows the career of a writer of uncertain parentage and omnivorous erotic tastes, Answered Prayers careens from a louche bar in Tangiers to a banquette at La Cote Basque, from literary salons to high-priced whorehouses. It takes in calculating beauties and sadistic husbands along with such real-life supporting characters as Colette, the Duchess of Windsor, Montgomery Clift, and Tallulah Bankhead. Above all, this malevolently funny book displays Capote at his most relentlessly observant and murderously witty.
"Prose that makes the heart sing and the narrative fly... inspired." -- The New York Times Book Review
Although Truman Capote's last novel was unfinished at the time of his death, its surviving portions offer a devastating group portrait of the high and low society of his time.
As it follows the career of a writer of uncertain parentage and omnivorous erotic tastes, Answered Prayers careens from a louche bar in Tangiers to a banquette at La Cote Basque, from literary salons to high-priced whorehouses. It takes in calculating beauties and sadistic husbands along with such real-life supporting characters as Colette, the Duchess of Windsor, Montgomery Clift, and Tallulah Bankhead. Above all, this malevolently funny book displays Capote at his most relentlessly observant and murderously witty.
"Prose that makes the heart sing and the narrative fly... inspired." -- The New York Times Book Review
Product Description
P.B. Jones is the amoral, bisexual protagonist of this unfinished novel. He discovers that bed-hopping rather than literary ability is the way to get published. He discovers along the way that prayers that are answered cause more pain than those that remain ignored.
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Somewhere in this world there exists an exceptional philosopher named Florie Rotondo. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Somewhere in this world there exists an exceptional philosopher named Florie Rotondo. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If the complete novel had ever been published, "Answered Prayers" would have been no doubt Truman Capote's masterpiece. The novel is nothing like "In Cold Blood" or "Other Voices, Other Rooms." The novel is autobiographical and details the lives of socialites and endless parties. Capote was very familiar with this lifestyle. He was a regular on the New York City and L.A. party circuit. All of Capote's escapades can be read about in Gerald Clarke's biography "Capote." "Answered Prayers" was worked on for more than twenty years, and it's ashamed that no more of the book was found after Capote's death in 1984. "Answered Prayers" is Capote's masterpiece.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although "Answered Prayers" can be read as dated since most of it's "characters" live in the 1960's and 1970's, there is still marvelous prose and stories that pique the interest. Capote had promised to complete several short stories for this tome, but this collection contains only three. All of them are marvels to read, but the last, "La Cote Basque", is a stinging expose of the New York Socialite clique. Not only does Capote mention real celebrities, but he also exposes the deepest and darkest secrets of high society with a thin veil. It's no wonder he was ostracized from this egregious group. Some of the events he describes are beyond scandalous, yet witty and viciously funny. He somehow manages to bring the `so-called' social deviants to the same level as the most respected socialites, making it clear that money is the only difference.
The Editor's Note is the most intriguing part of the book, as it describes how Capote managed to promise to produce these stories for years without delivering and obtained millions from the publishers, enabling him to live with a high level of social activity. He was a celebrity as well as an author and a clever, if not conniving man. The biggest tragedy is that so many stories will never be read due to his early alcoholic induced death. Still, these three stories are inspired gems.
The Editor's Note is the most intriguing part of the book, as it describes how Capote managed to promise to produce these stories for years without delivering and obtained millions from the publishers, enabling him to live with a high level of social activity. He was a celebrity as well as an author and a clever, if not conniving man. The biggest tragedy is that so many stories will never be read due to his early alcoholic induced death. Still, these three stories are inspired gems.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Capote was ostrichised by his high society "friends" for this novel when excerpts were published in Esquire. It is, you see, an expose of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and though most of the names recounted in the book are psuedonyms, it isn't too hard to see who they are getting at (although it was for me, but then I'm thick)
Yes, sharp as knives, bitchy as hell.
Yes, sharp as knives, bitchy as hell.
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