A literary genius who crafted tight, flawless prose and displayed keen insight into human nature, Truman Capote belied his cool, level-headed approach to writing by adopting a flamboyant and often strange public persona. Though he was the toast of high society and one of literature’s most promising young authors, Capote had lost his social and literary appeal by the time of his premature death in 1984, thanks in part to crippling drug and alcohol addiction. Sadly, the largest contributor to his low public estimation was Capote himself. Several public feuds with literary contemporaries—notably
