Gerald Clarke Quotes (11 Quotes)

He probably gave the impression to other writers that he wrote copy rather than delivered it.

In the writing of memoirs, as in the production of shows, too much caution causes the audience to nod and think of other channels.

He did tell me that 'In Cold Blood' scraped him down to the marrow of his bones. That's how he phrased it. He achieved fame, money, everything a writer ever, ever wants in the world, and it ruined his life.

He identified with Perry Smith, ... Perry Smith had a terrible childhood. Perry's was much worse than Truman's. Perry was really, really miserable. Truman's was just really miserable. But the loneliness--both of them shared this loneliness.

Before In Cold Blood , Truman was a normal, if ambitious, person,

Before Truman Capote, journalism and non-fiction weren't taken very seriously.

He said at the time that the book scraped him down to the marrow of his bones. It changed him.

His theory was that non-fiction could be as artful as fiction.

I don't think Capote loved Smith. But he did make a deep connection. It upset some people, because that had never been the approach to journalistic crime writing, to look into the mind of the killer.

They were convicted almost immediately in March of 1960, but the appeals lasted 5 years. And it was hard on them, as you can imagine, and hard on Truman.

I don't think there are many Capote letters that I have not seen for my biography and for 'Too Brief a Treat.' But there are undoubtedly some that I have not seen and that I hope will come to light someday.