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In this seductive, wistful masterpiece, Truman Capote created a woman whose name has entered the American idiom and whose style is a part of the literary landscape. Holly Golightly knows that nothing bad can ever happen to you at Tiffany's; her poignancy, wit, and naïveté continue to charm.
This volume also includes three of Capote's best-known stories, “House of Flowers,” “A Diamond Guitar,” and “A Christmas Memory,” which the Saturday Review called “one of the most moving stories in our language.” It is a tale of two innocents—a small boy and the old woman who is his best friend—whose sweetness contains a hard, sharp kernel of truth.
Truman Capote (1924-84) rose to international prominence in 1948 with the publication of his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. His other works of fiction include Breakfast at Tiffany's, A Tree of Night, The Grass Harp, and Summer Crossing, the author's long-lost first novel, which was rediscovered in 2004 and published by Random House in 2005. He is also the author of Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote. His nonfiction novel In Cold Blood is widely considered one of the greatest books of the twentieth century.
Mr. Capote twice won the O.Henry Memorial Short Story Prize and was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He died in August 1984, shortly before his sixtieth birthday.
Author biography courtesy of Random House, Inc.
A. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
1. The story begins when the bartender Joe Bell and the narrator talk about Mr. Yunioshi’s report that Holly Golightly had been living in Africa. What aura does the opening chapter lend to the character of Holly? What feelings does Holly evoke in Joe Bell?
2. What does Holly mean by her advice about powder-room change to Sid Arbuck, when she refuses to let him into her apartment (12, 21)? Holly tells the narrator, “I’ve simply trained myself to like older men, and it was the smartest thing I ever did” (16). Why has she trained herself? How does Holly support herself?
3. Holly decides to call the narrator “Fred” after her brother. Why, after her brother’s death, does she stop calling him Fred (63)?
4. O. J. Berman tells the narrator that Holly is a phony. What does he mean? Why has she decided not to become a Hollywood actress (24-25, 31)?
5. What does Holly mean by “the mean reds”? Why does Tiffany’s, the luxury jewelry store on Fifth Avenue, make her feel better (32)?
6. When the narrator and Holly tell each other stories about their childhoods, Holly admits that hers is untrue (43-44). Is Holly dishonest, or is she, like the narrator, a kind of storytelling artist? How would you describe Holly’s approach to life?
7. Why is Rusty Trawler a good choice as a boyfriend for Holly? Why does Holly allow the narrator to see her in the bathtub and in other states of undress? What is assumed but never stated about his sexuality?
8. The story takes a surprising turn with the arrival of Doc Golightly. How is he described? How do his story, and the photograph he shows the narrator, transform your understanding of Holly and her past (52-56)?
9. Holly has transformed herself into a stylish New Yorker, but how much is she still attached to her past? How does Holly explain her feelings for Doc (58)? How does she react to the death of her brother Fred (63-67)?
10. The narrator sees a birdcage in an antique shop, and later Holly buys it for him as a surprise gift, but tells him never to keep a living thing in it (47). Later, she tells Joe Bell, “Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell” (59). Does Holly imply anything about herself and her relationships with these references?
11. Holly explains her ideas about ethics: “It’s a bore, but the answer is good things only happen to you if you’re good. Good? Honest is more what I mean. Not law-type honest...but unto-thyself-type honest. Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I’d rather have cancer than a dishonest heart” (66). Would you agree? Does Holly have a high standard of behavior for herself?
12. While Holly seems genuinely to care about the narrator, she seems to have no other real friends. At the party, she makes the gathering of men understand that Mag Wildwood has a sexually transmitted disease (36). Does her opportunism with regard to the rich men in her life also extend to Mag? Does she see Mag as a rival? Why then does she decide to let Meg move in with her (42)?
13. The narrator describes a walk with Holly to Chinatown, a chow mein supper and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. “On the bridge, as we watched the seaward-moving ships pass between the cliffs of burning skyline,” she tells him that many years hence, she will bring her “nine Brazilian brats” back to see New York (67). Why is the narrator sad at this moment? Is theirs an ideal friendship?
14. We are reminded of the suffering in Holly’s life when she loses “the heir,” when José leaves her, and when she tells the narrator about her hallucinations of “the fat woman” after Fred’s death (77-82). Considering what Holly has been through in her earlier life and the fact that she is now under criminal indictment, what do you think of her attitude toward her future?
15. During the drive to the airport, Holly lets her cat out onto the street and then regrets it. The narrator fulfills his promise to find the cat—who has a new home—and he completes the tale with the hope that Holly, too, has arrived where she belongs. Capote told The Paris Review, “Finding the right form for your story is simply to realize the most natural way of telling the story. The test of whether or not a writer has divined the natural shape of his story is just this: after reading it, can you imagine it differently, or does it silence your imagination and seem to you absolute and final?” Is Breakfast at Tiffany’s an example of Capote’s ideal? Do you find the story’s structure, with its interlocking beginning and ending, satisfying?
16. Norman Mailer wrote, “Truman Capote is the most perfect writer of my generation. He writes the best sentences word for word, rhythm upon rhythm.” Ask each person in your group to choose a favorite sentence, and discuss why Capote is such a great prose stylist.
B. “House of Flowers”
1. Why are Rosita and Baby surprised that Ottilie will not return to the city with them?
Why is it significant to their bond that Royal and Ottilie are both country people, and both believe in voodoo? Why does she stay with him after he has punished her?
C. “A Diamond Guitar”
1. Given the description of Mr. Schaeffer (111-112), why do you think he is drawn to Tico Feo? What details of description and character intensify the emotion of this love story?
D. “A Christmas Memory”
1. How does the scarcity of money bring out the creativity and generosity in these two friends?
2. The old woman realizes, after they fly their kites together, that she doesn’t have to wait for death to see divinity: “I’ll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are...just what they’ve always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes” (141). Why is this insight especially relevant on Christmas? Why, when the boy later hears the news of her death, does he feel that it as “sever[s] from me an irreplaceable part of myself, letting it loose like a kite on a broken string” (142)?
Anonymous
Posted April 21, 2008
A seductive story that brings excitement to every word you read. In this book, the author, Truman Capote, uses a descriptive language that makes you feel and understand the way the characters live. Holly Golightly, a New York woman that lives her life like in a theatre play, meets her wonderful neighbor, and together they get to know themselves in a story accompanied with passion and greatness. Both characters get to know each other enough to know that she comes with a dark past with a husband and children and that he is a writer with big hopes and dreams. Throughout the story, Holly is constantly in helped by his neighbor to get out of trouble. Together they guide us through a story of friendship, hopes and dreams, passion and trouble where every word represents a feeling. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read. In every page I experimented excitement, curiosity and a passionate feeling. Reading through the book was like eating a strawberry-cream dish. Truman Capote makes you feel you never want to stop reading it is a book that makes you know you¿ve never wasted your time.
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote was published in 1958. The novel also contains three other short stories, House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas Memory. Breakfast at Tiffany's is considered to be Capote's crowning literary achievement.
Breakfast at Tiffany's is the story of Holly Golightly, girl-about-New York. An un-named narrator reflects back on his time living above Holly in a New York City brownstone. Holly is a naive, charming, quirky, sexy, flirty, smart, witty fledgling of a woman who men pay to be with. Holly has the ability to make everyone fall in love with her and they almost always do. The narrator tells the reader of how his friendship with Holly came to be, and what he learned of her past and it's effect on her present and future.
The language of the book is absolutely charming. You get pulled into Holly's world and are deeply enchanted with it and her, leading to an understanding of how she's become the "it" girl of New York City. The terminology the book is written with has a cool beatnik slang feel to it.
"So, he said, what do you think: is she or ain't she?..You're wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you're right. She isn't a phony because she's a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes."
It gives the book a timeless feeling as Holly can be any woman at any time in any given place. This is one of the big reasons she remains so popular today. She represents an ideal that woman can control their own lives and chose their own destinies. She changed the notion that only men can use sex to their advantage. As much as sex is an important part of Holly's character, it's not outright discussed that she is a prostitute. Reading this work is more about reading in between the lines, than what is actually written.
I really did enjoy the novel, but found the film version to be more complete. I did however enjoy the characters and side stories that didn't make it into the film. they all added new dimensions to Holly's character. I would like to mention that those familiar with the film version to be prepared for a slightly different story. The film version altered the print version, most notably changing the ending.
If you chose to read this novel I heartily recommend Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M - Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson. Fifth Avenue is about the creation of Holly Golightly and how she changed the view of the modern woman. It also gives background on how the novel was written and also how the novel was turned into a film.
Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 12, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Interesting and amusing,this story has oddball characters one imagines would be good friends for an unstable life-style. For me, the ending in the book was more apropos to the type of story this is than was the movie ending. The short story "A Christmas Memory",included in this volume, is by itself worht the price of this book.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 26, 2006
The book Breakfast at Tiffany¿s by Truman Capote is a book about a writer telling of a friend. It excels in imagery and has a point of view from an interesting perspective of an outsider looking in. The book is the story of Miss Holiday Golightly from the Narrator¿s perspective. She is a woman of mystery to everyone in her life, and the narrator can only learn about her life by watching her through a ¿window¿ and can only see what is on her surface. The only person less reliable is Holly herself. ¿You¿re wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you¿re right. She isn¿t a phony because she¿s a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes¿ (Capote 30). The narrator is told this earlier on from a longtime friend of Holly. As the narrator begins to learn more, more the reader knows of Holly lies. Holly lies because she wants no responsiblitiy or ties to people or things. She wants to ¿Golighty¿ through life. Things in her apartment are left packed and she shows her disconnection with her cat by not naming it and the narrator by not calling him his real name, only her estranged brother¿s name, Fred. Holly will not settle down until she has found home. It has to be as stable and luxious as Tiffany¿s. This becomes her goal for her life. Besides her telling the narrator about her brother, Holly confesses one more thing her weekly visits to a gangster, Sally tomato, who is held in the Sing Sing prison. The narrator can easily observe Holly¿s relationships with her social life friends are unstable and soon even theirs falls apart as Holly insults the narrator¿s writing and he insults her way of life. The reason of Holly¿s social life because clear when her brother dies. She falls apart and the author realizes then why Holly doesn¿t let people get too close. Her brother¿s death changes Holly. She begins to stay home and settles down with Jose. She gains weight, starts cooking and finishing her apartment. She and Jose plan their move to Brazil to begin their life and find a home when Holly finds out that she is pregnant. On Holly¿s and the narrator¿s last day together the narrator is injured in a horse-back riding accident. Holly is comforting him when the police arrive. Holly is arrested for conspiracy with the gang because of her visits with Sally Tomato, the prisoner in Sing Sing. Jose leaves her and her inner social circle disowns her only the narrator visits her. Holly tells him she has lost her child, but plans to escape to Brazil. The narrator helps Holly escape. Holly lets go of her cat and leaves her life. The narrator will never see Holly Golightly again, only a postcard to say that she has found a home in Buenos Aries. Holly is a phony she hides herself behind interesting lies and an eccentric lifestyle. She keeps disconnected and unloving for the freedom of her feelings. Understanding describing her and revealing mysteries of her life is the challenge that has to be met by the narrator, it proves his worth as a writer.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 17, 2013
!!!!!""!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAD PUNUT PUTER TOST!!!!!!
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.First of all, if you have seen the movie and are simply browsing about the book, I highly recommend you read the book because they are very different stories. This is one of my all time favorite stories. It is a classic and I think everyone should have a little Truman Capote in their lives. Its just an overall interesting story with an incredibly interesting woman at the center of it all with a few inconsequential people flitting about around her and the narrarator who falls in love with her while trying to find out the true nature of a woman who doesnt really understand herself or who she really is.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 22, 2007
The first time i saw Breakfast at Tiffany's (the book) was at my library, all by itself. i then knew it was put there for a reason, for me to find it and read it,and im glad i did. This book is about a man telling us of a friend he had, Holly Golightly and all the 'adventures' he had with her, like attending a party at her appartment and spending a whole day doing things they've never done. And through these adventures with her, our narrator is falling more and more in love with Holly Golightly and her charm. Throught the book's obsicles, they both discover heartbreak and disappointment, but the narrator can always help out Holly Golightly, even when her multiple lovers couldn't. It is definately a little different from the movie but in a good way. I just bought it a couple of days ago, because i loved it sooooo much. Truman Capote did an amazing job writing this novel and is definately one of the best books ever. -'It's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear...' Holly Golightly
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 5, 2013
A beautifully and well written story. I've seen the movie but reading it presents a whole other visual view. Recommend to all. Truman is at his best. I didn't want to put it down until it was finished.
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Posted March 25, 2013
loved it and the other short stories too
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Posted March 20, 2013
There is a girl in school that I have a crush and her name is Tiffany
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 10, 2013
Some of the most beautiful words ever written!
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Posted January 22, 2013
Zane
0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 12, 2013
How does this book sound?I think it is personal information,but whatever. I honestly don't want to know. It sounds different and odd. Who (please reply/rate) agrees with me?
0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 11, 2013
You can not remain free while being free spirited. Constant search will bring you nowhere. Restless mind will fail you. May be you are not smart at all just desperate for action or attention. Learn to take care of yourself first. If you choose to remain care free then prepare to get hurt.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 31, 2012
The movie was spectacular! Audrey Hepburn brought such exuberance to her role! I'm scared to read the book because I think that it won't be as good as the movie but, I've gotta try it.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 11, 2012
I had previously read anything by Truman Capote, but I was surprised at how much I like the style of writing. The stories in this book are interesting and easy to read. I highly recommend this book.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Such a good book, Capote is really one of the greats. Holly Golightly is a fantastic character - not quite likable, not quite unlikable, sort of like a demigod in that sense - it's hard to develop a feeling for her, she just 'is'. I can understand why some people may not have enjoyed it after seeing the movie, because Hepburn's Golightly is such a flighty, likable character (from what I've seen - granted, I haven't watched the whole movie) but the real Golightly is darker and far more complex. With Capote, there is always the mingling of shadow and light and it is always subtly done, in a way that mimics real life and character to an uncomfortably startling degree. There was an almost unreality to Hepburn's Golightly, as if she were playing a five-word character description of Golightly, but when you actually read her, she seems more real, as if it were the account of someone who actually lived, and not just a stereotyped portrait. Recommend it highly, at 110 pages it should really only take an hour or so. read it in one sitting.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 22, 2006
The book Breakfast at Tiffany¿s by Truman Capote is a book about a writer telling of a friend. It excels in imagery and has a point of view from an interesting perspective of an outsider looking in. The book is the story of Miss Holiday Golightly from the Narrator¿s perspective. She is a woman of mystery to everyone in her life, and the narrator can only learn about her life by watching her through a ¿window¿ and can only see what is on her surface. The only person less reliable is Holly herself. ¿You¿re wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you¿re right. She isn¿t a phony because she¿s a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes¿ (Capote 30). The narrator is told this earlier on from a longtime friend of Holly. As the narrator begins to learn more, more the reader knows of Holly lies. Holly lies because she wants no responsiblitiy or ties to people or things. She wants to ¿Golighty¿ through life. Things in her apartment are left packed and she shows her disconnection with her cat by not naming it and the narrator by not calling him his real name, only her estranged brother¿s name, Fred. Holly will not settle down until she has found home. It has to be as stable and luxious as Tiffany¿s. This becomes her goal for her life. Besides her telling the narrator about her brother, Holly confesses one more thing her weekly visits to a gangster, Sally tomato, who is held in the Sing Sing prison. The narrator can easily observe Holly¿s relationships with her social life friends are unstable and soon even their own falls apart when Holly insults the narrator¿s writing and he insults her way of life. The reason of Holly¿s social life because clear when her brother dies. She falls apart and the author knows why holly doesn¿t let people get too close. Her brother¿s death changes Holly. She begins to stay home and settles down with Jose. She gains weight, starts cooking and finishing her apartment. She and Jose plan their move to Brazil to begin their life and find a home when Holly finds out that she is pregnant. On Holly¿s and the narrator¿s last day together the narrator is injured in a horse-back riding accident. Holly is comforting him when the police arrive. Holly is arrested for conspiracy with the gang because of her visits with Sally Tomato, the prisoner in Sing Sing. Jose leaves her and her inner social circle disowns her only the narrator visits her. Holly tells him she has lost her child, but plans to escape to Brazil. The narrator helps Holly escape. Holly lets go of her cat and leaves her life. The narrator will never see Holly Golightly again, only a postcard to say that she has found a home in Buenos Aries. Holly is a phony she hides herself behind interesting lies and an eccentric lifestyle. She keeps disconnected and unloving for the freedom of her feelings. Understanding describing her and revealing mysteries of her life is the challenge that has to be met by the narrator it proves his worth as a writer.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 10, 2006
Realistic situations are at times hard to come by in literature. In Breakfast at Tiffany¿s, the reader gets a good sense of who each character is and what they represent. Everyone should be able to relate somewhat to either the narrator or Holly Golightly. Each character in their own way seems to be lost, and searching for their ¿home.¿ Holly is always on the go, trying to find new and exciting places where she belongs, meeting new people, and having interesting experiences along the way. She is so hopeful and full of wonder, that it gives the reader a sense of optimism for the future. Traveling from place to place, and gaining so much more knowledge along that path, causes one to believe that maybe she¿s got the right idea. Her only set-back would be that she is at times more socially intelligent than she is brainy. But like everyone, she has her faults, and one can not blame her for it. She is the epitome of youth and is a novel that every young adult should study. When reading this, one gets the sense that home really is completely different for every individual, and finding it is the greatest adventure in life.
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Posted November 22, 2006
Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's is an exceptional display of the opposite of the American realism of the 1940's. Because of this, Capote did a great job of creating the dream of being as carefree as Holly. Breakfast at Tiffany's was set in the last years of World War II. Holly's idealism is shown when she describes Tiffany's to the narrator. She tells him if she could find a place like Tiffany's she would live there. However, there is no place like that for Holly to go because the war made America disadvantaged. This shows how Holly puts on a facade of naivete and lightheartedness to trick not only the people around her, but herself as well. Another example of how Holly's idealism is shown is through her treatment of men. Because she doesn't want to get hurt, she doesn't let herself show her love towards any man, and brings home many to prove it. This behavior was frowned upon by the American culture in the time period, displaying the contrasting views of Holly and the American society. By making Holly Golightly an isolated character of her time period, Capote expresses his views of an over- realistic society, wanting a more idealistic person- one that is free and carefree- in an exceptional way. It is, therefore, important to read this book because it gives a character, Holly Golightly, to the idealism throughout American history.
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Overview
In this seductive, wistful masterpiece, Truman Capote created a woman whose name has entered the American idiom and whose style is a part of the literary landscape. Holly Golightly knows that nothing bad can ever happen to you at Tiffany's; her poignancy, wit, and naïveté continue to charm.
This volume also includes three of Capote's best-known stories, “House of Flowers,” “A Diamond Guitar,” and “A Christmas Memory,” which the Saturday Review called “one of the most moving ...