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Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the story of three endearing misfits—an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies—who one day take up residence in a tree house. As they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, “that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.”
This volume also includes Capote’s A Tree of Night and Other Stories, which the Washington Post called “unobtrusively beautiful . . . a superlative book.”
Truman Capote was a native of New Orleans, where he was born on September 30, 1924. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, was an international literary success when first published in 1948, and accorded the author a prominent place among the writers of America's postwar generation. He sustained this position subsequently with short-story collections (A Tree of Night, among others), novels and novellas (The Grass Harp and Breakfast at Tiffany's), some of the best travel writing of our time (Local Color), profiles and reportage that appeared originally in The New Yorker (The Duke in His Domain and The Muses Are Heard), a true-crime masterpiece (In Cold Blood), several short memiors about his childhood in the South (A Christmas Memory, The Thanksgiving Visitor, and One Christmas), two plays (The Grass Harp and House of Flowers and two films (Beat the devil and The Innocents).
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.
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.
Anonymous
Posted January 28, 2002
If you have read or heard about Mr. Truman Capote¿s life, you will know that this book is very autobiographical. From the fragile tendrils of his orphaned youth in the home of his deceased father¿s two elderly, unmarried female cousins, Mr. Capote has woven a hand-made basket of a story that beautifully addresses what¿s most important in life. To my mind, this is one of the best American novels of the last 70 years. Yet, many people have yet to read it. `Tis a pity! Upon first inspection, you will undoubtedly be drawn in by the rich imagery and natural ease of words that Mr. Capote deftly employs. ¿The snowflake of Dolly¿s face held its shape; for once she did not dissolve.¿ As you watch closely, you will find that Mr. Capote smuggles in, almost unseen, some of the most important questions that each of us must face. Who do we love? Who loves us? Who is our friend? What is our purpose? What is the basis of our integrity? What is the right thing to do? Yet, the questions remain as light as a tuft of feather floating on the breeze, which makes the questions slide down deep inside of us. These profound questions continually bubble along like a murmuring brook just beneath the dialogue and action of this story . . . which nicely pits the finer human emotions against the baser ones of calculation, gain, and exercising power. Much like the Renaissance reestablished the potential of humans to be great, Mr. Capote¿s novel exposes that there is wonderful potential in all of us . . . if we stop to listen to the grass harp, and act on what our hearts tell us. Can you hear the story of what your life could be? Donald Mitchell, co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution and The Irresistible Growth Enterprise
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 2, 2013
"Thanks!" They said in unison. Then ran back to camp.
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Posted May 2, 2013
"Thanks! Its been along time since i had apprentices! You two go get some redt ill see you in the morning!"
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Posted May 2, 2013
Go to result nine now!
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Posted January 14, 2013
Sets down her gear. She wrapped her tail around her waist as she sighed. Time to get to work. Slowly streatches.
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Posted October 27, 2012
Wonderful, believable story...lovely!
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Posted December 12, 2009
I Also Recommend:
"In Cold Blood" was the only thing I had ever read by Truman Capote until I bought all his books in print. What an excellent writer! I have robbed myself all these years by not reading his works. I love all the oddities and absurdities that seem commonplace in the characters of Southern writers.
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Posted December 14, 2012
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Overview
Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the story of three endearing misfits—an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies—who one day take up residence in a tree house. As they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, “that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.”
This volume also ...