Throwback Thursday: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Author: Truman Capote
First published in 1958
Audio-book 2014 by Audible

It's New York in the 1940s, where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany's. And nice girls don't, except, of course, Holly Golightly. Pursued by Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires, Holly is a fragile eyeful of tawny hair and turned-up nose, a heart-breaker, a perplexer, a traveller, a tease. She is irrepressibly 'top banana in the shock department', and one of the shining flowers of American fiction.

I know, I know!  I am probably the last person on earth who hasn't seen the movie version of Breakfast at Tiffany's. But how many of you have actually read the story? Written in 1958, it is a novella set in the 1940s.  From what I understand, the movie is different from the novella.  For instance, it isn't a romantic comedy and the two do not end up together in the end.  I wonder if the screen play had stayed more true to the novella, would it have done as well as it did?

For me, the story was worth a listen.  It's only 3 CDs on audio, so it's quick.  The story is narrated by an aspiring writer who talks about his experience with his neighbor, Holly Golightly.  Holly was not a very likable character.  She is a con artist who I think was much smarter than she let others believe.  But, as I listened I did find myself kind of hoping she would get away with everything.  If you haven't read the novella, I do recommend giving it a try. I know I'll be hunting down the movie real soon.