Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

 

Title:  Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Author:  Truman Capote

Narrated by:  Michael C. Hall

Publisher: Audible Studios

Length: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is your favorite breakfast?  I love omelets, but oatmeal is the breakfast I eat the most.

 Young writer is trying to get his start in New York City when he meets his eccentric neighbor, Holly Golightly.  Holly is a young woman in her late teens who “socializes” with older rich men to make her living.  As the author gets to know her more, he finds surprising depth.  Who is she and what will she become? 

My thoughts on this book:

·       Michael C. Hall was a great narrator of the audiobook.

·       I read this in September for the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook.  I hadn’t read this for over 20 years ago for a classics book club I was in while I lived in Milwaukee.  It was great to read it again.  Unfortunately, the What the Dickens Book Club was paused, and we did not discuss this book.

·       This was a novella and a short read.

·       I was not sure if I liked Holly Golightly.  Is she a prostitute?  She seemed like a manic pixy girl to me.  She was very unique and different which drew men to her.

·       There was some rough language in this novella about those of different ethnicities and sexuality.

·       This story was set in the WWII era.  Holly’s brother Fred serves overseas.

·       Holly was a child bride after her parents died and she and her brother Fred were put with abusive relatives.  They ran away and made their own way in the world.

·       The story was sanitized for the 1960s movie starting Audrey Hepburn.  I need to rewatch it – it’s been a while since I’ve seen it!

·       I couldn’t hardly stand it when Holly throws her cat out and kicks it to make it run away before she leaves the country.  The cat in a way seemed to symbolize Holly.  She was “kicked” in life, but always lands on her feet.

·       The story was well written and had true observations on life.

·       I can understand Holly’s yearning for a better life.

·       This was first published in 1958.

Overall, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote is a unique story and a great snapshot in time of New York City in the 1940s.