After reading Swans of Fifth Avenue, I felt I needed to read something by Truman Capote. This was a nice short book, actually one of his short stories and it gave me enough of a flavor of Capote's writing. He was very observant and he did love gossip, and you can see this in this rambling essay on Brooklyn Heights. I actaully have a new found interest in Brooklyn, as a few good friends live there and tell me something about their neighborhoods. While I was growing up in New Jersey, we too went to events at some hall off of Flatbush Avenue, and some of my parents' friends lived there. The density of life in New York City has never appealed to me, but I am fascinated by this concept of neighborhoods, and Capote nicely describes his neighborhood, its history, its people, its architecture, parks, and the energy of the place that enticed Capote to make it his home for a while. If I have time in my travels, I would like to drive around Brooklyn Heights, where Brooklyn Bridge forms the northern border of the neighborhood, and look over to Manhattan, just across the river.
George Plimpton's introduction continues giving me a sense of Capote and his ability to draw people within his magical circle, including Plimpton.
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