I was on the set one morning when a chandelier fell and crashed a foot away from Truman. He chuckled. He said, “I guess Gore Vidal is in the wings!”
george christy on murder by death
Whatever your opinion of Truman Capote, you have to admit there was something inspiring about his passionate (and famously mutual) hatred of Gore Vidal. That is partly because, no matter your opinion of Gore Vidal, you have to admit that he was one of the premier trolls of the pre-Internet age. He out-Weeved Weev just by waking up each day.
If you want to read about the myriad ways in which Capote and Vidal were assholes, or the terrible things they said about each other, you could probably spend a few hours devouring articles with titles like “Gore Vidal, No Greater a Hater Than He” and “Gore Vidal’s Bitter Feuds” and each might contain a few insults that are new to you.
One of my own favorite anecdotes never seems to make the cut, and so I’m reproducing it here as a public service. Like the George Christy tale above, it’s recounted in George Plimpton’s engrossing Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career, and it’s beautiful.
Cranky Lesbian is a disgruntled homosexual with too much time on her hands. Click for film reviews or to follow on Instagram.