ANSWERED PRAYERS: THE UNFINISHED NOVEL

New York City, NY: Random House, 1987. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Random House, 1987. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 180 pages. The author's last novel, published posthumously. One of Truman Capote's finest achievements. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Truman Capote's "Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel". His un-answered prayer for literary and social redemption. While the British precedes, the American Edition is a superior edition because it includes a twelve-page "Editor's Note" by Joseph M. Fox, which appears in published form for the first and only time. As such, it is hardly a "Note". It is instead the most complete account of the genesis, tumultuous publication (in Esquire Magazine), and mysterious disappearance of Capote's novel, which the author insisted was "finished" and simply needed "perfecting". Which was all a lie, and what Capote probably meant to say was that HE - rather than his much-anticipated book - was finished, and alas, imperfect. The extant pieces ("Unspoiled Monsters", "Kate McCloud", and "La Cote Basque") nevertheless show him to be one of the greatest prose stylists of the 20th century until the bitter end, matched but not surpassed by a lapidary writer like John Updike. Capote had two lifelong subjects as a writer: The High, specifically the American and European elite, of which he himself became a full-fledged member, and The Low, the marginalized, victimized, and oppressed, America's underbelly, whose inner lives he captured in "In Cold Blood" (1965) and in disparate pieces that were eventually collected as "Music For Chameleons" (1980). Capote's art was punitively self-driven by perfection, in the manner of his idol, Gustave Flaubert. He had the requisite talent, but paid the price for the distractions of celebrity and a variety of addictions. Still, until his premature death from a drug overdose, he remained one of the most celebrated American writers of his generation. Even in its unfinished form, "Answered Prayers" gives immense pleasure to this day whereas its coevals have long since been forgotten. An absolute "must-have" title for Truman Capote collectors. This title is a late-modern classic. Each of the three surviving pieces is a masterpiece. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) available online and despite its imperfection (rubbing on DJ) is still in fine condition overall: Every single internal page is clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Random House indicated its first editions at the time with the statement ("First Edition") and a number line that begins or ends in the Number 2. Copies available online have very serious flaws or are in innumerable subsequent printings even if their dealers don't say so. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is widely regarded as one of the greatest books of the 20th century. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRUMAN CAPOTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0394556453.