Truman Capote was born in New Orleans in 1924. The son of divorced parents, he was sent out from one set of relatives to another in the rural south, an unstable childhood that would be the raw material for much of his work. His education was at northern schools, so it seems that poverty was not one of his vicissitudes, but, in any case, his formal education ended when he was only seventeen. In one of his prefaces he says that he made up stories throughout childhood and decided from a very early age to become a professional writer. Devoting most of his time to his vocation, he claims to have become an accomplished stylist by the time he left school.' This precocious dedication may explain the polish of his earliest published work and the professionalism he would maintain throughout his literary career, however erratic his lifestyle. Truman Capote was born in New Orleans in 1924. The son of divorced parents, he was sent out from one set of relatives to another in the rural south, an unstable childhood that would be the raw material for much of his work. His education was at northern schools, so it seems that poverty was not one of his vicissitudes, but, in any case, his formal education ended when he was only seventeen. In one of his prefaces he says that he made up stories throughout childhood and decided from a very early age to become a professional writer. Devoting most of his time to his vocation, he claims to have become an accomplished stylist by the time he left school.' This precocious dedication may explain the polish of his earliest published work and the professionalism he would maintain throughout his literary career, however erratic his lifestyle.