- One Christmas
-
One Christmas
First edition in solo book formAuthor(s) Truman Capote Country United States
Language English Publisher Random House Publication date 1983 Media type Print: Hardcover Pages 41 pp ISBN 978-0394532660 OCLC Number 9282744 Preceded by "The Thanksgiving Visitor" "One Christmas" is an autobiographical short story by Truman Capote, portions of which were originally published in a 1982 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal magazine. It was shortly thereafter published in 1983 as a book by Random House, Inc.[1] The story is an emotional childhood tale about the nature of deception and alcoholism. It is Capote’s last short story and a sequel to The Thanksgiving Visitor.
Contents
Plot summary
The story is narrated by a young Truman Capote, called Buddy, who lives in Alabama with his older cousins. One Christmas he is sent to spend the holiday in New Orleans with his seldom-seen father, who has temporary custody of him. Despite being set in The Great Depression Buddy’s father, a playboy, impresses him with many flashy possessions. Buddy misses his family in Alabama but, out of politeness, pretends to be impressed by his father’s attentions. On Christmas Eve, his father hosts a moonshine party, attended mostly by older women. Truman realizes his father is a gigolo. He also has his doubts about the true nature of Santa Claus and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees his inebriated father putting presents from Santa under the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, he presses his father for an additional present, an expensive model airplane. Buddy’s father buys it for him, hoping to secure Buddy’s affections, but this does not work. He is heartbroken to see Buddy leave for Alabama. Back in Alabama, Buddy’s cousins help him rationalize the true existence of Santa Claus again.
Reception and critical analysis
"One Christmas" has been noted as an example of a "nostalgic writer perhaps guilty of romanticizing the past."[2]
Gerald Clarke notes the story has a tired quality, reflecting Capote’s own unshakable fatigue at the time he wrote it in the early 1980s.[3]
Adaptations
"One Christmas" was adapted for television and aired in 1994, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Winkler, T.J. Lowther and Julie Harris. [4]
References
- Notes
- ^ A Christmas Memory Also includes "One Christmas" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor" (New York: Modern Library, 2007), copyright page.
- ^ Gelfant, Blanche H. The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), page 187.
- ^ Clarke, Gerald. Capote: a Biography (1998) Carroll & Graff. ISBN 0-7867-1661-4 p. 537
- ^ One Christmas (1994) at the Internet Movie Database
- Bibliography
- Capote, Truman (2007). A Christmas Memory: Also includes "One Christmas" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor". New York: Modern Library. ISBN 978-0679602378.
- Clarke, Gerald (1988). Capote, A Biography (1st ed.). New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0241125496.
- Gelfante, Blanche H. (2004). The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story (1st ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231110990.
Works by Truman Capote Novels Summer Crossing · Other Voices, Other Rooms · The Grass Harp · Breakfast at Tiffany's · Answered Prayers: The Unfinished NovelShort stories "Miriam" · "Children on Their Birthdays" . "A Diamond Guitar" · "A Christmas Memory" · "The Thanksgiving Visitor" · "One Christmas"Short story collections A Tree of Night and Other Stories · Music for Chameleons · A Capote Reader · The Complete Stories of Truman CapoteEssay collections Plays Screenplays Musicals Non fiction The Muses Are Heard · Observations · In Cold Blood · Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman CapoteCategories:- Short stories by Truman Capote
- 1983 short stories
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