Finished 10-02-09, rating 4/5, fiction novella, pub. 1958

“I could hear Doc Golightly’s footsteps climbing the stairs.  His head appeared above the banisters and Holly backed away from him, not as though she were frightened, but as though she were retreating into a shell of disappointment.  Then he was standing in front of her, hangdog and shy.  “Gosh, Lulamae,” he began, and hesitated, for Holly was gazing at him vacantly, as though she couldn’t place him.  “Gee, honey,” he said, “don’t they feed you up here?  You’re so skinny.  Like when I first saw you.  All wild around the eye.”

I love the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and wanted to read the novella it originated in.  This is a short story that is edgy and provocative in a way the movie was not.  There were many passages that were in the movie word for word, but oftentimes they were completely out of context.  The movie was romantic and Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly was flawed and vulnerable, but not so with this amazing story.

Paul writes the story of his time spent with Holly Golightly years after they have seen each other for the last time, when he puts her on a plane to Brazil.  He decides is finally time to document the refreshing Holly and his love for her.  They lived in the same apartment and saw each other in passing for a while before their friendship blossomed.  His position was to view her from afar for the most part as the friendship stopped and started often.

Holly Golightly was an independent woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t let things like facts get in the way.  She was a phony, but a good phony.  Truman Capote wrote a beautiful novel  and even though it differed quite a bit from the movie, I loved it on its own merit.  If you are a fan of the movie you really must read this.  At around 100 pages it won’t take you long.