The Difficult Ghost: Searching for Truman Capote

An incisive, stylish exploration of how Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood and the ethics of storytelling by a star non-fiction writer 'A gem of a book' The Times In 1960, Truman Capote arrived in the small town of Palamós on the Costa Brava.He'd hoped a short break from New York's social scene would help him finish the book he was writing about two young men convicted of a horrific murder. He wound up staying in Europe for three years of agonising self-exile, wrestling with his haunting material, crafting a masterpiece, and waiting for the event that would allow him to finish it - the execution of those two men. Following in Capote's footsteps in Palamós, celebrated journalist Leila Guerriero finds almost no trace of those turbulent years. As she sorts through a jumble of competing local accounts and blatant fabrications, she launches a dazzling enquiry into the curious afterlife of writing - and the dark complexities of turning life into literature.

© 2025 Pushkin Press (Ebook): 9781805333012

Translators: Megan McDowell

Release date

Ebook: 28 August 2025