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Truman Capote Short Stories abridged by Jame Marshall

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Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4, 9-13 December 2013
 
Read by Kerry Shale, this Book at Bedtime series comprised three stories - "A Christmas Memory," "The Thanksgiving Visitor," and "One Christmas."  Based largely on Capote's early life, the stories focused on the cultural clash of values taking place during festive times, especially involving characters from different parts of the United States.  The stories had particular virtues - most notably a sharpness of observation and a sympathy for characters obviously ill-at-ease in difficult situations - characteristic of Capote's work as a whole.
 
Capote himself considered "A Christmas Memory" one of his best works of fiction, as he enters the mind of a seven-year-old boy Buddy, preparing for the festive season with his elderly companion Miss Sook.  "The Thanksgiving" continues the story by having Miss Sook inviting Buddy's worst enemy to the celebration dinner.   In "One Christmas" a reluctant Buddy is invited to New Orleans to spend Christmas with his estranged father, an experience that could most charitably described as unbearable. 
 
Kerry Shale is one of our best readers of prose.  His readings of the Capote works were both sympathetic yet gently humorous.