Truman Capote

[Smooth Operator]

would anyone recommend any of his literature?

[hellsapoppin]

You simply cannot pass up "Breakfast at Tiffany's":

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bcash/breakfasthomepage.html

[papayahed]

I very much liked In Cold Blood:

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Blood-Truman-Capote/dp/0679745580/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223087856&sr=8-2

[ThousandthIsle]

"Other Voices, Other Rooms" was his first novella, I believe, and largely autobiographical. (In terms of the protagonist, not the story line.)

[ThousandthIsle]

...In fact, he was humiliated that the public so easily caught on that he was portraying himself through Joel. Critics and reviewers were quick to out him about this and he suffered a bit of a nervous attack immediately following its publication.

[Smooth Operator]

well thanks to everyone for the suggestions and information, I might just look up some of those works.

[Pecksie]

I enjoyed "In Cold Blood" too... actually "enjoyed" is perhaps a light word, since the book is chilling... but very, very good. It says a lot about Capote's abilities as a writer that he manages to make such a strong case against the death penalty with the case of these hardened criminals.