The Grass Harp
Encyclopedia
The Grass Harp is a novel by Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...

 published on October 1, 1951 It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree. They eventually leave their temporary retreat to make amends with each other and other members of society.

Conception

Not wanting to take up his incomplete first novel, Summer Crossing
Summer Crossing
Summer Crossing is Truman Capote's first novel, written during the 1940s. Capote eventually cast it aside and it was thought to be lost for over 50 years, but was eventually published in 2005.- Conception and critical reception:...

, Capote began writing The Grass Harp in June 1950 and completed it on May 27, 1951. The novel was inspired by memories of his Alabama childhood, specifically a tree house
Tree house
Tree houses, treehouses, or tree forts, are platforms or buildings constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level...

 constructed in the 1930s in a large walnut tree in his cousin Jenny's backyard. This large tree house, accessible by an antique spiral staircase, featured cypress wood construction, a tin roof and was furnished inside with a rattan sofa. Capote would spend time in this tree house with his cousin Sook, or other childhood friends such as Nelle Harper Lee. The novel was additionally inspired by his cousin Sook's dropsy
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...

 medicine, which she made yearly until the age of 62, and whose recipe she took with her to the grave, despite Jenny's wanting first to patent, and then to sell the recipe to a manufacturer.

The Grass Harp was entirely written while Capote vacationed in Taormina
Taormina
Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...

, Sicily. The last section was airmailed to the publishers just days after he finished his writing, but it was not published for four months because the Random House editors, specifically Bob Linscott, did not care for the ending of the novel. Specifically Linscott thought the ending was weak because once the characters were up in the tree house, Capote "didn't know what to do with them." He asked Capote to rewrite the ending, and he made some changes, but did not concede to completely rewrite the ending.

Truman Capote initially wanted to title the novel Music of the Sawgrass, but ultimately it was Bob Linscott who named it The Grass Harp.

Plot summary

The story begins with Collin Fenwick losing his mother, and then his father, and moving into his aunts' (Dolly and Verena) house. Catherine, the servant, also lives in the house and gets along, for the most part, only with Dolly. Dolly is famous for her medicine, which she makes by going out into the woods with Catherine and Collin and randomly picking plants. They then got to an old treehouse, which is propped up in a Chinaberry tree
Melia azedarach
Melia azedarach is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Pakistan, India, Indochina Southeast Asia and Australia...

. One day, after Dolly has an argument with Verena (Verena wants to mass produce Dolly's medicine), Dolly, Collin, and Catherine leave their home and start walking. They go to the treehouse in the Chinaberry tree, and decide to camp out there. Verena, meanwhile, informs the sheriff of her sister's disappearance; the Sheriff organizes a search party, and eventually arrests Catherine. During the course of the novel, others come to live in the treehouse, such as Judge Cool and Riley Henderson. In a climactic event, a confrontation among the search party and the residents of the tree house leads to Riley getting shot in the shoulder. After Judge Cool discusses the situation, everyone agrees that it was a pointless struggle, and old relationships are invigorated once again. Many people leave as friends. The story ends with how a "grass harp, gathering, telling, a harp of voices remembering a story."

Characters

Collin Fenwick: An orphaned boy who takes up residence in a China tree with Dolly. When the story opens he is 11 years old, but he is 16 years old for the majority of the narrative; he is small for his age. Collin serves as both the protagonist and narrator of the novel.

Dolly Talbo: Aunt of Collin; she takes up residence in the China tree. Her character is based on Truman's older cousin, Sook Faulk.

Verena Talbo: Dolly's sister; she urges the Sheriff of the town to investigate the disappearance of her sister Dolly.

Morris Ritz: A man who woos Verena, and is popularly believed to open a factory with her but soon runs away with her money.

Catherine Creek: An African American servant who runs away with Dolly and Collin, and also takes up residence in the China tree.

Riley Henderson: A boy who becomes friends with Collin. He briefly takes up residence in the treehouse of the China tree.

Junius Candle: The town Sheriff; he is persistent in finding perpetrators and organizes a massive search party to find Collin and Dolly.

Judge Cool: He is considered the free thinker of the town and helps Dolly and Verena come to terms with one another. He is the "wise man" of society, and in general, solves conflicts posed in the novella.

Reception and critical analysis

The New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...

lauded the novel as "Remarkable...infused with a tender laughter, charming human warmth, [and] a feeling for the positive quality of life." The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...

commented that "The Grass Harp charms you into sharing the author's feeling that there is a special poetry - a spontaneity and wonder and delight - in lives untarnished by conformity and common sense." Sales of The Grass Harp reached 13,500, more than double those of either A Tree of Night or Local Color, two of Capote's prior works.

The Grass Harp was Truman Capote's favorite personal work, despite that it was critiqued as being overly sentimental.

Play

Capote's stage adaptation of his novel, directed by Robert Lewis, opened on March 27, 1952 at Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

's Martin Beck Theatre
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 302 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect G. Albert Lansburgh for vaudeville promoter Martin Beck, the theatre opened as the Martin Beck Theatre with a production of Madame Pompadour on November 11, 1924. It...

, where it ran for 36 performances. The cast included Sterling Holloway
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...

, Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...

, Ruth Nelson, and Alice Pearce
Alice Pearce
Alicia “Alice” Pearce was an American actress. Brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of On the Town , Pearce played comedic supporting roles in several films, before being cast as Gladys Kravitz in Bewitched in 1964...

.

Musical

After five previews, a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 adaptation, with a book and lyrics by Kenward Elmslie
Kenward Elmslie
Kenward Gray Elmslie is an American writer, performer, editor and publisher associated with the New York School of poetry.-Life and career:...

 and music by Claibe Richardson
Claibe Richardson
Claibe Richardson was an American composer.Born Claiborne Richardson in Shreveport, Louisiana, he studied at Louisiana State University. His songwriting career began in the early 1950s with material he contributed to revues staged in New York City by Ben Bagley and Julius Monk...

, opened on November 2, 1971 at the Martin Beck Theatre, where it ran for only seven performances. The cast, directed by Ellis Rabb and Rhoda Levine, included Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...

, Carol Brice
Carol Brice
Carol Brice was an American contralto. Born in Sedalia, North Carolina, she studied at Palmer Memorial Institute and later at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, where she received a Bachelor of Music in 1939. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School of Music from 1939 to 1943...

, Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow is an American singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations....

, Ruth Ford
Ruth Ford
Ruth Ford is the name of:*Ruth Ford , American model and actress*Ruth VanSickle Ford , American painter and art teacher*Ruth Atkinson Ford , American cartoonist...

, Russ Thacker, and Max Showalter
Max Showalter
Max Showalter was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. One of Showalter's most memorable roles was as Jean Peters' character's husband in the 1953 film Niagara...

.

Film

In 1995, Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...

 and Kirk Ellis adapted the novel for a feature film directed by Charles Matthau. The cast included Matthau's father Walter
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...

, Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...

, Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...

, Edward Furlong
Edward Furlong
Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor whose best known film roles are John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for his performance in...

, Nell Carter
Nell Carter
Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...

, Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

, Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...

, Sean Patrick Flanery
Sean Patrick Flanery
Sean Patrick Flanery is an American actor known for such roles as Connor MacManus in The Boondock Saints, Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone and for portraying Indiana Jones in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, as well as Bobby Dagen in Saw 3D.He is currently known for his role as Sam Gibson on The...

, Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...

, Bonnie Bartlett
Bonnie Bartlett
Bonnie Bartlett is an American television and film actress. Her career spans over 50 years, with her first major role being on a 1950s daytime drama, Love of Life. She is best known for her role as Ellen Craig on the medical drama series St. Elsewhere. She and her husband, actor William Daniels,...

 and Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...

.
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