Miriam, Signed by Truman Capote
[Signed by Truman Capote] Capote, Truman. Miriam. First Edition Thus. 1982. Book is in very good condition—no dust jacket (as issued). Book is signed “Truman Capote” on the title page.
First published in the June 1945 issue of Mademoiselle, this haunting tale launched Truman Capote’s career. It won an O. Henry Award and persuaded Random House editor Robert Linscott to offer the young author his first book contract. The story concerns a lonely widow living in a Manhattan brownstone who becomes increasingly unsettled by the attentions of a mysterious little girl named Miriam. Whether the child is real or a projection of the widow’s deteriorating mind is never entirely clear. What is clear is that by the time this slender edition was released in 1982, Capote’s own hold on reality was unraveling, making the story difficult to read without referencing its author. It is almost as if the young Capote were prophesying the future.
“I live upstairs and there’s a little girl visiting me, and I suppose that I’m afraid of her. She won’t leave and I can’t make her and—and she’s going to do something terrible.”
--Truman Capote