429. TRUMAN CAPOTE’S A TREE OF NIGHT AND OTHER STORIES AND THE GRASS HARP: GOTHIC HORRORS AND MODERN FAIRY TALES

Thomas Fahy via Zoom

Truman Capote’s debut collection of short fiction, A Tree of Night and Other Stories (1949), portrays the decade of the 1940s as torn between security and fear, communal engagement and isolationism, public and private identity. The end of World War II produced a sense of relief, but almost immediately the country seemed to face even greater threats with the global spread of Communism and the realities of the atomic age. Capote captures this climate of uncertainty through fragmented characters who have withdrawn from others in an attempt to escape both the dangers of modern life and a history (personal and social) that they don’t wish to confront. They hope isolation will protect them from present-day threats and past failures, but the act of turning inward only exacerbates their fears. Capote uses these anxieties as metaphors for the tensions characterizing contemporary American culture, which longed to retreat from its global responsibilities as a result of World War II. Likewise, the characters in his second novel, The Grass Harp, seek to isolate themselves from the cultural, material, and moral values of the early 1950s. They turn inward, in part, by choosing to live in a treehouse. This enchanting, nostalgic meditation on self-discovery and love gradually becomes a cautionary tale about the dangers of social conformity. Capote’s impulse to revisit his childhood in this book can be seen as a reaction against the cultural climate of the Cold War in 1950. The maniacal efforts of McCarthyism to persecute Communists at home included vicious, public attacks on homosexuality, and The Grass Harp offers a different vision of society. It is a story that highlights the beauty of love, friendship, and community. Here’s the book Prof. Fahy will use:

Truman Capote, The Grass Harp: Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories, ISBN 10 0679745572

10:00-12 noon                                                                                                             4 sessions

Thursdays, January 9, 16, 23, and 30                                                                              Fee: $120

[A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to each session, typically on the day before your class and the morning of your class.  If you have any questions or need help getting online, feel free to call us at 516-480-5733 and we’ll get right back to you with assistance.]

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Thomas Fahy is a novelist, nonfiction writer, and professor of literature and creative writing. He has been widely acclaimed and has received awards for his numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, as well as his scholarly research. He has also published essays on everything from Paris Hilton and 1980s vampire films to the television series Stranger Things. His works have been translated into several languages, and he has been interviewed by Salon and other publications, as well as radio hosts in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Malaysia. He was recently a guest on the BBC radio program “Literary Pursuits” about Truman Capote’s In

Cold Blood. A dynamic teacher, Professor Fahy brings a wide interdisciplinary knowledge to whatever he teaches; and by the way, he’s also a concert pianist.