Tuman Capote's Black & White Ball

Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball by Deborah Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you are an historian of the Sixties, you know that Capote's timing for his extravagant ball on November 28, 1966 was perfect. It was the probably the last possible moment of the twentieth century that he could have had a party with a guest list of jet-setters of this magnitude. Within months the world would change profoundly--the beginning of the world we know today. Even the black & white color schemes and geometric shapes so much associated with the mid-60s were about to explode into psychedelic bouquets of color and the organic forms of the last years of the decade.

If I can find any fault with this book it is in that the historical context of that decade was not explored and how the party fit into the decade. Ms. Davis gives us the back story on each facet of Capote's Black & White Ball, including the attendees, their attire and the journalists covering it, but we don't get much in the way of historical backdrop or the big picture, if you will, and she seems to be of the opinion that the party itself was an anomaly. It was such an interesting and pivotal time period and the party couldn't have happened, successfully, at least, during any other time in that decade or even in that century. Exploring that aspect of the party would have made it a five-star book instead of four.

Of course Capote himself would soon burn bridges that would make it impossible for him personally to ever throw a party such as that again and, although Davis doesn't address this point either, Capote was probably the only person in the world at the time with the means, the desire and, more importantly, the social connections to pull off a party with such an impressive guest list of socialites.

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