Writing can be an x-ray into the soul. Truman Capote led a troubled life. Oh, what sensitive gorgeous stories resulted!

His “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was made into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn.

Photo thanks to, Wikipedia

That photo, along with Hepburn at the prime of her iconic gorgeousness, are the best part of the movie. What drivel that movie made of Capote’s genius novella! It boiled Capote’s nuanced character study of love between a straight woman and a gay man into nonsense — a chain of cliches, the worst being Andy Rooney’s bigoted portrayal of a Chinese landlord.

Ah – but now I’m getting off track from telling you about Capote’s succinct mini-masterpiece, “A Christmas Memory.” The short story, featured in numerous short story anthologies, premiered in 1956, in Mademoiselle Magazine.

Capote at 23, thanks to Wikipedia.

The essay is Capote’s gift to us about his own childhood experiences, after his parents divorced…