A CHRISTMAS MEMORY PB

Tender and bittersweet, these stories by Truman Capote, the author of Breakfast at Tiffanys, are a captivating tribute to the Christmas season Selected from across Capotes writing life, they range from nostalgic portraits of childhood to more unsettling works that reveal the darkness beneath the festive glitter. In the Deep South of Capotes youth, a young boy, Buddy, and his beloved maiden aunt Sook forage for pecans and whiskey to bake into fruitcakes, make kites - too broke to buy gifts - and rise before dawn to prepare feasts for a ragged assembly of guests; it is Sook who teaches Buddy the true meaning of good will. In other stories, an unlikely festive miracle, of sorts, occurs at a local drugstore; a lonely woman has a troubling encounter in wintry New York. Brimming with feeling, these sparkling tales convey both the wonder and the chill of Christmas time.