Truman Capote (F. & S. IIIC.46)

Thursday, June 29, 1978
Had a date to have lunch with Truman and his boyfriend Bob MacBride to discuss Interview. Truman said he’s starting to be normal again and when I believed him he told me I was (laughs) “too naive.” Truman was throwing his hands all over the place. I taped, and we dished the whole lunch. He said that after lunch he was going to his analyst and I asked why someone like him would go to an analyst and he said because it was an old friend and he didn’t want to hurt his feelings by not going. Truman is so silly-​looking, open-​toe shoes and no sweater, and he said he just decided that he’s going to start wearing anything. He said that Issey Miyake sent him a coat and he just threw it on immediately—he was written up in the papers when he wore it to Studio 54 with a white hat. We had lots of drinks and it was fun, and then it got down to what Truman had invited me for. Bob MacBride who he always said was a writer but who we could never figure out what he did is now doing sculpture. He’s left his wife and kids. We went back to Truman’s place in U.N. Plaza. He’s redecorated, but the bulldog’s torn off the buttons and the fringes from the furniture. And Bob MacBride brought out his—toys. His art. It was little cut-​outs, like you make in kindergarten. You know? Like circles, and then you paste another circle over it, and you make hexagons and things. That’s what he does. And they wanted me to help him get a gallery. I said he’d just missed Leo Castelli, that he just went out of town, but that when he got back we’d make a lunch for Leo and him, and Leo will think that’s fun— lunch with Truman Capote. I told Truman I would tape him and we could write a Play‑a‑Day, he could act out all the parts himself. (laughs) He could really do it—play his grandmother and everything.
Excerpt from The Andy Warhol Diaries © The Andy Warhol Foundation. Used with permission.