"Thank you for your letter and interest in my book. Of course I would very much like to have a Chinese version." When I received a reply from Gerald Clarke, my excitement was palpable.
This email originated from a biographical film "Capote", although it was made in 2005, I admit to being ashamed that I only saw it earlier this year. I've always had an inexplicable preference for gays -- "inexplicable" because I'm a girl and normal sexual orientation -- can't remember when it started, probably back in college. When I read Oscar Ward's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" as a child, I was vaguely attracted by the protagonist's undisguised narcissism and feminine beauty. When I was a graduate student abroad, I was fortunate to have a male classmate in my class who was gay. When I think of the days when I was a light bulb for him and his boyfriend, I can't help but nostalgic. I like the sensitivity and focus of gay people, and the gentle soul in the rough body, like Philip Seymour Hoffman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) plays Truman Capote in the film. Unfortunately, I can only use some second-hand information to understand this man who once successfully entered the upper class in the United States, danced with Marilyn Monroe, and was rated as "the most photographed American writer" by the media at that time, but his heart is very incomparable. Lonely and vulnerable nonfiction writer.
In the Chinese-speaking world, the records about Truman Capote are quite limited, nothing more than mentioning the best-selling books he has written and his identity as a gay writer, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" The author, Harper Lee, was born with a small, unhappy childhood, and ultimately died of complications from alcoholism, among other pieces of information. If you want to know more details, there is no way to know. With such curiosity, I was attracted by "based on the book by Gerald Clarke" in the end credits of the movie, and then searched Gerald Clarke's personal website. Gerard Clark, an American writer who is now over eighty years old, published a biography of Capote in 1988 - Capote, A Biography , "Capote - A Biography" (tentative translation) - The film of the same name is based on parts of the book. To write this book, he originally planned to spend only two years, and at most three years to complete it, but it ended up consuming thirteen precious years of his life. The life he will be biography Capote describes as the harrowing and exhilarating time of his life. Capote himself said in an interview with others that Gerrard was someone who knew himself better than himself.
In early March of this year, I sent an email to Gerard Clark as a freelance translator and self-published editor, expressing my desire to publish Capote - A Biography, out of my own power, so I With the reply above. Gerald's agency is the famous ICM. According to his feedback, I contacted his agent assistant Alexandra in New York to thank her for forwarding my email to the company's London office, which specializes in overseas affairs. office. After several setbacks, I finally received an email from a book copyright agency in Taiwan. The other party said that it is only discussing cooperation and follow-up with the publishing house, and does not consider the self-publishing model. This temporarily ended my "Capote Wish". ".
According to information on Gerrard's official website, "Capote - A Biography" has been published in eleven languages so far. What puzzles me is that in the huge Chinese market with many fans of Capote's books, no one has translated and published the biography of this highly controversial author in the past three decades. I am writing this article in the hope that more Capote fans will see it, and I hope that the Chinese version of Capote's biography can meet with Chinese readers as soon as possible.
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