The Grass Harp

By: Truman Capote

Narrated by: Cody Roberts

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the story of three endearing misfits - an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies - who one day take up residence in a tree house. As they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, “that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.”

This volume also includes Capote's A Tree of Night and Other Stories, which the Washington Post called “unobtrusively beautiful...a superlative book.”

©1980 Truman Capote (P)2018 Tantor

Amazing stories in 20th century USA

Capote is able to describe all kind of human emotions and attitudes in a unique way. Amazing stories!

A good read

First off narrator Cody Roberts was fabulous with his slow and eerily erotic southern drawl that ranges from refined to slovenly. So this book was actually a rather large group of short stories by Truman Capote and I must say all are varying degrees of dark, morbid and/or a bit frightening. The Grass Harp is a beautiful story about coming of age, the experiences of age, love, loss and betrayal that was written in the 1950’s and as with all of these short stories, if one is easily offended by racial language then don’t read it.

I was impressed with Capote’s grasp of human fragility in it’s many aspects and how his words created such lively visuals. With Capote’s words and Robert’s voice the stories nearly leap out of the pages as if in a movie. I give it a four because after a while the dark nature of the rest of the stories was more than I really cared to endure. Only his voice kept me going...... I look forward to seeing the movie.

Review also on Goodreads and Facebook

Partake of the prose of Truman Capote

I enjoyed listening to this book very much. At first I was annoyed by the narrator's drawl, but after a couple of chapters it all fell into line and I was completely engrossed in the story.
One critic has compared Capote’s prose to a vodka martini, " clear and intoxicating." I agree. A wonderful story by a remarkable writer.

Why use a fake accent?

I love this book and was looking forward to escaping into it, but I’m having trouble dealing with this phony southern drawl. I wish he would have read it naturally.

Fake southern accent all wrong

I could not finish this because the performer's fake accent was too distracting. I am a southerner, so it was particularly grating. I am going to return this one and purchase the print version.