Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #117328
Cost: $850.00

House of Flowers

Truman Capote

"WHY, THE MAISON DES FLEURS, THAT'S THE NICEST WHOREHOUSE ON THE ENTIRE ISLAND"

CAPOTE, Truman and ARLEN, Harold. House of Flowers. New York: Random House, (1968). Octavo, original half black cloth, original dust jacket. $850.

First edition of the script for Capote's only venture into musical comedy, an offbeat romance about the denizens of a bordello in Haiti, with frontispiece and two photographic plates from the 1968 revival.

Based on one of the stories that would later appear in Capote's acclaimed short story/novella collection, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958), House of Flowers was adapted into a musical from its prose form in 1954, with the collaboration of accomplished composer and lyricist Harold Arlen. Despite a cast that included Diahann Carroll and Pearl Bailey and choreography by Balanchine, the Broadway debut was a flop and made it to a mere 165 performances. House of Flowers was revived off-Broadway in 1968. The script was finally published that year, over a decade from its original premiere. House of Flowers is often regarded as a counterpoint to the novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and takes up many of the same themes.

Book fine, bright dust jacket near-fine with tape repairs to verso. A handsome copy.

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