In Party of the Century, Deborah Davis tells of the now legendary Black and White Ball. Truman Capote threw the bash at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel on Nov. 28, 1966. Its guest of honor was Katharine Graham, president of the Washington Post Co., but no one had any illusions: The purpose of this gala was to celebrate the host, a serious writer but also a celebrity. There had never been much doubt about the celebrity part -- from the moment that he styled himself as a male nymphet for his first novel's jacket photo, Capote had shown a rare talent for self-promotion. What had been in doubt was the literary prowess. As he entered his forties, the once-promising young writer had produced only a few slim volumes of exquisitely written fiction and journalism. But recently In Cold Blood -- a masterpiece in the literature of fact -- had routed the skeptics, and it was time to celebrate. Capote's plan, notes Davis, was to mix and match people: titled aristocrats with intellectuals with ordinary Joes from the rural Kansas county where the In Cold Blood murders had occurred. But in this respect, the party seems to have failed. "I've never seen such ghettoizing in all my life," complained Capote's lover, Jack Dunphy. "No group mixed with another group." As for the excluded, the book reproduces the cover of a subsequent Esquire issue. Under the rubric "We wouldn't have come even if you had invited us, Truman Capote" is pictured a surly-looking group comprising Jimmy Brown, Kim Novak, Tony Curtis, Pat Brown, Ed Sullivan, Pierre Salinger, Lynn Redgrave and Casey Stengel. (The Washington Post, June 4, 2006)

"...opens up his [Truman Capote] vulnerable heart as well as, and more accurately than the film..." (Yorkshire Post, June 2006)

"...gripping...very enjoyable in a voyeuristic way...." (Observer, April 2006)

"...Davis's excitement about the ball and its organisation is contagious...there is room too, for this stylish, sparkling little volume...." (Sunday Times, April 2006)

"...full of lavish photographs and anecdotes detailing the glitz and glamour of Truman's infamous black and white masked ball..." (Stella Magazine, April 2006)  

"...an interesting read and a must for all Capote fans..." (The Western Daily Press, April 2006)

"brings splendidly colorful behind-the-scenes action and players up front." (The New York Times, March 19, 2006)

"...Davis details every glittering facet of the painstakingly planned bal masque ... an evocative testament to bygone elegance, etiquette and entertaining..." (Guardian, March 2006)

"...captures the spirit and significance of the occasion with new material and fresh perspective, making this a party worth crashing..." (Town and Country, March 2005) 

Truman Capote's legendary masked ball, at New York City's Plaza Hotel on November 28, 1966, was a hyped-up media event meticulously masterminded by the self-promoting, social-climbing author of In Cold Blood. Davis (Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X) dishes up the menu, the decor, the outfits and the guest list of 540, clueing the reader in to how Capote dangled the prized invitations for months, snubbing early supporters like Carson McCullers as he determined who was "in" and who was "out." In choosing his guest of honor, Capote eschewed glamorous "swans" like Babe Paley and Marella Agnelli in favor of "dowdy" Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Actress Candice Bergen was bored at the ball; Capote's elevator man danced the night away with a woman who didn't know his pedigree; and Norman Mailer sounded off about Vietnam. This frothy effort retreads ground already covered by Gerald Clarke, George Plimpton and Sally Bedell Smith, among others. Black-and-white photos have frozen the beautiful people of the '60s in all their preening glory, and readers also get to see the invitation and the fashion sketches of the elaborate masks and headdresses created by Halston and Adolfo. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, December 12, 2005)