I Haven't Read The Book, So Please Tell Me Plainly:

[dulcinea]

was Holly Golightly a call girl?

[HoustonDavid]

Never fear Dulcinea, Wikipedia to the rescue:

"Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published, along with three of his short stories, in book form by Random House in 1958. The same year the novella appeared unabridged in the November issue of Esquire. The novella's prose style prompted Norman Mailer to call Capote "the most perfect writer of my generation," adding that he "would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany's".

"The heroine of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly, became one of Capote's best-known creations and a cultural icon. Capote himself acknowledged that Golightly was the favorite of his characters. The film Breakfast at Tiffany's, based on the novella and starring Audrey Hepburn, was released in 1961.

"The novella tells the story of a one-year (autumn 1943 to autumn 1944) friendship between the main character Holiday ("Holly") Golightly, and an unnamed narrator. The two are both tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Holly Golightly (age 18-19) is a country girl born in fictional Tulip, Texas, turned New York café society girl, who makes her living coaxing dollars off of rich, older gentlemen. The narrator, who lives in the flat above her, is an aspiring writer. Golightly, who likes to stun people with carefully selected tidbits from her personal life or her outspoken viewpoint on various topics, slowly reveals herself to the narrator who finds himself fascinated by her curious lifestyle. In the end, however, Golightly fears that she will never know what is really hers until after she has thrown it away; she subsequently abandons her friend and comfortable lifestyle to seek her ever elusive goal of finding both riches and a place to call home."

Of course, the movie has a much more romantic ending, but Hollie is not a call girl or hooker
or lady of the evening in either the novella or the film. Just someone who relies on the "kindness"
of strangers who happen to be wealthy suckers, uhhh not-so-gentlemen.

[karlhenning]

Never fear Dulcinea, Wikipedia to the rescue:

"Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published, along with three of his short stories, in book form by Random House in 1958. The same year the novella appeared unabridged in the November issue of Esquire. The novella's prose style prompted Norman Mailer to call Capote "the most perfect writer of my generation," adding that he "would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany's".

Well, that makes me curious to know which was the one word in Breakfast at Tiffany's that Noman Mailer would have changed . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[John F]

The right word might be "gold-digger," but that's unkind and maybe unjust.