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Children On Their Birthdays
A Short Story by Truman Capote

Reviewed by Christine Fitzgerald

I asked my husband to guess the theme of the next birthday party our eight year old daughter is supposed to attend.  Having seen the invitation, he guessed it right on the nose:  pre-pubescent teenage slut.  Eight-year old kids are invited to dress up as Britney Spears and sing along with Britney on a keroke machine. 

Somehow out of all of this I remembered a longish short story by Truman Capote called Children On Their Birthdays.  Capote refers to himself as Mr. C. in the story.  I found this story in a nice collection I have called Short Stories of the Modern South.  Maybe it’s not so modern because I’ve had this book for about fifteen years, but it’s still good.  I think you can also find the story in A Capote Reader.  This is a big fat book, perfect for when you are stuck in an airport or waiting around at jury duty and need something to read.  It has everything, true crime, lives of the stars (TC could hardly get a word in edgewise with Marlon Brando.)  TC is not just for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, although that’s a good story too.