Lucky Find

Serendipity: 

ser·en·dip·i·ty

/ˌserənˈdipədē/

noun

the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

That's just what happened recently to  Andrew F. Gulli, managing editor of "The Strand" magazine. Gulli went to the Library of Congress in Washington to look for information about James M. Cain, the Maryland author of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" among other novels, and Gulli instead walked off with a great prize: an undiscovered short story written by Truman Capote, who wrote great books, short stories, novellas, and really, anything he wrote was compelling. I'm sure his grocery lists would keep you hanging on til the very end.

And there, in the Library of Congress among Capote's papers was this story "Another Day In Paradise" hidden in plain sight in a red notebook.  This is like looking through the used picture frames for sale at Goodwill and finding a Van Gogh or even a Rembrandt!

"Then in a red notebook, there was a handwritten short story from Truman Capote. Actually, I couldn't believe it, this can't be happening, because, you know, I was researching his work years ago, and I could not find it," Gulli told CNN.

The story concerns a fictional American woman, Iris Greentree, who is living in Sicily, after shooting her life savings on a beautiful Italian villa by an unfaithful lover.

Capote and I have one thing in common: our handwriting requires a team of forensic experts to decipher. Gulli assembled a squad of transcribers, including an executive from the Capote Estate, to help him put the penciled words into type. I'm sure that was quite a task!

Gulli said that it was all worth it: "...The story is satisfying, finished, complete, it has his wry sense of humor."

One theme of the story, he said, is that, "You could be living in some wonderful type of paradise, you can be living in a wonderful country, but a lot of times, if people aren't settled, the most wonderful setting on the planet can feel like a hell."

I don't think that Truman Capote ever really found happiness on this earth, but at least he shared his thoughts on paper.  And left some surprises behind!