Getting things done, David Allen's way Video
Related Videos
Getting things done, David Allen's way
Webware's Rafe Needleman gets Allen interview doneDek: At the Under the Radar confab in Silicon Valley on March 26, 'Getting Things Done' author David Allen gave CNET a dollop of his time. He explained the importance of list management for those who want
Storyline:
From Gerald Clarke, author of the book "Capote: A Biography".
"Truman, I've been asked to write your biography. Will you cooperate?"
From the other end of the telephone there was a short pause and an even shorter answer - "Sure." And so I began.
I thought my book would be relatively easy to write. I had, after all, written many profiles of famous and talented people for Time magazine - a list that eventually included everyone from Mae West to Susan Sontag, Elizabeth Taylor to Joseph Campbell. I had also done a series on writers for The Atlantic and Esquire. Gore Vidal. Allen Ginsberg, the Beat poet Vladmir Nabokov, the creator of Lolita. P. G. Wodehouse, the comic genius behind Jeeves. And, finally, Truman Capote, who was then the most celebrated writer in America-the author of In Cold Blood, the publishing phenomenon of the sixties and a book that has influenced the writing of nonfiction writing ever since. It was that last article that prompted a call from a publisher and my own call to Truman.
I thought my book would take two years, three at most, and that writing it would be a lark, interviews at fancy restaurants and gallons of good vintage wine at the best table in the house. When Truman Capote walked through the door, headwaiters did everything but salaam in their desire to please. "You might say Truman Capote has become omnipotent," said one newspaper, and for a decade and more he very nearly was.
I was right about the interviews in fancy restaurants and the giddy gallons of Beaujolais. But I was wrong about everything else. If he had known how long In Cold Blood would take, and what it would take out of him, he would not have stopped in Kansas, Truman later said. He would have driven on - "like a bat out of hell." I sometimes said much the same. What I had not anticipated was the drama that surrounded every minute of Truman's life, dramas in which I sometimes also became a participant. As a result, my own book took more than thirteen years. Some lark! Writing it was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was also the most exhilarating.
In search of information I crisscrossed the United States and traveled several times to Europe. One of my destinations was of course, Kansas, the setting for In Cold Blood. I came to know all but two of the main characters in Capote, the movie. Harper Lee, who helped Truman with his research and who was soon to have her own hugely successful book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Alvin Dewey, the lead detective for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and his wife, Marie. William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker. And Jack Dunphy, Truman's longtime companion.
The two I did not interview were the killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. They were executed in 1965. But I got to know them - intimately, I thought - through the forty or so letters they wrote to Truman. Most of their letters run several pages, and they are unsparing windows into life on death row. Truman gave them to me, and Dan Futterman, who wrote the screenplay of Capote, is the only one I've ever let see them. Their dialogue in the movie reflects, almost word for word, what Perry and Dick actually said.
The movie's script is all Dan's - and a very good one it is - but I was happy to answer his questions, large and small Would Truman have said this? Would he have done that? Bennett Miller, the film's director, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays Truman, came out to my house on Long Island and asked more questions. Did Truman wear his glasses all the time? was one of the questions Philip asked. (The answer: like a lot of other nearsighted people, Truman often took off his glasses when he was sitting down.) So he could reproduce Truman's odd, childish voice - Truman did not lisp, as some writers have inaccurately stated - I gave him audio tapes from some of my interviews. Philip did the rest, and through the alchemy a few very gifted actors possess, he has done more than impersonate Truman. For the length of the movie he has resurrected him.
In the last week of June 1984 - he died in August - I had lunch with Truman every day on Long Island, followed by long talks at my house or his. "There's the one and only T.C.," he said at one point. "There was nobody like me before, and there ain't gonna be anybody like me after I'm gone." That's true - who could dispute it? For a couple of hours, however, Philip comes close.
This movie was nominated for numerous Academy Awards. Click here to see videos of other Oscar nominees on Download.com.
See how cool tech products are born
CNET's Brian Cooley takes you behind the scenes at the Silicon Valley design house where the Mac was penned. What do they think is the next big thing?
The most feared man in Silicon Valley?
CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos asks Nathan Myhrvold, CEO and founder of Intellectual Ventures, on his status as a scary figure to some Silicon Valley companies. Myhrvold explains his ideas on patents.\r\n
See how cool tech products are born
Brian Cooley takes you behind the scenes at the Silicon Valley design house where the Mac was penned. What do they think is the next big thing?
Digital music rights don't make sense. CNET editor Tom Merritt talks to author Alex Wellen and gets some expert advice.
Bill Gates calls for research innovation
At the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates challenged developers to create solutions that will "change the way things are done."
Ep. 148: Zune HD's moment in the sun
Donald and Jasmine give the newly-official Zune HD its deserved time in the spotlight as they both gush about the player's design and HD features as well as speculate about pricing and other possible WiFi-related additions. Also this week, the Insiders discuss rumblings about a potential Sirius XM App for the iPhone. Then, Jasmine brings up some of the tiniest MP3 players to ever be reviewed by CNET, while Donald goes off on a tangent about audiobooks. And we musn't forget to give props to the entity that gave this whole digital music thing a violent shove into the mainstream consciousness: Napster celebrates its 10 year anniversary this week.
Windows 7 demo: Window management
Moving, resizing, and arranging windows on the screen has been one of those things we've done since the earliest days of Microsoft Windows. If you've used Windows since, oh, 1995 or so, you know the maximize, minimize, and restore buttons like the back of your hand. But those old-school tools just don't cut it with today's big monitors and high-definition resolutions. ZDNet's Ed Bott shows you a cool new set of gestures and shortcuts to help you move, resize, and arrange windows more intelligently.
Allen from Idaho was our second Xbox 360 winner during CNET's Holiday Helpdesk marathon.
