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La Côte Basque 1965
"La Côte Basque 1965" was published as an individual chapter in Esquire magazine in December of 1976. The catty beginning to his still-unfinished novel ′′Answered Prayers′′ marks the catalyst of the social suicide of Truman Capote. Many of Capote’s female friends, whom he nicknamed his ‘swans’ were featured in the text, some under pseudonyms and others by their real names. The chapter is said to have revealed the dirty secrets of these women, his ‘swans′, and therefore aired the ‘dirty laundry’ of New York City’s elite. The fallout from "La Côte Basque 1965" saw Truman Capote ostracised from New York society, and from many of his former friends.

The chapter from Answered Prayers, "La Côte Basque" begins with Jonesy, the main character said to be based off of a mix of Truman Capote himself and the serial killer Herbert Clutter (whom which In Cold Blood was based off of), meets up with a Lady Ina Coolbirth on a New York City street. This woman, who is described as "an American married to a British chemicals tycoon and a lot of woman in every way″, is widely rumoured to be based on New York socialite Slim Keith. Lady Ina Coolbirth invites Jonesy to lunch at La Côte Basque. A gossipy tale of New York's elite ensues.

The characters of Gloria Vanderbilt and Carol Matthau are encountered first, the two women gossiping about Princess Margaret, Prince Charles and the rest of the British royal family. An awkward moment then occurs when Gloria Vanderbilt has a run-in with her first husband and fails to recognize him. It is only at Mrs. Matthau’s reminder that Gloria realises who he is. Both women brush the incident aside and chalk it up to ancient history.

The characters of Lee Radziwill and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are then encountered when they walk into the restaurant together. Sisters, they draw the attention of the room although they only speak to one another. Lady Coolbirth takes the liberty of describing Lee as ″marvelously[sic] made, like a Tanagra figurine″ and Jacqueline as ″photogenic″ yet ″unrefined, exaggerated″.

The character of Ann Hopkins is then introduced when she surreptitiously walks into the restaurant and sits down with a pastor. The character Ann Hopkins is likened as Ann Woodward. Ina Coolbirth relates the story of how Mrs. Hopkins ended up murdering her husband: when he threatened to divorce her she began cultivating a rumour that a burglar was harassing their neighbourhood. The official police report says that while she and her husband were sleeping in separate bedrooms, Mrs. Hopkins heard someone enter her bedroom. In her panic she grabbed her gun and shot the intruder; unbeknownst to her the intruder was in fact her husband, David Hopkins (or William Woodward, Jr.). Ina Coolbirth suggests however, that Mr. Hopkins was in fact shot in the shower; such is the wealth and power of the Hopkins’ family that any charges or whispers of murder simply floated away at the inquest. It is rumoured that Ann Woodward was warned prematurely of the publication and content of Capote’s ″La Côte Basque″, and proceeded to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills as a result.

An incident regarding the character of Sidney Dillon (or William S. Paley) is then discussed between Jonesy and Mrs. Coolbirth. Sidney Dillon is said to have told Ina Coolbirth this story because they have a history as former lovers. One evening while Cleo Dillon (Babe Paley) was out of the city, in Boston, Sidney Dillon attended an event by himself in which he was seated next to the wife of a prominent New York Governor. The two began to flirt and eventually went home together. While Ina suggests that Sidney Dillon loves his wife it is his inexhaustible need for acceptance by haute New York society that motivates him to be unfaithful. Sidney Dillon and the woman sleep together wherein afterwards Mr. Dillon discovers a very large blood stain on the sheets, representing her mockery of him. Mr. Dillon then spends the rest of the night and early morning manually washing the sheet with scalding water in an attempt to conceal his unfaithfulness from his wife who is due to arrive home the same morning. In the end Dillon falls asleep on a damp sheet and wakes up to a note from his wife telling him she had arrived while he was sleeping, did not want to wake him, and that she would see him at home.

The aftermath of the publication of ″La Côte Basque″ is said to have pushed Truman Capote to new levels of drug abuse and alcoholism, mainly because he claims to have not anticipated the backlash it would cause in his personal life.