A Diamond Guitar A Diamond Guitar "A Diamond Guitar" is a short story by Truman Capote, first published in "Harper's Bazaar" in 1950; it is noted as one of his better quality early short stories. The title refers to the prize possession of the younger man, a rhinestone-studded guitar; the guitar serves as the key image of the story. Capote wrote "A Diamond Guitar" in April 1950 during a three-week-long transatlantic freighter crossing from New York to Italy. It is one of three short stories normally published in the same volume as "Breakfast at Tiffany's", first released in 1958. The story is set
Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella) that he "would not be interested if ["Esquire"] did not use Attie's [original series of] photographs." He wrote to "Esquire" fiction editor Rust Hills, "I'm happy that you are using [Attie's] pictures, as I think they are excellent." But to his disappointment, "Esquire" ran just one full-page image of Attie's (another was later used as the cover of at least one paperback edition of the novella). The novella appeared in the November, 1958 issue. Shortly afterward, a collection of the novella and three short stories by Capote was published by Random House—and the glowing reviews caused sales of the "Esquire"