My friend Katherine suggested this for our book club because she's found that men and women respond to Holly Golightly differently. From the few women who have been a part of the conversation it seems like most female readers do not like Holly. 
 I actually found Holly to be way more complex than I had expected. I'd seen the movie years ago and recalled her fitting into the manic pixie dream girl persona. Which she does in the book as well, to an extent. My first impression was that she is the type of woman who has a lot of male friends, but no female friends. She has a lot of negative qualities: she's selfish, manipulative, and undependable (not to mention racist and stereotypes lesbians). But the story makes it clear that she's suffered childhood trauma. She and her brother were found digging through trash cans for food. Are they orphans? Did they run away from abusive parents? From an institution? We're left to speculate how the two of them became so desperate. And then the "rescuer" marries a thirteen year old Holly. *vomit* A year or two later she runs away from an environment in which she is abused and taken advantage of sexually. 
 Rather than be annoyed with Holly's obvious selfishness and the way in which she uses other people to her advantage, I found myself understanding, maybe even respecting her a little more. No, it's not right to treat friends the way she treats them, but in my mind this is a woman who is under no circumstances answerable to anyone. She does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. The manic pixie dream girl persona - Holiday Golightly - has been created as armor to protect her. The cage imagery comes into play here. She has been a victim and been trapped before and she will never allow it to happen again. She clings to her freedom even at the expense of alienating herself from people who truly care about her. 
 And despite her flaws, I appreciated Holly's more feminist moments. When Mr. Arbuck insists Holly likes him because he paid the dinner bill for her and all her friends and she shuts the door in his face - what sublime satisfaction! I also really appreciated her confidence in owning her body and her sexuality. 
 The one thing that annoyed me about the novella was how all the male characters fall in love with her. That I didn't get. Yes she's pretty and yes she's "different", but she doesn't treat any of them well. Why is Holly Golightly so appealing!? The way I've rationalized it to myself is that she is the female counterpart to a Mr. Darcy. I love Darcy! But why? He's a big old grump. He's rude. He's stand-offish. But gosh-darn if there isn't a creamy center behind the stony facade. I think it has to do with the "unobtainability" of these two characters. The wanting what you can't have syndrome. Holly is "wild", but each man dreams of being the one that can "tame" her. 
 I really enjoyed Capote's writing style and I love that he was able to create such a multi-faceted character in a short novella.