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Though the book reads like a memoir, it was not Capa's intention to deliver a completely factual account of his experiences. He even warned readers with a disclaimer on the dust jacket:
"Writing the truth being obviously so difficult, I have in the interest of it allowed myself to go sometimes slightly beyond and slightly this of it. All events and persons in this book are accidental and have something to do with the truth."
Capa left for Europe to cover the war for Life and Collier's in 1942. The books American publisher, Random House, describes Capa at the time as "a dashing young man who liked nothing so much as a heated game of poker, a good bottle of scotch, and the company of a pretty girl," though it also praises him for being a "brilliant and daring photojournalist."
"In these pages, Capa recounts his terrifying journey through the darkest battles of World War II and shares his memories of the men and women of the Allied forces who befriended, amused, and captivated him along the way," Random House says of the book. "From Sicily to London, Normandy to Algiers, Capa experienced some of the most trying conditions imaginable, yet his compassion and wit shine on every page of this book. Charming and profound, Slightly Out of Focus is a marvelous memoir told in words and pictures by an extraordinary man."
Among the famous people Capa counted among his friends were Ingrid Bergman, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, John Huston, Billy Wilder and Picasso.
One of the contributors to Slightly Out of Focus is Capa's brother Cornell Capa, the founder of the International Center of Photography. Hungary's National Museum recently purchased almost a thousand Robert Capa photographs from the International Center of Photography with a HUF 300 million grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Slightly Out of Focus, by Robert Capa; published in Hungarian by Park Kiadó, Budapest, 2009. Translated by Elga Sárközy
Source: Múlt-kor
