The Swans of Fifth Avenue

On the day after the ball, Truman makes the rounds to his friends to hear them talk about it. Diana Vreeland has all the fawning press coverage at her fingertips, and Truman is so glad she had been there to make it a success. However, as Truman departs, Diana breathes a sigh of relief that he hadn’t noticed that she’d gone to dinner at the Paley’s but not the ball itself. She wonders how Truman did know that she wasn’t up for a party when her husband had just died.

Truman visits Slim next for a more detailed gossip session—the near-fistfights, the indecent exposures, and of course a bit of catty commentary on the other swans. When Truman leaves, Slim goes through the newspapers. Not every account of the party had been positive, and some writers had even wondered if it wasn’t disingenuous for Truman to throw a party for a book based on the real-life murder of a real-life family.

Finally, Truman arrives at Babe’s apartment. Babe is more genuine in her praise of the event, and Truman asks her to tell him about the ball as if it were a fairy tale. He falls asleep on Babe’s lap, but she keeps talking, telling more stories about herself and him, and their friendship.