Satirized as the "enameled lady" in Truman Capote's unfinished final work, Answered Prayers, her non-fiction included such essays as "Portrait: Old South" and an essay on the achievements of Henry James that would title the collection The Days Before.  
One of this author's works centers on a mentally challenged boy who is exploited by the Whipple family, while another, later, story describes how Kuno's friendship bring a young Texan named Charles Upton to Berlin.  Satirized as the "enameled lady" in Truman Capote's unfinished final work, Answered Prayers, her non-fiction included such essays as "Portrait: Old South" and an essay on the achievements of Henry James that would title the collection The Days Before.  In addition to penning the heretofore described "He" and (*) "The Leaning Tower," this author created the character of Miranda, a woman who struggles to survive during a flu pandemic, and Homer T. Hatch, an investigator who tries to solve a murder, but ends up dead a the hands of Mr. Thompson in the story "Noon Wine."  Her only novel is set aboard the Vera, a freighter that makes its way from Veracruz to Germany, in 1931. For ten points, identify this American author of Flowering Judas, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, and Ship of Fools.
One of this author's works centers on a mentally challenged boy who is exploited by the Whipple family, while another, later, story describes how Kuno's friendship bring a young Texan named Charles Upton to Berlin.  
Katherine Ann {Porter}