By perversity, I'm not referring to sex, but to Truman Capote's attitude as portrayed here. His contrariness to acceptable human behavior is obvious, way too obvious; only Trump makes him look like a piker, and as emphasized by the "Miss Europe 1952" character in this pilot episode, it is the powerful who really are perverse, not the writers.
The quality of the screen writing draws you in, plus the various and obvious inclusion of gimmickry (shock effect of menstrual blood; or the jacking off in the public baths scene) to deliver that je ne sais quoi that only crappy cable networks can provide. But as entertainment the hiring of Gus Van Sant, that hack whose "Psycho" remake remains the all-time worst misuse of cinema I've ever witnessed, is quite destructive. He embraces what's worst about this miniseries and wallows in it, rather than asserting himself (as director) and overcoming the vulgarity and obviousness of some scenes.
We're left with very fine performances: Naomi Watts terrific and understated in her acting as Mrs. Paley; the late Treat Williams quite effective as her powerful husband (I couldn't help wondering how Sigourney Weaver could watch this stuff!) and of course Hollander very broadly capturing the awful side of Capote -I would have preferred a better actor like Toby Jones, but guess what -it's not up to me! I'm just a humble viewer, stuck with whatever crap or on rare occasions caviar is being served up.