Product Description

Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. The book that made Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2156 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Truman Capote was born in New Orleans in 1925 and was raised in various parts of the south, his family spending winters in New Orleans and summers in Alabama and New Georgia. By the age of fourteen he had already started writing short stories, some of which were published. He left school when he was fifteen and subsequently worked for the New Yorker which provided his first - and last - regular job. Following his spell with the New Yorker, Capote spent two years on a Louisiana farm where he wrote Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). He lived, at one time or another, in Greece, Italy, Africa and the West Indies, and travelled in Russia and the Orient. He is the author of many highly praised books, including A Tree of Night and Other Stories (1949), The Grass Harp (1951), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958), In Cold Blood (1965), which immediately became the centre of a storm of controversy on its publication, Music for Chameleons (1980) and Answered Prayers (1986), all of which are published by Penguin. Truman Capote died in August 1984.

Customer Reviews

Shocking, chilling and gruesomely voyeuristic
Hard to believe that this book was written by the same author who wrote "Breakfast at Tiffany's" but it was. Capote takes you right into the mind of a murderer and tracks the whole desolate affair from the deed itself through to punishment.

It's one of those great books where you are barely conscious of reading the thing. Ideas, events, emotions and images pass in front of you in all their horrifying clarity. A lot of people will come to this novel as a result of the recent movie Capote and may approach it armed with the experience of seeing many films that portray serial killers. But when this book was written in the early 60's, close scrutiny of murder and murderers was both shocking and very disturbing to the reading public.

While the impact of the novel may be reduced to 21st century readers jaded by violence, the quality, incisiveness and skill of Capote's writing conveys the detail, mechanics and mental state of a murderer in a way that has never been surpassed. A masterpiece.

Capote's Masterpiece
While reading this book one must keep in mind that Truman Capote had two very distinct objects in mind as he worked on this project. First, he wanted to write a Nonfiction Novel and in that area he has succeeded marvelously. Many critics have in fact proclaimed this to be Capote's best work. The author's other intent was to make a statement against the death penalty, an object in which he is less successful.

Capote could not have picked a better case to write a novel about but he could hardly have found two condemned men who would illicit less sympathy. My own faith inclines me to oppose the death penalty but I would be hard pressed to stick to my convictions in this case. The crimes perpetrated by these two were of the worst kind and no matter their backgrounds I could muster little sympathy for either of them. Fortunately, Capote spends relatively little time overtly pleading his political case and the novel is not harmed much in this effort.

The novel itself is nothing short of a masterpiece and will keep the reader on the edge of their seat for almost it's entire length. Capote begins what is probably the first True Crime Novel by introducing the reader to both the Clutter family (the intended victims) and Perry Smith and Dick Hickock (the killers) along with the small Kansas town where the crime would take place. The reader follows the Clutter clan as they live their normal lives in the days before their murder and also rides along as Smith and Hickock plan their crime. From there, one rides the roller coaster through the crime, it's discovery, the getaway, the investigation, and the capture, trial, and execution of the perpetrators. Capote weaves his story in such a masterful manner that there will be times when the reader gets completely caught up in the story just as if he/she were there. While reading this book you will become very aware of every little noise outside your house so it may be better to read it during daylight hours.

I would advise anyone who likes Crime Novels or just good novels to put this book near the top of their to read list. The story is disturbing and a little graphic in places but this is the work of a master wordsmith and he has done his job well. This book deserves to be placed much higher than it is in the pantheon of great works of literature.

Sometimes the hype is justified
A great work of narrative non-fiction should be evocative, factually sound and draw you into a world that almost makes you forget your own. 'In Cold Blood' ticks all of these boxes. The Oscar winning film, Capote, covers the laboured, difficult months of the book's original conception and completion. But don't just watch the film. This only gives a sketch of the complexity that unfolds with each page. The book remains highly relevant to our times, touching on themes which are still topical and divisive. And more importantly the book has a profound effect on the reader.

I wish I could say that I had come across this book a long time ago, and am merely recounting the review for the benefit of the new readers who are drawn to it from the film. But the truth is I had no idea of its existence prior to seeing the first trailer. That Capote was a contemporary and often seen as the better of Vidal Gore struck me, as in my mind Gore was well known, and Capote was completely new. But I am extremely thankful to the film for introducing me to this work.

In Cold Blood marks something of an apogee, the successful synthesis of excellence in narrative and mastery of journalism. It is a novel woven with the threads of fact to create a new genre. Although attempted before, here it reaches its true peak of accomplishment. 'In Cold Blood' is the story of a mass killing, the slaughter of an innocent family. It is the story that expands from the original news clipping that so excited Capote's interest, and envelops and involves the reader like very few books.

As an avid reader, and sometime writer, of narrative history, this can be regarded as a benchmark for future endeavour. The journalistic excellence is marked by the time Capote spent in the town, in Kansas, with the killers, with the police and investigators. In short Capote immersed himself in to the world, and cupped out the truth, spilling it onto the page with a literary flourish that draws the reader and immerses them into the same world. The town of Holcomb is no longer a hicksville stop on the Sante Fe express, but a real place filled with recognisable personalities. The predilections and peccadilloes of the townspeople render them as realistic as the people we pass everyday on the street. In short Holcomb becomes familiar and known to the reader.

The Clutter family is dissected with almost clinical precision, so that their characteristics, their personalities, shine through. Their ultimate fate is always hanging over these horrifyingly vivid descriptions, an ominous, portentous gloom that penetrates every page, and keeps the book moving with a pace and gripping interest. But the most horrifyingly drawing of all the aspects is the recreation of the capture, incarceration, trial and ultimate death of the killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Capote's relationship with the killers, Dick in particular, makes the ultimate, and inevitable, ending all the more tragic.

This is a book for anyone who appreciates writing and English as an art form. It is the brilliant, wonderful synthesis of so many crafts, and Capote shows that he is the master of them all. Anyone who has an interest in reading history, biography or true crime should also make sure this book takes its rightful place at the top of their 'to buy' list - it is simply the best of its kind, rivalled but still unbeaten.