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In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences

by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

Five years, four months and twenty-nine days later, on April 14, 1965, Richard Eugene Hickock, aged thirty-three, and Perry Edward Smith, aged thirty-six, were hanged for the crime on a gallows in a warehouse in the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas.

In Cold Blood is the story of the lives and deaths of these six people. It has already been hailed as a masterpiece.

Synopsis:

With the publication of this book, Capote permanently ripped through the barrier separating crime reportage from serious literature. As he reconstructs the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Capote generates suspense and empathy.

About the Author

Truman Capote was a native of New Orleans, where he was born on September 30, 1924. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, was an international literary success when first published in 1948, and accorded the author a prominent place among the writers of America's postwar generation. He sustained this position subsequently with short-story collections (A Tree of Night, among others), novels and novellas (The Grass Harp and Breakfast at Tiffany's), some of the best travel writing of our time (Local Color), profiles and reportage that appeared originally in the New Yorker (The Duke in His Domain and The Muses Are Heard), a true-crime masterpiece (In Cold Blood), several short memiors about his childhood in the South (A Christmas Memory, The Thanksgiving Visitor, and One Christmas), two plays (The Grass Harp and House of Flowers), and two films (Beat the Devil and The Innocents).

Mr. Capote twice won the O. Henry Memorial Short Story Prize and was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He died in August 1984, shortly before his sixtieth birthday.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
Elizabeth L, December 20, 2009 (view all comments by Elizabeth L)
This book was all it is purported to be, and so much more. I realize Capote has the reputation for being somewhat obnoxious (particularly vis a vis his own talents), but if that's what it takes to produce something this exquisitely composed and fully realized, than I'd be happy for all writers to be jerks. As with many readers of this book, I was quickly drawn up into its narrative, forgetting the reality of the gruesome tale and surrendering to its writer's ability to conjure up a town and its people who seem so well-described I could pick them up of a line-up or recognize them on the street. Further, Capote does much to humanize all of the people in his story, both "good" and "bad." In this way, In Cold Blood establishes itself as a meditation on justice that compels its readers to consider whether guilt is sufficient grounds for punishment (particularly capital punishment). I feel I could read this again and again, discovering greater nuances most writers can only imagine they might portray.
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zerlindatar, July 29, 2009 (view all comments by zerlindatar)
I read this book many years ago but only learned recently of the Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird) connection when I was reading Lee's biography. Harper and Truman were childhood neighbors and close friends. At his request, she accompanied him to Kansas for research in his preparation to write In Cold Blood. She took copius notes and was a very important part of his being able to make friends with some of the key people involved in the investigation. When In Cold Blood was published he gave her no recognition for all the help she had provided. Another interesting tidbit: in To Kill a Mockingbird the little boy (Dibs?) was based on Capote and Scout was based on Harper Lee.
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(0 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
kellybobelly, July 8, 2009 (view all comments by kellybobelly)
I read this novel in 3 days straight, I could not put it down. Capote's intense descriptions that are in 3rd person are so detailed and strong, it's as if it has all the emotion of a 1st person novel. I highly recommend this novel, not just for school reports, but also for a way to occupy your mind. But be warned, once you start, you won't stop.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780679745587
Subtitle:
A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences
Author:
Capote, Truman
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Murder
Subject:
Criminology
Subject:
Crime and criminals
Subject:
Sociology, anthropology and archaeology
Subject:
Case studies
Subject:
Murder -- Kansas -- Case studies.
Subject:
Meurtre
Subject:
Murder - General
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Vintage Intl
Publication Date:
February 1994
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
368
Dimensions:
8.06x5.18x.81 in. .58 lbs.

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