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

by Truman Capote
In Cold Blood A True Account of a Multiple Murder & Its Consequences

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ISBN13: 9780679745587
ISBN10: 0679745580
Condition: Standard


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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.

Review

"A masterpiece...a spellbinding work." Life

Review

"A remarkable, tensely exciting, superbly written 'true account.'" The New York Times

Review

"The best documentary account of an American crime ever written....The book chills the blood and exercises the intelligence...harrowing." The New York Review of Books

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.

Synopsis

The most famous true crime novel of all time and one of the first non-fiction novels ever written; In Cold Blood is the bestseller that haunted its author long after he finished writing it.

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.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

Synopsis

The most famous true crime novel of all time, In Cold Blood is the bestseller that haunted its author long after he finished writing it.

Chills the blood and exercises the intelligence ... harrowing. --The New York Review of Books

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.

In one of the first non-fiction novels ever written, Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, generating both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The most famous true crime novel of all time chills the blood and exercises the intelligence (The New York Review of Books)--and haunted its author long after he finished writing it.

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.

In one of the first non-fiction novels ever written, Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, generating both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.


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.


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Average customer rating 4.9 (11 comments)

`
Donna LaMotte , November 05, 2014 (view all comments by Donna LaMotte)
It's not often that an author can portray murderers in such a light that the reader feels something close to empathy for the cast of characters, including the killers. It's another feat entirely to do this when the author is dealing with actual people in a work of non-fiction. The quadruple murder of a family, two parents and two children, drew Truman Capote's fascination so completely that he traveled to Holcomb, Kansas himself to interview the town. As the story unfolds, we find out the history of the murderers and how their pasts helped shape them into the men they became. The story is gripping. Capote's writing brings the horrifying events into focus.

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pointyourtoe , January 02, 2012
Not only are Capote's prose mesmerizing, he makes you forget what Dick and Perry are about to do, and nearly pity them, but the level of detail is especially impressive given that he allegedly never wrote a single note during the interviews. It's the most hauntingly addictive book I've read.

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conner.barr , February 18, 2011
In Cold Blood tells the true story of the murders of the Clutter family that took place in 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas. The story begins a few days prior to the murders. Capote goes in great detail to describe the town of Holcomb and an in depth look at the lives of the Clutter family. The Clutter's were strong Christians. Herb Clutter, one of the most respected men in town, was a farm owner and a family man. Then there is Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, who Capote goes back to every other chapter. Both are outcasts in society and have spent numerous prison terms. They had a plot to rob the Clutters and leave no survivors. Although the crime happens early on in the story, Capote really focuses on the aftermath. The effect it had on the town of Kansas and what happened to the killers. The Capote masterpiece depicts the psychology behind random murdering such as what happened to the Clutter family. This book will keep the reader turning the pages. The story runs all the way through the killers' stay on Death Row up until they are executed in 1965. This novel raised a lot of questions as to how the novel was written and how the author knew so much about the killers. Also, the focus on Perry over Dick is interesting. The movie Capote does a great job at answering these mysteries created by the book, In Cold Blood, and would be a good follow up after reading this book. In Cold Blood is an amazing in depth account of a very unfortunate event.

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carltodasco , January 03, 2010
Best true story ever written

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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
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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kellybobelly , July 08, 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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stephanie , May 17, 2008 (view all comments by stephanie)
Brilliant.

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Jonathan , February 15, 2008 (view all comments by Jonathan)
Capote ties together recollections, testimonies, conversations, and letters to paint a vivid picture of this horrendous crime and its aftermath. It's like a car wreck: terrible, yet you can't peel your eyes away without finding out what really happened. The writing is a little uneven towards the end but for the most part Capote is a masterful storyteller with a gripping tale.

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shirleyguffey , April 22, 2007
I thought that the book was very well written and very descriptive about the town and the people. I could picture the people, in particular the Clutter family. It helps me to know how to write my own two novels that I have started. It also has very good dialogue.

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crowyhead , September 15, 2006 (view all comments by crowyhead)
This is considered to be one of the first, and finest, "true crime novels." I definitely thought it was excellent. One of the things that was interesting to me was, as I was reading, trying to figure out how [a]Capote[/a] would have uncovered the information, or if he was extrapolating, and how all of that fit together. He keeps himself out of the action, only referring to "the journalist" a handful of times, but according to the introduction, he became very involved with the case. In fact, he apparently became quite close to one of the murderers, Perry Smith (too close, many of his friends said), and when Smith was finally executed, Capote is said to have felt guilty that he couldn't have done more for him. This is sort of discomfiting, given the coldly calculating nature of Smith's crimes. But at the same time, Smith does seem to have a certain amount of charm and personal magnetism, and there is also a childlike quality to him alongside his violence.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780679745587
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
02/01/1994
Publisher:
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
Series info:
Vintage International
Pages:
368
Height:
.90IN
Width:
5.10IN
Thickness:
.75
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
1965
UPC Code:
2800679745589
Author:
Truman Capote
Author:
Truman Capote
Subject:
Murder -- Kansas -- Case studies.
Subject:
Sociology, anthropology and archaeology
Subject:
Case studies
Subject:
Crime - True Crime
Subject:
Crime and criminals
Subject:
Meurtre

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List Price:$18.00
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