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

by Truman Capote

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.

• ISBN10: 0679745580
• ISBN13: 9780679745587
• Publish Date: 1 February 1994 (first published 12 January 1966)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Vintage Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780679745587

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

In 1959 a farmer from Holcomb, Kansas was killed along with his wife and two of his four children by a couple of two-bit thieves. This brutal crime spawned a desperate search for the killers who left bloody footprints at the murder scene. From petty crime to mass murder, In Cold Blood tells the story from murder to the gallows where they were executed by hanging.

In the Truman Capote literary masterpiece, it is easy to consider In Cold Blood a crime novel; it has shades of pulp and southern gothic throughout the book. However this journalistic investigation has often been cited as the first and best example of the non-fiction genre known as true crime. While there have been true crime books before In Cold Blood, this book did redefine the genre. Capote likes to call his book a non-fiction novel which he defined in an interview with The New Your Times as “a narrative form that employed all techniques of fictional art, but was nevertheless immaculately factual”.

However this is not just a book about the brutal murder of the Clutter family; we also get a Capote’s depiction of rural America. Outside the details of the crime, the author paints a descriptive backdrop of Kansas, the way he sees it. Religion, masculinity, femininity, the nuclear family and small town communities all play a big part in developing the scene. When he talks about the crime, the reader gets to explore the psychological motivations of murder and awaiting execution.

There is the issue of mental illness that needs to be explored when talking about In Cold Blood. It is almost like Truman Capote wants to challenge the reader to consider if Perry and Dick suffered from an untreated mental illness. There are shade of delusional, depression, schizophrenia and a sociopathic personality that comes through when talking about these two people but as this is 1959 I expect no psychological consult or treatment were given to these men; the court rejected the request.

I expected a true crime book but I feel like In Cold Blood was trying to do something similar to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I was very impressed with this book and I feel like Capote may have ruined true crime and even narrative non-fiction for the rest of the authors in these genres. Capote’s investigational skills and mastery over the written word is what makes this book a masterpiece.

This review originally appeared on my blog: http://literary-exploration.com/2014/08/30/in-cold-blood-by-truman-capote/

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Holcomb, Kansas is a small town that could be compared to the likes of Mayberry. A friendly town who never locks their doors, always willing to loan their neighbor a cup of sugar.

Until November 15, 1959, when the Tayloresc family, the Clutters are murdered by blasts from a shot gun held only a few inches from their heads. This multiple murder case of Herb, Bonnie and their children Nancy and Kenyon Clutter becomes a case that would have had Barney Fife baffled.

Through Truman Capote's memorizing true crime account, we follow the case every step of the way. Beginning at the finding of the bodies and ending at the gallows. Not only does he skillfully craft this heinous crime but does so with the reader feeling empathy not only towards the Clutters but also their killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Describing their lackluster childhoods but the reader is brought back to Earth after reading Perry Smith's confession and once again as their bodies swing lifelessly from a noose.

Capote writes with such skill that it is sometimes forgotten that these heinous crimes were true and happened fifty years ago. In Cold Blood is a heart wrenching read that consumes your every being.