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From Amazon.com
"Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans--in fact, few Kansans--had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there." If all Truman Capote did was invent a new genre--journalism written with the language and structure of literature--this "nonfiction novel" about the brutal slaying of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers would be remembered as a trail-blazing experiment that has influenced countless writers. But Capote achieved more than that. He wrote a true masterpiece of creative nonfiction. The images of this tale continue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bake a cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and his dreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of the rope-broken necks.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In the wake of the award-winning film Capote, interest in the author's 1965 true crime masterpiece has spiked. Capote's spellbinding narrative plumbs the psychological and emotional depths of a senseless quadruple murder in America's heartland. In the audio version, narrator Brick keeps up with the master storyteller every step of the way. In fact, Brick's surefooted performance is nothing short of stunning. He settles comfortably into every character on this huge stage—male and female, lawman and murderer, teen and spinster—and moves fluidly between them, generating the feel of a full-cast production. He assigns varying degrees of drawl to the citizens of Finney County, Kans., where the crimes take place, and supplements with an arsenal of tension-building cadences, hard and soft tones, regional and foreign accents, and subtle inflections, even embedding a quiver of grief in the voice of one character. This facile audio actor delivers an award-worthy performance, well-suited for a tale of such power that moves not only around the country but around the territory of the human psyche and heart. Available as a Vintage paperback. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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First Sentence
THE village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
THE village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cold blooded killers in Kansas--film at eleven,
This review is from: In Cold Blood (Paperback)
Our book club recently took on IN COLD BLOOD as part of our "Southern author" series. The book before that was equally as good-MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, and that was followed by the riveting and jaw-dropping novel of Jackson McCrae, his now famous BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Of the three (which we all liked) BLOOD was the most spellbinding. And why not? I took a few minutes to read through the other reviews for Truman Capote's: In Cold Blood. It really disappointed me to learn that the people who have taken the time to read this book are focusing on such unimportant aspects. I've read that people gained a better understanding of the legal system, were able to see inside the heads of two very mentally ill people, enjoyed being fascinated about the diversity of our society and the triumphs of law enforcement. Yes, this is all well and good, but would it really hurt so much to dig past the bluntly obvious? Of course it does all of that, but much, much more. Studying criminal psychology, I read many accounts of murders and dreadful crimes. Not once have I ever come across something of this nature retold with such delicacy and beauty as In Cold Blood is built with. Capote has portrayed a terribly gruesome murder in just enough of the right light for the reader to stomach it; to envision it; to judge it, with fairness and reality; to gain appropriate perspective of the shape a mind takes when overcome by illness and, in other instances, confusion in dealing with something a small town has never seen before. As a sidenote, one thing that especially surprised me when reading this book was the mention of the sheetmusic for 'Comin' Through The Rye' resting on the piano during the part when the detective is visiting the murder scene...I was interested to note the connection between In Cold Blood and the murderous reputation associated with The Catcher in the Rye. Anyway, if you haven't read this one yet, don't do it because you have to...because an English teacher is pushing you...do it because you'd like to witness the work of a masterful author who has the skill and ability to portray the events surrounding a gruesome murder with beauty and elegance.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece,
By
This review is from: In Cold Blood (Paperback)
Truman Capote created a new genre of novel with this account of a true crime. He sets up the novel expertly, building a suspense you might not think could exist. He sets it up artfully by writing that a murder has been committed and then tracing the backgrounds and the paths of the killers up to the night of the murder itself, so that the details of the multiple homicide are the climax of the book. Like a Shakespearean drama, there's a "fifth act" of some resolution regarding the fates of the killers and some of the Clutter family friends. This is by far Truman Capote's best book. It's full of hope and sadness, good and evil, and it never fails to scrutinize and explore the spaces between two extremes.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a masterful author,
By A Customer
This review is from: In Cold Blood (Paperback)
BLOOD was the most spellbinding murder mystery I've come across in a long time, and why not? I've read that people gained a better understanding of the legal system, were able to see inside the heads of two very mentally ill people, enjoyed being fascinated about the diversity of our society and the triumphs of law enforcement. Yes, this is all well and good, but would it really hurt so much to dig past the bluntly obvious? Of course it does all of that, but much, much more. Studying criminal psychology, I read many accounts of murders and dreadful crimes. Not once have I ever come across something of this nature retold with such delicacy and beauty as In Cold Blood is built with. Capote has portrayed a terribly gruesome murder in just enough of the right light for the reader to stomach it; to envision it; to judge it, with fairness and reality; to gain appropriate perspective of the shape a mind takes when overcome by illness and, in other instances, confusion in dealing with something a small town has never seen before. As a sidenote, one thing that especially surprised me when reading this book was the mention of the sheetmusic resting on the piano during the part when the detective is visiting the murder scene...I was interested to note the connection between In Cold Blood and the murderous reputation associated with Giorgio Kostantinos's-The Quest. Anyway, if you haven't read this one yet, don't do it because you have to...because an English teacher is pushing you...do it because you'd like to witness the work of a masterful author who has the skill and ability to portray the events surrounding a gruesome murder with beauty and elegance.
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