In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
"Choosing to write a true account of an actual murder case--was altogether literary. The decision was based on a theory I've harbored since I first began to write professionally.... It seemed to me that journalism, reportage, could be forced to yield a serious new art form: the 'nonfiction novel'." (Plimpton, 1966, January 16)
Turman Capote being interviewed by George Plimpton in the New York Times in 1966.
 |
Don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For help see the Junior School or Senior School referencing guides, and / or CiteMaker. |
When accessing content use the numbers below to guide you:
Brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
Provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
LEVELLengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
To view the eBooks off campus follow the link. If prompted, sign in with your School mConnect user name and password. Use the following links to go directly to chapters relating to character, plot, themes, language and context.
A Study Guide for Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
A Study Guide for Truman Capote's'In Cold Blood. his concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading.
Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: Insight text guide by 
Quicklet On Truman Capote's In Cold Blood by
Serialized in the New Yorker prior to publication in book form,'In Cold Blood'presents investigative journalism in the form of a novel, effectively combining literature and reporting. The New York Review of Books called it “The best documentary of an American crime ever written...” Other critics have not been so kind, citing fictionalized conversations, invented scenes, and fabricated events. Capote's narrative contains no footnotes, nor does he cite specific sources for any of the conversations in the book. By the time'In Cold Blood'appeared the end of the story was known. Both murderers had been tried, convicted and executed by hanging. The book's tremendous success stemmed from Capote's graphic depiction of the crime as well as his incisive and often empathetic descriptions of the killers.
Truman Capote and the Legacy of in Cold Blood by
Ralph F. Voss was a high school junior in Plainville, Kansas in mid-November of 1959 when four members of the Herbert Clutter family were murdered in Holcomb, Kansas, by "four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives," an unimaginable horror in a quiet farm community during the Eisenhower years. No one in Kansas or elsewhere could then have foreseen the emergence of Capote's book-which has never gone out of print, has twice been made into a major motion picture, remains required reading in criminology, American Studies, sociology, and English classes, and has been the source of two recent biographical films. Voss examines Capote and In Cold Blood from many perspectives, not only as the crowning achievement of Capote's career, but also as a story in itself, focusing on Capote's artfully composed text, his extravagant claims for it as reportage, and its larger status in American popular culture. Voss argues that Capote's publication of In Cold Blood in 1966 forever transcended his reputation as a first-rate stylist but second-rate writer of "Southern gothic" fiction; that In Cold Blood actually is a gothic novel, a sophisticated culmination of Capote's artistic development and interest in lurid regionalism, but one that nonetheless eclipsed him both personally and artistically. He also explores Capote's famous claim that he created a genre called the "non-fiction novel," and its status as a foundational work of "true crime" writing as practiced by authors ranging from Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer to James Ellroy, Joe McGinniss, and John Berendt. Voss also examines Capote's artful manipulation of the story's facts and circumstances: his masking of crucial homoerotic elements to enhance its marketability; his need for the killers to remain alive long enough to get the story, and then his need for them to die so that he could complete it; and Capote's style, his shaping of the narrative, and his selection of details-why it served him to include this and not that, and the effects of such choices--all despite confident declarations that "every word is true." Though it's been nearly 50 years since the Clutter murders and far more gruesome crimes have been documented, In Cold Blood continues to resonate deeply in popular culture. Beyond questions of artistic selection and claims of truth, beyond questions about capital punishment and Capote's own post-publication dissolution, In Cold Blood's ongoing relevance stems, argues Voss, from its unmatched role as a touchstone for enduring issues of truth, exploitation, victimization, and the power of narrative.