REVIEW
A mastery of writing In Cold Blood
Truman Capote (Random House) To honour the 50th anniversary
of this unrivalled classic of true crime writing – it was serialized in The New Yorker in four issues in 1965 and published in book form in 1966 – a reminder of the importance of this ground-breaking “non-fiction novel” is necessary. And, if you want an example
of unparalleled true crime writing with the stylistic luminosity of one of America’s important 20th
writers, it is required reading: an essential, riveting work of sublime quality. It is hard to overstate just how
good this book is. One hates to use the word masterpiece, but that’s exactly what it is. I’ve read it half a
It’s Grilling century
BOOK
dozen times (or more) and Capote’s superb recounting never fails to enthral and amaze. His mastery of language in
telling a story that was first read as a 300-word news blurb in the New York Times is evident throughout. This is the gold standard to which every other true crime account is compared to. Usually they aren’t anywhere close. The excellence apparent on every page of this acknowledged classic has no rivals. Vincent Bugliosi’s account of
the Manson murders, Helter Skelter, has perhaps sold more copies, but there is no comparison in the writing. Not even in the same league - nor is anything else in the genre. True crime books might not be
your cup of tea. Certainly in this day and age of multiple murders that barely see the light of day vis- à-vis news coverage (we seem to have become so inured as a society), this would hardly justify a book – just another routine murderous spree inflicted on innocent and
unsuspecting victims. It’s all in the telling, though. Capote grabbed
onto the story of the 1959 murder of a Kansas rancher, his wife and two of their four children – seemingly killed for no apparent reason – soon after the short article appeared in the paper. Enlisting his friend, author Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird; another American classic), Capote went to Kansas and began to research the story. Eight thousand or so sheets of
notes, countless interviews, endless hours spent with the perpetrators along with the citizens of the area, and four years of writing produced the ultimate true crime account. The real brilliance of In Cold
Blood lies in the structure and detail, and of course the gorgeous language Capote employs in the recounting. The actual crime is almost an afterthought – yes, it is calculated,
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