Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”

The novelist’s renowned report on the cold-blooded murder of a Kansas family. View in browser | Update your preferences Annals of Crime In Cold Blood—I An unspeakable crime in the heartland. By Truman Capote In 1959, the novelist Truman Capote arrived in Holcomb, Kansas—an isolated, wheaty area occasionally referred to as “out there”—to report on the cold-blooded, seemingly random murder of a local family. Afraid to go alone, he had recruited as an assistant his childhood pal Harper Lee, then awaiting the publication of her first novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He had asked her to bring a gun. In Holcomb, Capote interviewed residents, investigators, and friends of the slain family. Capote spent the next six years experimenting with the material, describing his work as a “nonfiction novel.” In 1965, The New Yorker published the result: “In Cold Blood,” a crime series in four parts. In Part 1, the author describes the uncannily sunny last days of the Clutter family, as well as a punishingly long car ride undertaken by their killers, a pair of ex-convicts intent on carrying out the “perfect score.” “In Cold Blood” caused a sensation, though critics have raised questions over the years about Capote’s unusual style of reporting. (One such skeptic, Norman Mailer, said that a nonfiction novel “sounds like a prescription for some nonspecific disease.”) Still, the potency of Capote’s writing is undeniable; his real-life characters remain as tragically vivid today as sixty years ago. The author renders the doomed Nancy Clutter as a straight-A student who sneakily puffs cigarettes and bites her nails. Her murderers sport an “inky gallery” of tattoos between them, including, near a crucifix, the word “Peace.” Read the story Also from the Archive Annals of Crime In Cold Blood—II After the murder. By Truman Capote Life and Letters Capote’s Long Ride Thirty-two years after the publication of “In Cold Blood,” the rest of the story comes out. By George Plimpton More from The New Yorker A Reporter at Large The Titan Submersible Was an “Accident Waiting to Happen” Interviews and e-mails with expedition leaders and employees reveal how OceanGate ignored desperate warnings from inside and outside the company. “It’s a lemon,” one wrote. By Ben Taub Elements The Paradox of Listening to Our Bodies Interoception—the inner sense linking our bodies and minds—can confuse as much as it can reveal. By Jessica Wapner Today’s newsletter was written by Emily Marion Clancy. Thanks for Reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from the products and services that are purchased through links in our newsletters as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.