This book is a beautifully written piece of journalistic prose. It was entrancing to read and definately not for the faint of heart. Capote manages to portray the characters - from victim to killer and everyone in between - in a very real light and in a very short period usually. This book rings of truth in the fatalistic way of justice and fallen man. One of the best written books I've read in awhile.

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If you've seen the film, you still have to read the book. This is the STORY that the film, Capote, is about. The way this is written is interesting and as is said in the film, it reads like fiction. In case you are interested in journalism and creative nonfiction, this is one of the earliest books that used this "new journalism" as it was called at the time. For anyone interested in this kind of writing, Capote's book is an example to behold.

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"In Cold Blood" is less about the particulars of that awful crime one horrific night in Kansas than it is about the insidiousness of what childhood abuse and feeling disenfranchised can do to a person. It would be easy to focus on the horror and sadness of this massacre, but the brilliance of Capote is that the focus is placed on the murderers and trying to engender compassion from the reader for them. With Capote's vision in writing, he almost gets us there. After the capture and imprisonment of these two men, you can physically feel the fear in their hearts for their own condemnation. Perry's fear of execution is especially haunting. This book is a must read for anyone who likes to read. It does not matter that it was written 40 years ago. It transcends all genres, because even though the story is horrific, the writing is phenomenal, and you will never forget it.

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This one of the classic books that is based on true events. I really love how Copote writes. It is like you actually know the people in the book. I read this for the first time when I was about 16 years old. It has remained close to the top of my all time favorite books. On the same level as "To Kill A Mockingbird". Rich in detail and seems to follow the facts of the case very closely. Please read this book! It is amazing!

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It was slow at first, but I loved everything about it. I loved the attention to detail to the point I felt I was there. I loved the emotion that was expressed in the book. I love how he was able to take a true crime story that was so emotional, but at the same time make it a good read.

I've read many true crime stories and this was far my favorite.

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An amazing work and discussion of the murder of the Clutters.

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Truman Capote's narrative of the slaying of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, and the subsequent trial and execution of the murderers. Very good.

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I recently watched the movie "Capote" which starred Philip Seymour Hoffman (Hoffman won the Academy Award for his role) as Capote in a very riveting telling of how in 1959 he heard of a vicious killing of a farm family in Kansas and decided to write a book about the case.

Capote's childhood friend, Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird) accompanied Capote to Kansas and helped him with his notes and research. Killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested six weeks after the murders and later executed by the state of Kansas. After six years of research and interviews, Capote published his masterpiece, "In Cold Blood."

The movie motivated me to read "In Cold Blood" even though I had seen the movie version starring Robert Blake years ago and I also remembered reading part of the novel when I was in high school in the 1960s. In Cold Blood is considered by many to be the first nonfiction novel written and it is "the second-best-selling true-crime book in history, behind Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter" about the Manson murders.

The novel is laid out in four parts telling what happened before the murders and their discovery, questions about who could have killed them, the arrest of the murderers, and the subsequent trial and execution. Capote is a masterful writer and his prose really gets the reader into the story. He shifts between what happened in the small Kansas town of Holcomb to what happened with the killers before, during, and after the murders. Capote spent many hours interviewing the townspeople, the police and Kansas investigators, the killers themselves (especially Perry Smith), as well as family members of the victims and the killers. He was present at the trial, spent time at the prison where the killers were incarcerated, and witnessed the executions. This was really a compelling account of the events that happened in the small Kansas town as well as a psychological study of the killers and the townspeople, investigators, and family members of both the victims and killers. I would highly recommend this especially for anyone interested in true crime stories.

In Cold Blood has also been adapted into movies and even a TV miniseries. There is the 1967 movie starring Robert Blake. This was a very disturbing adaptation that I remember seeing years ago. There is also a TV miniseries from 1996. The copy of the book I read was a tie-in to this series which I now want to see. And of course, the movie Capote which tells of Capote's research and writing of the novel. Highly recommend Capote!

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Very intense and well written. Truman Capote writes a chilling account of the murder of a family without bias. I almost felt as though I knew the Clutter family. So tragic, how these men (and so many others) could be such cold-blooded killers without regard for human life.

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A little slow to start, but excellent charachter development.

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Truman Capote's In cold blood is a chilling pioneering example of the true crime genre. On November 15, 1959, four members of the Clutter family were killed in their home in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas with almost no clues or apparent motives for this violent crime. Starting with the description of their last encounters to the execution of the killers, Capote pens a somewhat detached but a precise narrative, switching between the townspeople and law enforcement on one hand, and the killers on the other. His prose and psychological portrayals effectively contribute to the chilling tone. Of historical note, Capote's close friend Nelle Harper Lee, author of To kill a mockingbird helped with the interviews and the book deservedly is on the list of 1001 books you must read before you die.

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Good book - good movie.

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