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Overview

Published in 1965, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences is a seminal work of the true crime genre that tells the story of the Clutter family murders that took place in Holcomb, Kansas, in November of 1959. Told from the perspectives of the citizens of Holcomb, the case’s investigators, and the murderers themselves, Capote explores the limits of empathy and the lasting effects of trauma to create an unflinching portrait of why bad things happen to good people. The second-bestselling true crime book in history, In Cold Blood increased Capote’s fame and was the subject of a faithful film adaptation in 1967 as well as a miniseries and an opera.

Read a full book summary, an analysis of Perry Smith, and descriptions of the main ideas in In Cold Blood.

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