Editing In Cold Blood (section)

{{Short description|1966 novel by Truman Capote}}
{{About|the book by Truman Capote|the film adaptation|In Cold Blood (film)|the TV miniseries|In Cold Blood (miniseries)|other uses|In Cold Blood (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox book| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = ''In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences''
| translator    =
| image         = In Cold Blood-Truman Capote.jpg
| caption       =
| author        = [[Truman Capote]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  = [[S. Neil Fujita]]
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        =
| genre         = Nonfiction/literature
| publisher     = [[Random House]]
| release_date  = January 17, 1966 (see [[#Publication|Publication section]] for more information)
| media_type    = Print (hardback and paperback), e-book, audio-CD
| pages         = 343 (paperback edition)
| isbn = 0-679-74558-0
| isbn_note = (paperback edition)
| dewey         = 364.1/523/0978144 20
| congress      = HV6533.K3 C3 1994
| oclc          = 28710511
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
'''''In Cold Blood''''' is a [[non-fiction novel]]<ref>Plimpton, George (January 16, 1966). [https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-interview.html "The Story Behind a Nonfiction Novel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110045055/http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-interview.html |date=January 10, 2018 }}. ''The New York Times''.</ref> by the American author [[Truman Capote]], first published in 1966. It details the 1959 [[Clutter family murders]] in the small farming community of [[Holcomb, Kansas]].

Capote learned of the quadruple murder before the killers were captured, and he traveled to Kansas to write about the crime. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author [[Harper Lee]], and they interviewed residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes. The killers, [[Richard Hickock]] and [[Perry Smith (murderer)|Perry Smith]], were arrested six weeks after the murders and later executed by the state of Kansas. Capote ultimately spent six years working on the book.

''In Cold Blood'' was an instant critical and commercial success. Considered by many to be the prototypical [[true crime]] novel,<ref name="Levinson2002">{{cite book|author=David Levinson|title=Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment|year=2002|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-2258-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcr0004unse/page/1019 1019–1021]|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcr0004unse/page/1019}}</ref> it is also the second-best-selling book in the genre's history, behind [[Vincent Bugliosi]]'s [[Helter Skelter (book)|''Helter Skelter'']] (1974) about the [[Charles Manson]] murders.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/capotes-masterpiece-in-cold-blood-still-vivid-at-50 | title=Capote's Masterpiece 'In Cold Blood' Still Vivid at 50 | first=Jessica | last=Ferri | date=December 28, 2016 | work=[[The Daily Beast]] | access-date=November 13, 2017 | archive-date=September 7, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907133008/http://www.thedailybeast.com/capotes-masterpiece-in-cold-blood-still-vivid-at-50 | url-status=live }}</ref> Some critics also consider Capote's work the original non-fiction novel, although other writers had already explored the genre, such as [[Rodolfo Walsh]] in ''[[Operación Masacre]]'' (1957).<ref name="waisbord30">{{cite book |last= Waisbord |first= Silvio |title= Watchdog Journalism in South America: News, Accountability, and Democracy  |publisher= Columbia University Press |year= 2000 |location = New York | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2QysUwD0UNAC |isbn= 0-231-11975-5|page=30}}</ref><ref name=Boston>[http://bostonreview.net/world-books-ideas/rodolfo-walsh-and-argentina-operation-massacre Rodolfo Walsh and the Struggle for Argentina, by Stephen Phelan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618102823/http://bostonreview.net/world-books-ideas/rodolfo-walsh-and-argentina-operation-massacre |date=June 18, 2019 }} October 28, 2013, ''Boston Review''</ref> ''In Cold Blood'' has been lauded for its eloquent prose, extensive detail, and triple narrative which describes the lives of the murderers, the victims, and other members of the rural community in alternating sequences. The psychologies and backgrounds of Hickock and Smith are given special attention, as is the pair's complex relationship during and after the murders. ''In Cold Blood'' is regarded by critics as a pioneering work in the true-crime genre, although Capote was disappointed that the book failed to win the [[Pulitzer Prize]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Thomson, Rupert| title=The Story of a Town|work=The Guardian|date=August 6, 2011|page= 16}}</ref> Parts of the book differ from the real events, including important details.<ref name=WallStreetJournal>{{cite web | last= Helliker | first= Kevin | url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323951904578290341604113984 | title= Capote Classic 'In Cold Blood' Tainted by Long-Lost Files | work= The Wall Street Journal | date= February 8, 2013 | access-date= February 12, 2013 | archive-date= December 28, 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141228134439/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323951904578290341604113984 | url-status= live }}</ref>