Capote in Kansas: A Ghost Story (Hardcover)

by Kim Powers (Author)
Key Phrases: snake man, snake guts, Nancy Clutter, New York, Bonnie Clutter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of In Cold Blood and To Kill a Mockingbird will welcome this off-beat novel from Powers (The History of Swimming) about the odd relationship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee. In an intriguing opening, Capote calls Lee late at night to relate his fears that he's being haunted by both the victims and the killers featured in his true-crime account of a brutal Kansas killing spree. Those calls trigger Lee's recollections of the twist and turns in their association, as well as the real-life antecedents for her novel about racism and justice in the South. The plot line concerning the haunting is secondary to the flashbacks, making the revelation of who's responsible for the haunting somewhat anticlimactic.
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Review
"[A] dark and captivating first novel." -- Advocate, 10/8/07

"[An] exceptional first novel...[Powers] succeeds brilliantly in blending fact and fiction to produce a sensitive portrait of two lost souls." -- Library Journal, 10/15/07

"A richly detailed story...The characters...are so real that they almost speak from the pages they appear in. The ancillary details, including events from the shared past of Capote and Lee and the separate adult histories of each of them, give fascinating glimpses into their private lives and into the backgrounds of their famous novels." -- Echo

"Like its subject matter, Capote in Kansas is compelling and intense. Powers's glimpse into the world of two of America's most respected writers sheds light on the burden of fame and great talent." -- Sulpher Springs News-Telegram

"Powers astutely summons the intense sorrow behind a life-long friendship gone awry." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Through fiction, [Powers] intriguingly focuses on the end of Capote's self-absorbed life, exploring the demons that haunted his final days...An engaging narrative that sensitively explores the intricacies of transgression and forgiveness within friendship." -- New Orleans Times-Picayune

"Touching and often hilarious...Powers weaves a deft and clever rewriting of what is known and fabricated about these two mysterious authors." -- Bay Area Reporter

"[A] blend of fact and fiction about perhaps the greatest back story in American literature." -- USA Today

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786720336
• ISBN-13: 978-0786720330
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #800,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What haunts us, November 12, 2007

By	James Hiller (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There have been a bevy of films and books within the last couple of years revolving around Truman Capote and his seminal work, In Cold Blood. It's his oft recognized masterpiece, a blend of fiction and fact previously never done before, setting the literary world on fire. And his eventual downfall. Same might be said for literary legend Harper Lee, who also reached the peak of her success, publishing what arguably could be considered the best book in American history, To Kill a Mockingbird (slipcased edition).
These two authors, former best friends and confidants, come together in Kim Powers new book, "Capote in Kansas: A Ghost Story".

Power recreates the lives of these two authors by reflecting on the things that haunt both of them. For Truman, he is pursued by his imaginative ghosts of the Clutter Family, as well as the two killers, in his drunken hallucinations. Frightened, with no one really to turn to, he calls up Nelle, who speaks with him but fails to chase the ghosts away. Nelle herself has her own ghosts to contend with. She is pursued, not by spiritual beings, but by the fame that came with writing her masterpiece. She is the object of someone stalking her, who sends her a dead mockingbird in a box, along with pictures to show that she has been tailed in the past.

Powers magically strings both of these stories along, with a sparse prose reminiscent of the elegance of Le''s writing. At first, I was dubious to the plot, wondering how he would handle these two greats, but more importantly, how could he possibly shed any more light on this topic, which by now is starting to feel a little bit overdone. But, because this ultimately is a work of fiction, he is able to bend realities enough to make these ghost stories real enough, and compelling enough, to add to the current stream of knowledge. Both authors are brilliantly realized, and fit into their perspective slots in American Literature.

But perhaps my favorite was getting closer to one of my favorite authors, Harper Lee. A recent book written about her life, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee only made me long for more information about her. This story appeased that somewhat, as we as readers were invited into her closed world, if only in our imaginations. Perhaps Harper has one more book inside of her that she hasn't written yet. Perhaps she could write about Truman, and her days during this time. What a book that would be.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truman and Nelle, the Original Odd Couple, March 27, 2008

By	Gayla M. Collins (Sheridan, WY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being a devoted fan of Truman Capote and Harper Lee, I loved receiving this book as a birthday gift. I wasn't sure what more I would learn of the two's unusual friendship, but discovered several interesting tidbits. The time they spent in Kansas has been documented in "Capote" and "Infamous" but this tale takes creative license to suppose what happened in much more detail. Why did Harper and Truman end a life-long friendship of 20 years shortly after "In Cold Blood was published? How deeply were they both affected by their extensive research on the Clutter family.(The four victims of "In Cold Blood.") How does it still "haunt" them? Also discussed is the fact that neither Capote or Lee published any works after their time in Kansas. Why?

I liked the fictionalization of this novel. It makes a grander tale while educating the reader on true facts about both of these geniuses. Written with suspense and ghosts the books clips along while pages turn themselves.

Interesting and creative read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ghosts of Alabama, April 27, 2009

By	Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Truman Capote and Harper Lee were kids together way back when, and now fate has brought them back together as the Clutter family (whom capote made famous with his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood) appears to them as ghosts in a present haunted by broken dreams and bittersweet memories.

While at first it seems presumptuous and ill-mannered of Kim Powers to write about Harper Lee as though she were nothing but a character in his book, I son found myself delighted by his re-cast of her as one of the Steel Magnolias ladies, a helping of Fried Green Tomatoes on the side.

It is for Truman that Mr. Powers unleashes his worst venom. Truman comes across here as a spoiled, petulant drunken baby who never grew up. His maid, Myrtle, is disgusted by him, and by extension, all "white folks," and his boyfriend is really nothing more than a greedy redneck straight man who resents, Caliban-like, the Prospero ways of his master.

In an afterword Mr. Powers tells us that To Kill a Mockingbird and In Cold Blood were two of his favorite books as a kid, and now he has put together this tribute to the two authors, seeing them as they were as children, then in midlife performing the Kansas research for In Cold Blood, then we see them years later when all the fun of the black and white ball has worn off and Truman is no more than a reviled wreck, and Harper Lee an enigma Powers is unable to parse further. His book is a wonderful treat for those interested in how the mystery of writing itself descends from heaven and unites unwary strangers or cousins. I can't wait to see what Mr., Powers comes up with next, after he extracts Harper Lee's lawyers from his rectum.