Share <Embed>

Buy New

$12.81

List Price: $16.00
Save: $3.19 (20%)

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

This item ships to France. Want it Friday, Nov. 9? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$10.34

Deliver to France

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Hawthorne Academic

Fulfilled by Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$8.56

Sold by: Omega Books and More Inc.

Add to Cart

$8.82

Sold by: Cambridge Glen Bookstore

Add to Cart

$12.88
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Francis Kelly

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

In Cold Blood Paperback – February 1, 1994

by Truman Capote (Author)

1,840 customer reviews

See all 96 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.21

—

—

"Please retry"

$22.50

"Please retry"

$10.58

Paperback, February 1, 1994

$12.81

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$15.47

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$25.10

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

$10.26

National Bestseller

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Ray Bradbury

3,506

in Censorship & Politics
Paperback
$8.99

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Ray Bradbury

3,506

in Censorship & Politics
Paperback
$8.99
1,706

$21.21 - $50.50
55

$15.99

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 1Start overPage 1 1

Feedback

Mikita Brottman

“This is a learned, lucid, and finally heartbreaking account of urban obsession. Ms. Brottman is a groove—and so is her book." —James Ellroy

8

Just released

Hardcover
$18.30
Feedback

Richard Bruns

31

Paperback
$12.16
Feedback

Paul French

A rags-to-riches tale of two self-made men set against a backdrop of crime and vice in the sprawling badlands of Shanghai.

37

Hardcover
$18.30
Feedback

Blaine L. Pardoe

For four years a serial killer stalked Virginia’s Colonial Parkway sending waves of terror into the local community, then a pattern emerged...

83

Kindle Edition
$6.99
Feedback

Andy Brown

Murder and disaster on an Air Force base, the men and women who fought to prevent the tragedies, and the Air Force cop who ended the killing spree.

134

Kindle Edition
$8.99
Feedback

George Orwell

6559

Hardcover
$17.06
Feedback

Ron Franscell

This trip through the most notorious southwest crime scenes is hailed as “thorough and unflinching” and “the best damn crime travel series published!”

12

Kindle Edition
$4.99

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans--in fact, few Kansans--had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there." If all Truman Capote did was invent a new genre--journalism written with the language and structure of literature--this "nonfiction novel" about the brutal slaying of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers would be remembered as a trail-blazing experiment that has influenced countless writers. But Capote achieved more than that. He wrote a true masterpiece of creative nonfiction. The images of this tale continue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bake a cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and his dreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of the rope-broken necks.

Review

"A masterpiece . . . a spellbinding work." —Life

"A remarkable, tensely exciting, superbly written 'true account.' " —The New York Times

"The best documentary account of an American crime ever written. . . . The book chills the blood and exercises the intelligence . . . harrowing." —The New York Review of Books

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Series: Vintage International
Paperback: 343 pages
Publisher: Vintage (February 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780679745587
ISBN-13: 978-0679745587
ASIN: 0679745580
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,840 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Criminology
- #7 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Censorship
- #9 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > True Crime > Murder & Mayhem

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 1Start overPage 1 1

Feedback

Mikita Brottman

“This is a learned, lucid, and finally heartbreaking account of urban obsession. Ms. Brottman is a groove—and so is her book." —James Ellroy

8

Just released

Hardcover
$18.30
Feedback

Paul French

A rags-to-riches tale of two self-made men set against a backdrop of crime and vice in the sprawling badlands of Shanghai.

37

Hardcover
$18.30
Feedback

Jenna Dickens

A look back at some of the most psychotic and murderous women in modern times.

2

Kindle Edition
$9.99
Feedback

Ryan Green

Herb Baumeister was a husband, father of three, and successful businessman—but he was hiding a very dark secret in the footprints of his home...

48

Kindle Edition
$3.99
Feedback

John Ferak

Exacting details of Kathleen Zellner’s post-conviction, pro-bono strategy to free Steven Avery - from the Netflix "Making A Murderer" documentary.

Pre-order now

Kindle Edition
$4.99
Feedback

Wayne B Miller

A fascinating, inside account of how an infamous murder case was solved with no known cause of death, no known motive - & a churchman as prime suspect

21

Kindle Edition
$3.75
Feedback

S.W. Harman

Known as "the hanging judge," Parker's court was famous world-wide. But his story is surprising; true crime case from the old west. A classic.

4

Paperback
$15.95
Feedback

Richard Bruns

31

Paperback
$12.16
Feedback

George Orwell

6559

Hardcover
$17.06
Feedback

Karen Blackstone

An unsolved mystery anthology centered around young women who all disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

8

Kindle Edition
$9.99

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

1,840 customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

By customer groups & interests

True Crime Books

4.5

Non-Fiction Books

4.2

Literature

4.4

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Review this product

Write a customer review

Showing 1-5 of 1,840 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Truman Capote's Masterpiece

September 24, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

One of the most significant non-fiction writings of the mid-1960s that still holds an honored place today in American letters. In late 1959 the entire Herbert Clutter family of rural Kansas -- Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two youngest children Nancy and Kenyon -- were slaughtered for no particular reason except that the two drifters who sought them out had received bad advice about the alleged riches Mr. Clutter kept in his office safe, but didn't. What might have been merely a downcast saga of the "outs" tangling with the "ins" becomes an amazingly gripping story in author Truman Capote's virtuoso writing, that took years to research, write and edit. In my opinion only purists quibble over whether this book should be classed as non-fiction or fiction; it IS non-fiction, but because some of Capote's narrative techniques were new at the time, IN COLD BLOOD ever since then has straddled "best-of" lists to its overall detriment. Ignore that chatter and read this masterpiece for what it is.

Note: Capote's research assistant out in rural Kansas was none other than (Nelle) Harper Lee, who wrote TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

426 people found this helpful

Comment

Kerri Massey: Writer and Mom

Prose that rings like a bell

May 7, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I was a little worried about picking up this book- concerned that it would be lurid and make celebrities out of the killers. But I was surprised and immediately swept away- the writing is precise, clear, and lyrical. It rings like a bell calling you back for more. The depth of analysis, the sheer amount of work that went into this is stunning. And it is never lurid, never written to sell copy. The characters are richly drawn and fully realized. And it is the Clutter family that I remember most now that I've shut the book. As it should be. A secondary tragedy is that we don't see more of this type of reporting.

13 people found this helpful

Comment

Amazon Customer

he also incorporates stylistic elements to make the murders appear more like a plot rather than an actual event

December 11, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Capote wove a tale of deception and brutal killing. The author based his story off of the real-life murders of the Clutter family in 1959. The actual Clutters were slaughtered during a robbery gone wrong, which is also portrayed in the novel. The murderers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, spent five years on death row until they were hanged as punishment. Capote effectively transformed a horrific robbery/murder to a page-turning novel. The author managed to captivate his audience by shifting point of views from the victims to the murderers. Not only does he accomplish this well, he also incorporates stylistic elements to make the murders appear more like a plot rather than an actual event.
Capote shifts perspective from murderers to the murdered which allows him to convert this real life event to a story plotline. As the reader, we see the murder occur from both perspectives which almost allows us to be separate from the event since it leads to a weaker emotional connection to the story when reading. However, when the reader takes a moment to recall that this actually occurred, it opens a box of emotions. Capote wrote the plot so effectively, we automatically assume it is a work of fiction and forget the harsh realities.
Capote’s well researched insight on the story lends the perspectives of both the Clutter family members and the murders, Perry and Richard, to communicate a clear plotline. He does well to tie up loose ends that may have resulted from the limited availability of knowledge about the murders-which may be the reason why this story seems so fictional. Blurred omniscience lets Capote lead the reader through the rollercoaster of both emotions and action, each page becoming another layer to the overall suspense. The book does justice not only to the victims but the murders as well. Instead of painting Perry and Richard as complete antagonists, capable of only crime , Capote add layers to their personality by explaining the background of each man. The heart wrenching pasts of the duo humanized them, creating an additional element of tension during the brutal slaying of the Clutter family.

7 people found this helpful

Comment

Amazon Customer

Really a wonderful book.

February 14, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I wondered how well this would hold up after having read it many years ago. Fictionalized true crime stories are common now but not when this was published so I wondered if it's impact on me back then was because it had substance or because it was, at the time, new. It holds up more than well. There is grandeur in the storytelling, and a sweep of narrative that is hard to describe, epic in the way it details the arc of their lives. Really a wonderful book.

5 people found this helpful

Comment

Truth is stronger than fiction.

April 22, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am more of a consumer than producer. However, even I know of Mr. Capote's work and reputation, though living in the Czech Republic my choice of reading matter pre-Kindle was more limited. I was therefore surprised at the depth and skill of his writing.

One really feels that every strange , even good, aspect of -not only the two main figures, but those around them- is relevant and explained, so that the whole acquires a coherence and completeness never found in a work of fiction.

I read mainly fiction but have now tried a new direction-non-fiction-and in my humble opinion its more interesting for being true.

Also as a picture of 1950's rural America the detail was as fine as that found in your ultra realistic painters' works, if a tad less uplifting!

I shall be back for more, once I have finished my current read. I hope -as a criminal lawyer for 30 odd years, that books like this not only show the danger from criminals who are so because of the damage they have sustained often at the hands of those who should love and care for them, but also how such behaviour MUST change as a result of such knowledge.

In England just now the sexual behaviour of many who were rich and famous is only many years later coming into the public domain. Hopefully such revelations will at least encourage more "whistleblowers".

Skeletons do not improve by being swept into cupboards! Sixty years have gone by since the vents described so graphically occurred bit the message underlying same is still true today. "Your bad actions may create a monster which the State may kill." Is this what you want for your child?

5 people found this helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: In Cold Blood

Set up a giveaway

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: 100 best books, diamond band rings, truman capote, best reads

English United States

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads
© 1996-2018, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates