Is In Cold Blood the best true crime book ever written?

Question

If not, what is?

Answer 1

Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell
House of Secrets by Lowell Cauffiel
I : The Creation of a Serial Killer by Brian King
The Misbegotten Son by Jack Olsen

Answer 2

What's best about In Cold Blood is that Truman Capote created the myth of the true crime novel. By definition, a novel contains elements of fiction, and it's clear that Capote struggled with this.

The writers I know at the Iowa Writer's Workshop are easily split: The nonfiction writers believe that there is a way to avoid fictionalizing a subject, and the fiction writers think that is a really funny (or scary) story. The poets think the both of them are wasting their time.

But assuming that In Cold Blood as a true crime work (of nonfiction), it's not really the best out there.

Helter Skleter and The Stranger Beside Me are likely better candidates.

Nonetheless, Capote should be credited with breathing life into what was then an unexplored approach to writing.

Answer 3

It's definately one of the best. I agree with the first responder about Helter Skelter. It too is an excellent book.

The problem with In Cold Blood being the best True Crime Book ever written is that it is really considered fiction as some facts are changed from the original story.

Another excellent, excellent True Crime book is The Executioner's Song, about Gary Gilmore by Normal Mailer. It is right up there with In Cold Blood.

Answer 4

I find "best" too subjective a statement to be of use in most cases, and I must say I never read In Cold Blood, but I'll tell you my favorite:

Donnie Brasco by Joseph Pistone.

(The movie was total crap by comparison, so don't judge it by the movie if you've seen it). Fascinating. One of those books that was so good you save the last few pages because you don't want it to end. I've read it twice, which is a true testament for non-fiction I think.

It's all about an FBI agent (Pistone) who infiltrated the mob--the complications in loyalty and duty he faces are riveting, not to mention the toll his years underground had on his personal life. It was written in a simple, engaging prose that at time reads like your best friend telling you an anecdote, and at other times like your favorite thriller.

I was so disappointed in the movie.

Answer 5

Yes it is. I've read a few crime novels or "nonfiction novels" as Capote termed them. All the rest, including Executioners Song by Norman Mailer, were, at best, fun and interesting. Capote elevated the genre (actually he invented the genre!) to literature.

You should read his short novel "Handcarved Coffins". It's also a nonfiction crime novel and also beautiful, although less complex. If you loved In Cold Blood, you shouldn't miss it. The collection it's in is called Music For Cameleons (everything else in it is great, too). Enjoy.

Answer 6

I'm not the first to say this, but "Helter Skelter" by Vincent Bugliosi is better. "Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil" is more of a gabfest with assorted oddballs and sexual deviants. It also apes Capote's gimmick of the author becoming a character involved in the overall story.

Answer 7

I have to say I was CHILLED by ICB by Capote but just as chilled by Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me about Ted Bundy.
Those are 2 books I will never read again and ICB I can't even watch the movie.

Answer 8

i certainly enjoyed a e book that grew to become into written fairly it slow in the past. this is suggested as "chief" and it covers the main important and maximum well known crimes in manhattan city at the same time as the author grew to become into chief of Detectives. large e book

Answer 9

Certainly, no other author lived the story as much as Truman Capote. He seemed to pour his very soul into it, and it virtually consumed him.

You might also enjoy reading HELTER SKELTER, another great true crime story.

Answer 10

what about "Midnight the garden of Good and Evil"

That is a true crime "non fiction Novel" and everyone has forgotten it.