Portrait of Evil

Written as an experiment in blending fiction, non-fiction, and journalism, Truman Capote succeeds in creating a new genre, known now as creative non-fiction, with In Cold Blood. His narrative horrifies, yet compels the reader to experience the 1959 real-life, savage murder of four members of the Clutter family by Perry Smith and Dick Hickock in the rural Kansas community of Holcomb. While the new movie that is out has created a stir, that stir will probably move over to other Capote or Capote-related works: works such as “Other Voices, Other Rooms,” and the novel “A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens” by McCrae which relies heavily on Capote and his genre. At any rate, Capote is here to stay.