In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote · first published 1965
62% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Praised as a gripping true crime narrative with striking prose, showing how small things can lead to catastrophe; often recommended to readers who enjoy literary nonfiction or crime storytelling.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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.
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What Hacker News says
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…look at me weird when I bring this up, but know nothing about real security. I could advice some ISO certified procedures to keep your money safe but your family is going to be the weak link. Go read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote to get an idea on what could go wrong.
on “There's No Good Reason to Trust Blockchain Technology (2019)” ↗…On Writing - Stephen King * 11/22/63 - Stephen King * The Stand - Stephen King * Hell's Angels - Hunter S. Thompson * East of Eden - John Steinbeck * Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion * In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…widen my horizons. Some of my favorites over the last year: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Most of Joe Abercrombie; particularly the First Law series. God of the Woods by Liz Moore In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Life We Bury by Allen Eskens Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
on “The Mensa Reading List for Grades 9-12” ↗…Mailman (Stephen Starring Grant) 10. Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) 11. Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus) 12. Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots) 13. Personal Librarian (Marie Benedict) 14. In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) 15. Life We Bury (Allen Eskens) 16. Ordinary Grace (William Kent Krueger) 17. God of the Woods (Liz Moore) 18. Maid (Nita Prose) 19. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell (Robert Dugoni)…
on “Book recommendations from Hacker News?” ↗In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…would become nor the huge amounts of revenue their ideas would generate. Their number one focus was always grounded in solving a problem or delivering something great; everything else was secondary.) - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Great crime story. It shows how small things can make a big difference. A seemingly inconsequential and small prison event where a man spreads a rumor about a family having lots of wealth…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. It's a masterpiece.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗If you want to read a real Harper Lee True Crime book, read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." She helped him with the research, and some people feel she may have ghosted much of it. Regardless, it's an iconic true crime book you could (and should) read.
on “Harper Lee's Lost True Crime Book” ↗Sketch. I've transitioned my UI/UX workflow completely from Photoshop and haven't looked back. The hype is real and well-deserved. Truman Capote's book - In Cold Blood. Also, The Great Gatsby. There are countless phrases littered throughout both where I just think 'fuck, that is really something'. Keto. It's easy to stick to and I've consistently lost weight. I no…
on “What is Something You Recommend (and why)?” ↗In Truman Capote's history of a Kansas massacre, In Cold Blood, he mentions that purely fortuitously the father/husband of the murdered family had taken out a life insurance policy on himself a few days before. The insurance agent had accepted his check, but told…
on “A Tiny, $25 Million Mistake (2014)” ↗…Bulwer-Lytton, Edward - Zanoni Burgess, Anthony - A Clockwork Orange Burgess, Anthony - Earthly Powers Cage, John - Silence: Lectures And Writing Camus, Albert - Stranger, The Capote, Truman - In Cold Blood Carter, Angela - Nights At The Circus Chabon, Michael - Wonder Boys Chatwin, Bruce - Songlines, The Cohn, Nik - Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock Cork, Richard - David Bomberg Crane,…
on “David Bowie’s Top 100 Books (2013)” ↗This phenomenon of trust shattered in a tightly knit community reminds me of Truman Capote's description of Holcomb, Kansas, in his book "In Cold Blood".
on “In a Town of 11 People, Mysterious Disappearance Turns Neighbor Against Neighbor” ↗I just started reading Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"[0] - I'm only a few pages in so please no spoilers. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood
on “B8ta closing another San Francisco store after armed robbery” ↗That reminds me of a scene from the movie "Infamous" which is about Truman Capote and Harper Lee traveling to rural Kansas in the 1960s to research Capote's true crime book "In Cold Blood". Truman visits a grocery store to buy cheese and only finds Velveeta processed cheese there. He asks an employee if that's all the cheese they have. The employee says "Well, how much do you need?" missing…
on “Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores” ↗