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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
A family of four is murdered including two teenagers; described in detail
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief sexual references in character backgrounds
Substance Use
Barely any
Some alcohol use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The murders' randomness creates lasting dread; Capote's sympathy for the killers complicates easy moral judgment
What this book is about
On November 15, 1959, the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas—a father, mother, and two teenage children—was brutally murdered by two ex-convicts who expected to find a safe full of money. Capote spent six years researching this reconstruction, interviewing killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock on death row, piecing together the crime and its community aftermath with novelistic precision. The book that invented creative nonfiction is also a profound meditation on capital punishment.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Graphic murder of an entire family including teenagers
Execution depicted
Sympathetic treatment of murderers may disturb readers
Reader Verification
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