Literary Journalism III, Feb. 2006

Literary Journalism III

By Mark Bryant

A great majority of artistically inclined persons-that is, writers, musicians, poets and the like-are to a large extent estranged from the world in which they are forced to operate with the rest of the mere mortals. Truman Capote, the author of the critically acclaimed literary journalism half-novel, half true-life In Cold Blood, certainly falls in this category along with noted eccentric writer Hunter S. Thompson. While Thompson is credited with expanding the idea of literary journalism into all sorts of "gonzo" journalism and new journalism that loosely contains fact and fiction, Capote is recognized by many as the innovator of such writing with the novel that made him famous.

New journalism, "gonzo" journalism or literary journalism, this form of informative writing that mixes fact and fiction and holds four main themes:

• It is a form of literary expression.
• Fiction and journalism are not mutually exclusive and can be mixed together to create a story.
• To get the whole story, the idea is to get the story behind the story, to dig beneath the surface of external facts.
• The New Journalist acknowledges his or her intervention and insertion into the story and their own experience is part of the events.

Capote was outrageous, offensive, and insulting to many people, being the social climber and back stabber that he was. His behavior was not, shall we say, becoming of what would be expected of a senator or congressman. He made the infamous remark that contemporary peer Jack Kerouac's work "isn't writing at all, it's typing." This one-upmanship made him many enemies and contributed to his isolation later in life. It may have contributed to his untimely death from substance abuse.

But between the white lines- on paper, that is, Capote was all writer. In Cold Blood is the story of a horrific murder of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas at the hands of two sociopaths in 1959. Capote had unconventional methods of preparation for the book. He reportedly memorized entire conversations rather than take notes during the interviews of those involved in the investigation.

This is a complex story involving these sociopaths, who like Capote, didn't fit in with the rest of society. Unlike Capote, these two ex-convicts had no refuge for their angst. Richard Hickock was a gifted charmer with a knack for persuasion and above average intelligence. He was also a habitual criminal who specialized in petty theft, check fraud and prone to violence against animals and pedophilistic desires for young girls. Perry Smith was artistically and musically talented and enjoyed performing for others; however his life was filled with tragedy. Smith's father abandoned the family, and his alcoholic mother committed suicide as well as his brother and sister. He suffered abuse at the hands of nuns and caretakers in children's homes, which affected his mental health for the rest of his life. Smith was also painfully shy and introverted, which fits into what Capote, the author in private was.

In many ways, then, the foils that make up these two characters in a semi-portrait of Capote himself. These two murders were clearly bright, sharp, and extremely sensitive and carried a hard shell from years of rejection and ostracism.

The Clutter family, on the other hand, could be easily construed as a profile of what Capote and the two sociopath ex-convicts could never live up to. The head of the household, Herbert, was a dedicated and successful family man and farmer. He was held in high esteem b his farm hands who were employed under him. This was the typical All-American, salt-of-the-earth family.

Despite all of this, Capote steers remarkably clear of making excuses for the two murders. The men's life stories are intended only to serve as a backdrop, not as a way of explaining away their crimes.

While in prison, the two men meet up and are informed by another inmate that a substantial amount of cash is hidden on the Clutter premises and property. This turns out to be false, but it doesn't stop Smith and Hickock from killing the husband, wife and two children living in the home at the time. Incidentally, Smith, even though he commits the actual murders, dissuades Hickock from raping the teenage daughter, Nancy.

This story spawned a host of writers who attempted to follow in Capote's footsteps, some with success, and others with less than successful results. Most notably, Hunter S. Thompson also came to a tragic end by suicide. He was regarded as one of he most irreverent writers to grace a published page of writing.

This book was published in 1996, at what was the height of Capote's writing career. From then on, his career would largely wane, due to his substance abuse problems and chronic alcoholism. He was reportedly addicted to various drugs, both illicit and medicinal. In his later years, he often required hospitalization. He died in August, 1984 of a pill overdose.

Also unwittingly, Capote's book may have chronicled the death of innocence and total prosperity in America as the 1950's turned the page into the 1960's. It was now made horrifyingly clear that even in post-World War II America, in full flower, grisly murders and senseless violence did in fact happen, not just in some whodunit flick. Part fiction, part fact, In Cold Blood gave birth to a whole new writing genre in journalism.