Visions and Revisions: Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"
Author(s): Jack De Bellis
Source: Journal of Modern Literature, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Sep., 1979), pp. 519-536
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3831294
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JACK
DE
BELLIS
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
Visions
and
Truman
In
Revisions
Capote's
Blood
Cold
'We live in the dark, we do the best we can,
and the rest is the madness of art."1
Taken from Henry James as Capote's motto.
When
autumn
Truman
Capote
1965,2
novel"
was
edition
and
an
serialized
no one
unpolished
publication
In Cold
imagined
work.
by Random
that
Yet
Blood
his
in The
a comparison
House
New
ten weeks
in
Yorker
"nonfiction
much-heralded
of the
magazine
later reveals
that
1AndyWarhol,"SundaywithMr.C," RollingStone,April12,1973, p. 37. CapotetookthisremarkfromHenry
James's"TheMiddleYears,"thoughhe misquotesit:"Weworkinthe dark,we do whatwe can, we givewhatwe
have.Ourdoubtis ourpassion,andourpassionis ourtask.Therestis the madnessof art."Thepassagewas partly
quotedin OtherVoices,OtherRooms(NewAmericanLibrary,1948),p. 86. Fora discussionofthe relevanceof
james'sstoryto Capote,see WilliamL.Nance,TheWorldsofTrumanCapote(Stein&Day, 1970),pp. 231-232.
2InColdBloodwas serializedas "Annalsof Crime?In ColdBlood,"in TheNew Yorker,XLI(September25,
1965), 57-60, 62, 65-66, 68, 70, 72, 75-76, 78, 80, 82, 85-86, 88, 90, 92, 97-98, 100, 102. 104, 107-08,
110-111, 114, 116, 118, 121-122, 124, 126, 128, 133-34, 136, 138, 140, 143-144, 146, 148, 150, 153-154,
156, 158, 160, 163-164, 166; (October2, 1965),57-60, 62, 65-66, 68, 71-72, 74, 77-78, 80, 83, 85-86, 88,
90, 95, 97-98, 100-101, 105-106, 108, 110-112, 117-118, 120, 122, 124, 127-128, 130, 132-134, 139(October9,1965),
140,142,144,146,149-150,152,155-56,158,161-162,164,167-168,170,172,174-175;
58-62, 64, 67-68, 70, 72, 74, 79-80, 82, 84, 86, 91-92, 94, 96-98, 103-104, 106, 108-110, 115-117, 120,
122, 127-128, 130, 132-34, 139-40, 142, 144-46, 151-152, 154-158, 163-170, 173-183; (October16,
1965), 62-64, 66, 69-70, 72, 74, 76, 81-82, 84, 86, 91-92, 94, 96-98, 103-104, 106, 108, 110, 113-114,
116, 118, 120, 125-126, 128, 130,132, 135-136, 138, 140, 142, 147-148, 150, 152-154, 157-158, 160162, 164, 169-170, 172, 174-176, 179-180, 182-193. In Cold Blood was publishedJanuary1, 1966, by
as a Signetbook.Forhergeneroushelp
RandomHouse.Laterin 1966 it was publishedby New AmericanLibrary
with collation,I would liketo expressmy gratitudeto my wife Patty.ForhelpfulsuggestionsI wish to acknowledge ProfessorJohnHunt.
519
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520
JACK
Capote
made
poetic
altitude
DE
BELLIS
five-thousand
mat?
changes,
ranging from crucial
ters of fact to the placement
of a comma.
Since Capote
claimed
that his
new art form contained
not only perfect
factual
but "the
accuracy,
nearly
is capable
fiction
of reaching,"3
his own
intentions
did
seem
not
clear.
few people
However,
precisely
questioned
Capote's
of complete
No
of
that Ca?
one,
course,
accuracy.
suggested
Yet careful
of The New Yorker
pote's style might be deficient.
analysis
and Random
House
editions
reveals that a great many doubts
lingered
assertion
in the author's
mind
of his changes
after
Many
The impression
search
and his
style.
Random
edition
numerous
pencils,
And
since
originally
interviews
his six-year
work to print.
that they are incomprehensible.
not resist re-examining
his re?
of
the
in the
many
things
changed
so personal
that he could
persists
House
he had committed
seem
appeared
in "official
records"
and
conducted
it is all the
more
quantified
the
without
aid of recorders
or
entirely
that
be
to
revi?
surprising
they might
subject
sion.4
I have
tables
below.
American
Table
Library
results
6, however,
of collating
also
includes
these
two
collation
in the
editions
with
the
New
edition.
4889
100%
Table 2:
Part
Average Number of Revisions Per Page
II
III
IV
3.2
8
8.6
30.5
I
Table 3:
Types of Changes in Quoted Material
814
100%
3 GeorgePlimpton,"TheStoryBehinda NonfictionNovel,"TheNew YorkTimesBookReview,
January16,
1966, p. 3.
4TrumanCapote,"Acknowledgements,"
InColdBlood,unpaginated.Apparently
Capotefoundthathe could
not writethe final pagesof this bookbeforewritingits firstpages, his customarypractice.See Warhol,p. 52.
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CAPOTE'S
IN
COLD
521
BLOOD
Table 4:
Persons Whose Quotes Are Most
Frequently Changed
Table 5: Documents Drawing Revisions
(in order of their appearance)
1. Susan Kidwell's Statement
2. Kansas City Star (newspaper)
3. Poem (unidentified)
4. Reader's Digest
5. Mr. Smith's "History" of his son Perry Smith
6. Letter of Perry Smith's sister Barbara
7. Willie-Jay's reflections on Perry Smith's sister's letter
8. Perry Smith's notebook
9. Perry Smith's Second Notebook
10. Dick Hickock's Police Record
11. Garden City Chamber of Commerce handout
12. Sign on an umbrella
13. The "4-H" motto
14. Hymn: "And He Walks with Me"
15. Alvin Dewey's father's headstone
16. Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
17. Garden City Telegram
18. Article: "Murder Without Apparent Motive?A
Study in Personality
Disorganization"
Table 6:
Typographical
Errors
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522
BELLIS
DE
JACK
*
"Q" represents items taken from direct quotations.
No. 15 appeared in the New American Library as: "That shows
know where am," from the third to fifteenth printings.
I
I
"One doesn't spend almost six years on a book, the point of
which is factual accuracy, and then give way to minor distortions."5
The
most
purporting
to correct
factual
the
example,
twenty-two
detective
revisions
interesting
changing
to twenty-eight
Dewey
eighteen
errors.
number
(NY:
assistants
in the
"non-fiction
novel"
Capote altered numerical
in Garden
of churches
Oct.
16:
rather
R: 76.
than
R: 266),
seventeen
are those
counts,
City
and
(NY:
5 Capote,quoted in Plimpton,p. 41.
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for
from
giving
Oct. 9:
CAPOTE'S
IN
60.
Times,
R: 165).
sion
Oct.
(NY:
northeast
9:
titles,
72.
offering
R: 175)
Oct.
(NY:
and
16:
"The
180.
not Hickock)
(Smith,
9:98.
16:
(NY:
R: 188).
147.
R: 305),
specificity
9:
70.
from
R: 173).
High
Life" for "Miller's
Topeka
R: 329).
Daily Capital"
He also alters
and "Doublemint"
and
Oct.
(NY:
In Cold
gives
Blood
134.
terization.
and
Although
the
himself
House
Smith's
version
brother
Capote
Oct. 2:100.
(NY:
R. 111).
since
contributing
New
as a
such
in the
Smith's
raises
Yorker
to charac?
his wife
of murder
In fact,
drank
Naturally,
but it also
The
"killed
(NY: Oct.
Parr) (NY: Oct.
Smith
of fact,"
him
clears
next,"
not Smith)
R: 131).
originally
9:
Capital"
"Juicy Fruit"
prefers
milk
about the accuracy
of the narrative,
questions
version
was ostensibly
accurate
to begin with.
Of more importance,
are changes
perhaps,
Oct.
(NY:
Topeka
(Richard
"persuasiveness
the
product
changes
for "The
who
not
list of states
Life"
High
(Hickock,
2:
the
Capote
a reporter by name
the kind of condensed
Brand"
of Holcomb,
shifts from Tampa
in another
crime
killers
He identifies
"Hawk's
child,
Oct.
in revi?
is spring
are east
killers
In The New
altered.
but the time
the
implicating
Utah is subtracted
R: 199).
"Miller
The
also
R: 89). The site of a murder
2: 66.
momentarily
crossed
fugitives
R: 218).
151.
9: 117.
Oct.
(NY:
were
in the summer,
paroled
(NY: Oct.
to Tallahassee,
and places
directions,
Perry was
Yorker
523
BLOOD
COLD
one
day
Random
sister-in-law
had placed
Oct.
man
Mrs.
a shotgun
to her head and triggered
it with her big toe (NY:
R: 186). Capote's
comment
that Myrtle Clare dresses
like a
is deleted
from Random
House (NY: Oct 9: 166. R: 231). Although
9: 97.
Helm
confidante
was
described
as the family
and
originally
housekeeper
of Bonnie Clutter, this was deleted
(NY: Oct. 9: 165. R: 230).
A witness
place
tion:
the
the execution
leaving
"Christ!
Is that rain~( All
Christ!"
(NY:
depicting
buzzed
windows
R: 338).
189.
not in the serializa-
down.
A yawning
My
new
Chevy.
is vivified
juror
by
as stretching
his jaws ajar so widely
"bees could
in and out" (NY: Oct. 16: 142. R: 303). After coughing,
is characterized
handkerchief
(NY:
The richest
and
he accuses
butt"
16:
words
him
Hickock
Smith
Oct.
utters
by the way
Oct.
16:
120.
he examines
the discharge
have
Mr.
in his
R: 293).
character
are naturally
those involving
however,
changes,
Hickock.
When
Hickock
observes
Smith staring in a mirror,
him of looking
at a "woman"
but a "piece
of
originally,
in Random
House
Hickock
interrogation
in revision
Row"
the serialization
(Oct.
when
(NY:
refers
9: 154.
Sept.
to
25:
68.
R: 15).
Lane"
but
During
calls
first
this "Cherry
him
not in
Capote
gives
queries
ask a whore,
"Is it good,
baby? Is it
"Virgin
R: 220).
he has him
his
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524
DE
JACK
2: 164.
(NY: Oct.
good?"
R: 147).
More
extensive,
BELLIS
are Capote's
though,
he described
of Smith. Originally
Smith's reactions
to fellowLee
Andrews
this
"Was
it
wonder
he
never
prisoner
way:
any
opened
his mouth? Andrews
meant well, but Perry couldn't
stand him?yet
for a
revisions
long
he did
time
reaction:
kid's
"Better
lines,
snotty
an interested.'
have
could
162.
not
your
Andrews
R: 317-318).
the tone of Smith's
changes
shut than to risk one of the college
say dis interested.
meant
him
Revision
mouth
'Don't
like:
boiled
it."
admit
to keep
well,
he was
When
what
without
mean
you
but
malice,
is
Perry
in oil?yet
it" (NY: Oct. 16:
he never admitted
him in oil" clarify the precise quality of
"boiled
Does
tween
as he experienced
it? Or is Capote
to vivify
feeling
attempting
in
the
close
relation
Smith's
mind
be?
character
by showing
and his intellectual
violence
As we shall see, revisions
insecurity?
in the
character
Smith's
Smith's
intention
of Smith
a "nonfiction
to write
Elsewhere,
Capote
"curved
lips
in the
"scowls"
clues
about
why
in his
failed
Capote
novel."
diminishes
for example,
removing,
lily" (NY: Oct. 16: 186.
Tate's
offer
characterization
details,
by deleting
his depiction
of Hickock
as "pallid as a funeral
R: 334). Although
the magazine
revealed
Judge
his
downward,
Random
eyes
edition
House
blazed,"
(NY:
Oct.
the
Judge
16:
180.
simply
R: 328).
all remarks which
removes
to
Repeatedly,
Capote
might draw attention
in order to provide
al?
more "objective"
himself
Curiously,
reporting.6
Hickock's
confession
how
he
to
decided
take
Ken?
though
concerning
yon Clutter's
from
deleted
radio
the
appears
paperback
in both
edition
the magazine
(NY: Oct.
and
9:
the book,
196.
R: 240.
it was
NAL:
272).
detail.
characterizing
when
revision
of single words often allowed
Capote a more vivid
Hickock's
do
not
"move"
but "writhe"
on
lips
he spots Floyd Wells in court (NY: Oct. 16: 103. R: 282).
substitution
Simple
Smith
is coarsened
291).
On
"Smith's
the
other
by the simple
hand,
almost
addition,
Capote
"Shit"
augments
(NY: Oct.
Smith
(NY: Oct.
16:
"hurried
16: 94.
120.
R:
on"
to
R: 276).
pencil sped
indecipherably"
A cowboy
is seen not merely
but "sporting"
his jacket (NY:
"wearing"
Oct. 16: 84. R: 270); "Investigators"
become
"Lawmen"
(NY: Oct. 16:
64. R: 259); and the Clutters
are "executed"
rather than "murdered"
6 "PlayboyInterview:TrumanCapote,"Playboy,XV (March1968), 56. See also "In Cold Blood . . . An
AmericanTragedy,"Newsweek,January24, 1966, p. 60, in which Capotesays, "I alwaysstuckto thatother
pointof view even when I didn'twantto." Nance arguesthata second volumedetailingCapote'sprocedures
mightbe necessaryto convincethe readerof his objectivity.See Nance, p. 181.
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IN
CAPOTE'S
Oct.
(NY:
63.
16:
such
"lugubrious"
are
Oct.
Oct.
(NY:
2: 164.
Oct.
changes
16:
R: 148);
less
108.
and
R: 285);
"not
R: 248);
unbrave"
"engine"
to "Highway
employee"
to "suntans"
(NY: Oct. 9: 144.
"khaki"
is, in its context,
R: 304),
and
a doubtful
substitution
wonders
if a lawyer
one
to "trimmed"
to "no
coward."
Other
to "cameramen"
"photographers"
to "motor"
(NY: Oct. 16: 175.
comprehensible:
9: 183.
"festooned"
"roadworker"
324);
and
interest
Blood.
to "included"
(NY:
R: 255).
in arriving at the mot juste touches
all aspects
to
a
less
tone
he
create
formal
Apparently
changed
to "mournful"
(NY: Oct. 16: 70. R: 263); "encompassed"
Of course
of In Cold
(NY:
525
BLOOD
COLD
(NY: Oct.
R: 214).
for "Bible"
16: 64.
"Old
R:
R: 257);
Testament"
16:
142.
rather
than
(NY: Oct.
can
"emphatically"
a witness
16: 104.
(NY: Oct.
mentioning
rather than "alternate"
were
selected
jurors
into the Random
House version
(NY: Oct. 16: 88.
avoid
"conspicuously"
To
"alternative"
283).
say
an error
to import
But the
272).
"discuss"
view
of the
the verdict
jurors
corrects
to
retiring
an original
rather
"determine"
mistake
16:
(NY: Oct.
R:
is
R:
than
147.
R:
305).
Such
attention
familiarize
Smith
his
and
to
characters
Hickock,
Likewise,
sarcasm
of "specimens"
9:
183.
alteration
written
that
land deeds
Judge
than
Tate
of
"crimes
enables
meaning
referring,
for example,
to the
by the
the
Perhaps
of violence"
de-
to
Capote
Perry and Dick,
becomes
simply
is dispelled
R: 247).
from
by
rather
capture.
Oct.
nuances
killers
as
after their
particularly
"the Judge,"
and the
neutral
"townsfolk"
(NY:
of rhyme suggested
possibility
to "ill deeds,"
since Capote
"was
country
lawyer
Fleming
ill deeds"
(NY: Oct.
than
9: 104.
more
happily
R: 283).
at home
Again,
the
had
with
the result
is
distance.
II
"Call it precious and go to hell, but I believe a story can be
wrecked by a faulty rhythm in a sentence . . . or a mistake in
paragraphing, even punctuation."7
In most
proves
revisions
his work;
ing sentence
involving
syntax changes,
Capote,
a
of
amount
indecision
yet
surprising
fluidity
and
punctuation.
Reducing
as expected,
surfaces
simple
im-
concern?
awkwardness
7Capote,quotedin PatiHill, "Truman
Capote,"in MalcolmCowley,ed., Writersat Work:TheParisReview
Interviews(VikingPress,1959), p. 287.
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526
and redundancy,
vations
he changed
had
they
(NY:
16:
"The
state
stopped
him
stopped
296).
ter of the
R: 280).
him there,
and
there,
tidies
Capote
"Mrs.
by the
kock"
Another
revision
the formal
creates
more
quality
of his college-trained
that
suggests
in some
tected
can
"intelligence"
that a logical
vague
"formal
relation
exists
Oct.
(NY:
intelligence"
be "trained"
quality,"
between
while
R: 271).
In The
"Her"
New
circumventing
when
clumsiness
detectives
kock.
chose
Although
the
to Nancy
had
Capote
Norman
Mailer
errors
quality
R: 317).
This
162.
that this can
what
assuming
ran forward"
horse,
not
used
name,
the
with/to
Capote
Smith
for writing
such
among
Capote's
Oct.
(NY:
horse's
has praised
"rhythm
upon rhythm"
in revison
call into question
be de-
is obscure,
Clutter's
Capote
changes
their time for the confrontation
sentences
added.
formal
A changed
preposition
"with"
to "to," indicating
problem.
Hic?
been
and
quality,"
"training,"
of referent:
causes
confusion
refers
Yorker
thus
jour?
with
"his intelligence,
"the
16:
and
The change
of a pronoun
"As he led her out of the corral, Susan Kidwell
86.
had
"as"
"the
"formal
"intelligence."
Kidwell.
as he was
becomes
training"
"as":
it solves:
than
problems
of his college
Smith
first
The
R:
"the daugh?
9: 92. R: 183).
Oct.
of a needless
with
state
128.
16:
relations:
(NY:
Johnson"
addition
to "The
Oct.
(NY:
syntactical
well acquainted
as equally
R: 335).
16: 186.
(NY: Oct.
too"
Cullivan
too"
Cullivan
was
nalist
certain obser?
girls described
what they saw"
girls described
he alters
an effect by repetition,
Improving
and it halted
to improve
becomes
is contorted
BELLIS
young
young
stopped
referents
subject"
But syntax
"The
to "the
made,"
198.
Oct.
16:
DE
JACK
living authors,
sense of style.8
to Susan
Babe,
produces
that
and
the
Hic?
the best
peculiar
he made few grammatical
some that he did make
Although
changes,
caused
were fre?
Revisions
of
the
conditional
problems
occasionally.
in the use of "lay" and
but inconsistent.
He corrects
a mistake
quent
of tenses
"lie" (NY: Oct. 16: 192. R: 342) and alters the movement
In one quoted
confession
from past to present.
passage
during Smith's
Edna
his alteration
of voice
the
meaning:
"Margaret
entirely
changes
him" became
of
attracted
"was attracted
to him," shifting the emphasis
a
admiration
from Hickock
to his wife. In the following,
created
Capote
curious
Hickock
mistake
by
stares
at the
deleting
faces
"at"
in the
from
the
courtroom
Random
House
"particularly,
edition:
and
8 NormanMailer,Advertisements
forMyself(New AmericanLibrary,1959), p. 416.
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with
IN
CAPOTE'S
plain
COLD
[at] the
displeasure,
Oct.
16:
R: 277).
96.
is difficult
arbitrary,
some
of the changes
a result
nineteen
some
it provides
which
of Capote's
a place
direct
word
every
would
to "salon,"
preferable
be true.
"glue-colored"
gloves,
be
Conceivably,
redundant.
The
the
it defines
his "glue-covered"
error. Surely
But we cannot
be sure
temperament.
"carted"
or "crated"
have
not allow
the
us to decide
cluded
from
handling
realized:
to increase
repeatedly
the colon
to the comma
by the semi-colon
commas.
even
are indicated.
deleted
entries,
placed
narrative.
as well
words,
for
was
pote
deletes
comma
pre-
cases.
Hence,
as do
Movie
Quoted
in a series.
items
interruptors.
or obscures
meaning,
the
because
are
we find his primary
replace
marks are
and
desired"
we
decision,
of punctuation
created
are removed
after introductory
he most
actually
is made
in these
however,
Quotation
signs, and headlines.
in quotes are now italicized.
splices
what
cannot
Capote
semi-colons,
commas,
dashes,
replace
Dashes,
as after final
were
prefers
as well as the colon followed
quotations,
in series,
rather than dashes
followed
by
letters,
appositions
comma
text
formality.
matter.
Commas
House
is right since
the rocks
a change
His deletions
paraphrased.
been
would
"I. E." or "J. E. Dale."
of punctuation,
become
regularly
Parentheses
periods.
merly
items
Dashes
sobriquets
to indicate
diary
after
before
is
mistakes
since
quotations,
the evidence
Because
does
whether
to Capote's
have
thin"
Random
Yet we
of editorial
an authoritative
must
"gingery"
was
source.
or because
establishing
now
Turning
goal
error
man
"saloon"
and
whether
an error.
in direct
variations
in the original
with certainty
appeared
of typographical
the
corrects
however,
"Forced-feeding,"
between
choose
could
or whether
changes,
attempt
art form in
that
the
in
we
a new
"sticky
misled
into
typesetter
these
for they
phrase
phrase
Certainly
changes
when
shows
is wrong,
this
made
problems
toward
context
next
has
6 is
error are actu?
Therefore,
he made
but "covered"
since
to initial
He
quotations.
create
error
in Table
my listing
which
to start.
from
(NY:
attorney"
error.
to typographical
simply
decisions.
are obviously
errors,
the special
contribution
to discover
county
be attributed
editorial
of which
which
is due
might
involving
of the
a typographical
and for this reason
clearly,
but
cases
face
this was
Perhaps
to establish
often
ally
muscular
or not a change
whether
Indeed,
527
BLOOD
(NY:
for sentence
64.
rhythm:
single
quotes
the sequence
of dots
in
deleted
uniformly
and
book
material
titles
for-
is frequently
rapidly-paced
and
clauses,
phrases,
He discontinues
their
as in: "And
19:
when
a more
Sometimes
Oct.
or
colons,
that,
commas
deletion
creates
freedom
apart [,]
R: 259).
"Hickock
Elsewhere,
consented
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Ca?
to
528
DE
JACK
take
the test
reduction
[,] and
helps
a former
an
enlivened
habitually
neck-wear.
spicuous
House
the Random
former
He resisted
appearance
The
(R: 257).
signment"
to change
cause
and
man
City,
was
who
with
rather
con?
Oct.
In
16: 64).
a
seventy
an unsensa?
enlivens
who
one,
resisted
neckwear,
of an inert
to drop
who
man
a short
appearance
conspicuous
removal
to past tense,
effect between
Comma
as in: "Fleming,
of Garden
a short
City,
R: 258).
64.
the assignment"
(NY:
becomes:
"Fleming,
this
rather
16:
rhythms,
mayor
edition
with
Oct.
(NY:
unsensational
of Garden
mayor
tional
Smith"
sentence
improve
was
seventy-one,
so did
BELLIS
"to be"
"habitually,"
as?
the decision
verb,
and
the
the
of
suggestion
with
and appearance
Fleming's
age, height,
to the assignment
are facilitated
the
ideas
of
by
blending
before the final clause.
When a shift in commas
by the comma
his resistance
actuated
with
works
the re-ordering
since
"Undoubtedly,
of words,
they
seemed
creates
Capote
to take
such
more
care,
fluid
they
(NY: Oct. 9: 98). "Since they seemed
got rid of the boots"
care, they had undoubtedly
got rid of the boots long ago"
in punctuation
Additions
almost
concern
entirely
when
rhythms:
had long ago
to take such
(R: 190).
commas,
especially
in the
mistakes
corrects
Otherwise,
clarifying
apposition.
Capote
as in "counsels"'
16: 91. R: 273).
He even
(NY: Oct.
apostrophe,
an apostrophe
deletes
in a letter from Smith's father, ending
"Ali's well
with me," which
becomes
"Alls"
Since
(NY: Oct. 16: 169. R: 320).
tells
Capote
ders
how
us that Smith
Capote
assumption
method
own
Yorker,
consistent
adds
Capote
and then
orally
allowed
of course,
such
sensitivity?
has
of interviewing,
in "T-shirt."
statement.
police
to decide
note
to delete
been
at once,
the
one
apostrophe.
that,
because
his interviewees
gave
won?
My
of Capote's
him
no notes
hand.
most
Capote's
ticularly
able
throughout,
celebrated
in their
was
his father's
destroyed
only
Oct.
16: 88.
Smith's
transcribed
he adds
but misspelled,
R: 272).9
Other
of the hyphen,
par?
"T shirt" in The New
usually
spelled
not only in his narration,
but in Smith's
statement
was
recorded
undoubtedly
should
have
reporter, why
Capote
to overrule
his own professional
stylistic
by a court
an interpolation
Curiously,
incorrect
Though
the hypen
Since
is the addition
practice
a hyphen
as it had
minor
to "pre-emptory,"
which
been
Yorker
additions
in The
include
New
the employment
is not
(NY:
of
? Itis curiousthatin preparinghis bookforRandomHouse
Capoteapparentlydid not use TheRandomHouse
withor withoutthe hyphen,Suchchanges,therefore,were
Dictionarywhich listsno suchwordas "preemptory"
probablythe resultof Capote'sown revisions,ratherthanadherenceto a RandomHousestylesheet.
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IN
CAPOTE'S
COLD
for store
italics
Latin
names,
for slang
quotes
529
BLOOD
like
words
and
phrases,
"shiv"
boat
Oct.
(NY:
16:
names
and
70.
R: 263).
use
the
of
in unverifiable
revisions
occur
many of Capote's
quoted
Although
in a poem provide
in the punctuation
a
and diction
his changes
sources,
In
in
be
Yorker
the
fastidiousness
can
tested.
The
New
which
his
case
ninth
stanza
of Gray's
in a Country
Written
"Elegy
Churchyard"
appears
this way:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour:
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. (NY: Oct.16:
But the
Random
replaces
"boast";
"pow'r"
was
three
cases
edition
notes
House
edition
and
"await"
deleted
The
from
New
uses
given
on revising
to Hickock
by another
own
responsibility?
The
a truthful
represents
of trust
is created
doubts
and
version
that
theme
about
cannot
finally,
comma
best
decide
the
matters
of plot,
sources.
No
to rely on his
stanza
had
would
not be his
be sure
Capote
over such
after
in all
However,
the
observed.
other
of In Cold
The
its inaccuracies
prisoner
rendering
with the reader
since
"boasts"
changes:
(R: 332).
with
agrees
Did Capote
realizing
reader,
word
"awaits."
as well
of what
to gather
begin
symbolism,
The final
book
"boasts."10
his work,
two
supplants
the
Yorker
of the "Elegy"
contains
184)
which
When
confirmable
been
version
a breach
matters,
his
characterization,
Blood.
concerns
minor items like the
"Miscellaneous,"
category,
the
of
words
and
of blended
following:
joining
separated
separation
words:
conversion
of entries from "Nov.
15th" to "Nov.
15," the cor?
rect form;
inclusion
rily;
correction
279]
and
157.
R: 313]),
later
publication:
and "beaus"
or subtraction
of capitalization,
sometimes
arbitra-
of spelling
errors ("hemhorrage"
[NY: Oct. 16: 97. R:
"Goubeaux"
for example,
and
[NY: Oct. 16: 150. R: 308]),
the following
of American
("caliber"
[NY: Oct. 16:
preferences
spelling
198)
occurring
in some
though
in quoted
"Timbuctoo"
for
"beaux"
cases
he imports
for "Timbuktu"
(NY:
Oct.
16:
into
misspellings
(NY:
193.
Oct.
9:
R: 343),
116.
the
the
R:
last
dialogue.
10Basedon the EtonMSof Gray'swork;the Oxfordeditiongives "boast"and "awaits."TheCompletePoems
of ThomasCray,eds. H. W. Starrand J. R. Hendrickson(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1966), p. 38.
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530
BELLIS
DE
JACK
"I've known all my life I could take a bunch of words and
throw them up in the air and they would come down just right.
I'm a semantic Paganini."11
as these
Interesting
selves,
they
intentions
pote's
evidence
sive,
perhaps
being realized.
His major
stemming
claim,
art form.
from
of course,
narrative
and techniques
of fiction
like a novel."12
precisely
Since
revisions
the serialization
re-examination
a "journalistic
novel,"
to a new
that five-thousand
separating
Capote's
of Capote's
revisions
may be in them?
for
the
important
light they east upon Ca?
analyses
more
to contribute
suggests
ten weeks
tion,
become
and the
were
the best available
Random
House
of his book
appears
to have
a fear
his
ambitions
was
that
that
high
he had
publica?
been
obses-
were
not
a "nonfiction
produced
that employed
into the
crammed
all the creative
devices
to tell a true story in a manner that. . . [reads]
In such a genre the subject
is of no importance
but is merely
the "X" in the "quadratic
of a "stylistic
equation"
prob?
lem."13 Capote's
contribution
would
be the removal
ofthe
nar?
special
rator entirely
to provide
to "empathize"
with
about.15
However,
"vertical
interior
he otherwise
would
people
I suggest
that a strain developed
intellectual
and the emotional
strategy
him "lose
made
"emotionality"
writing
"schizophrenic
movement."14
experience"17
forced
reality
he
control"16
him to live
This forced
not
have
between
faced.
and
intimately
him
written
Capote's
And
his
since
five-year
with
delib-
11Capote,quoted in "InCold Blood. . . An AmericanTragedy,"p. 62.
12"PlayboyInterview,"p. 56. See also HaskelFrankel,"TheAuthor,"SaturdayReview,XLIX(January22,
1966), 37. Capotesaid, "Itwould be preciselylike a novel,with a singledifference:everywordof it would be
truefrombeginningto end."
13"PlayboyInterview,"p. 58. Capoteasserted,"itwas liketryingto solve a quadraticequationwiththe X?in
this case, the subjectmatter?missing.... I had no naturalattractionto the subjectmatter;it just suddenly
meshedintothe equation."
14See notesix. "... the narrator
neverentersthe pictureandthereis no interpretation
of peopleandevents....
I am totallyabsentfromthe developmentof the book, and the people re-createdas they are in life."
15"PlayboyInterview,"p. 56. "Asan imaginativewriter... theydidn'tcome withinmyscope of interests.But
I was forcedby the medium'sown criteriato empathizewith themand understand
by workingjournalistically
theirmotivesand objectivelydescribetheirlanguageand actionand emotions."
16PaulLevine,"Realityand Fiction,"HudsonReview,XIX(Spring1966), 136. Capoteis quotedas
saying,"I
believemy fictionalmethodis equallydetached?emotionalitymakesme lose writingcontrol;I haveto exhaust
the emotionbeforeI feel clinicalenoughto analyzeand projectit." See also Nance, pp. 225?37.
17JaneHoward,"A Six-YearLiterary
Vigil,"Life,January7, 1966, p. 71.
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IN
CAPOTE'S
erate
"the
cruelty,
described
the
the
scarcely
right down
fatal,"20
only
book
to the
he faced
as Capote
has said,
tion
comma"
the ultimate
the way
needed
made
text
itself.23
of the
interfered
auditory
not fool proof
errors
can
ten
which
Other
Blood
that verifica-
suggested
work
why
Capote
prided
himself
memory,
percent."25
even Capote's
which
and
then
the
"distractions"
his ambitions.
for possessing
he nevertheless
but at best ninety-percent
be adduced
wondered
commentators
of the
accuracy
photographic
the other
of In Cold
that
to the facts and suggested
of holding
was not worth the gain in objective
artist's vision
examinlike to pursue this two-pronged
criticism,
with
Capote
Although
it all perfectly."21
a pretense
I would
reportage.24
factual
first
the
ing
which
is "to have
asserted
so elaborate
his sacrifice
aim
could
be ac?
claim to total accuracy
Capote's
is
that "to praise without
foolish,"
proof
his documentadecision
to suppress
Capote's
before
Dupee
cepted.
about
and he wondered
in the
he
he was."22
reviewers
cautious
F. W.
tion
that
in his handling
most apparent
of Perry Smith, for
"I did identify with him to a great degree.
Never did
one
quite true that my portrait of him is absolutely
per cent
was
it is no wonder
was
it. It's also
The more
thing,"18
the edge of my nerves."19
This is
. . .
to apply "fantastic
concentration
in which
at all is
"any distraction
in which
very
when
especially
hundred
unforgivable
as "written
on
condition
The strain
deny
531
BLOOD
COLD
This
effective,
alone
would
revisions
would
import
errors
into
the
conceded
"and
who
not catch.
that
it was
cares
about
to account
be sufficient
his
of an
equivalent
Many
narrative,26
other
yet
for
ways
reliance
18Warhol,p. 54. "... rejectionis the unkindestthingpeopledo, andmaybeit stemsfrom childhoodwhenI
my
was shoo'edfromone familyto another.... I thinkthe only unforgivablesin is deliberatecruelty."
19"PlayboyInterview,"p. 58. Capoteadded, "IfI had ever knownwhat I was
going to have to endureover
those six years... I neverwould have startedthe book. Itwas too painful.Nothingis worthit."
20Howard,pp. 75-76.
21Howard,p. 71. Capoteadded, "Nobody... has accusedme of
misquoting."
22Nance, p. 215.
23F. W. Dupee, "TrumanCapote'sScore,"TheNew YorkReviewof Books,
February3, 1966, p. 3.
24RobertE.Kuehn,"TheNovel Now: SomeAnxietiesand
WisconsinStudiesin Contemporary
Prescriptions,"
VII(Winter-Spring,
Literature,
1966), 127.
25"InCold Blood . . . An AmericanTragedy,"p. 61.
28Severalmechanicalreasonscan be advancedfor Capote'srevising,includingillegibilityof his longhand
manuscript;
illegibilityof hisassistants'writings;errorson originalnotecards;errorson TheNew Yorkergalleyor
proofsheetsusedby the RandomHouseprinters;anderrorson the RandomHousegalleysheets.Thisissuecould
be settledby examiningthe RandomHousegalleysat CoiumbiaUniversityandthe notebooksof InColdBloodin
the Library
of Congress.
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532
DE
JACK
upon
the revisions
already
errors
in revision
weaken
But without
dence.
assumes
dence
might
reveal
pote's
handling
Though
snake
on
tattoo
in the
position
placed
of the
killers'
Smith's
right
House
Random
edition
left arm when
Avedon
photographs
The New Yorker
Yorker
Ca?
a
indentified
and
its
deleted
Sept. 25: 92. R: 32), he
referring to it in the book (NY:
(NY:
later
his revision
Nevertheless,
by Richard
New
with
case
the
Capote
Although
in The
arm
evi?
on speculative
sands.
evi?
verifiable
corrections,
is, in fact,
such
that Capote's
of gathering
rests
represent
tattoos.
to show
method
doubt
And
otherwise.
R: 133).
2: 140.
Oct.
such
that revisions
it on Smith's
in his
credibility
foundation,
one
is sufficient
examined
BELLIS
of Smith
was
for the
inaccurate,
and Hickock
show
clearly that
arm. Further?
was right; Smith's
snake is on his right
a
cat
described
as
more,
design
being on Hickock's
right hand appears
on his left hand (R: 30) in Avedon's
Not only does this
photograph.27
show that Capote
In
revised
Cold
but it reveals
that
Blood,
incorrectly
errors
original
could
have
that
suggests
from
transported
been
corrected
was
Capote
fairly
simply
of Life or Newsweek
reader
after the
Soon
the
might
easily
were
to the
never
unaware
of mistakes
uncover
with
of the book
publication
of facts
serialization
two
little
reporters
and
book
which
This
changed.
which
even a
difficulty.
sought
Robert
to verify
found
Pearman
discrepancies.
in
his
of
the
sale
of
Capote
presentation
Nancy
Clutter's
horse Babe, reaching
for pathos
rather than realism.28
Bobby
that Capote
mischaracterized
and
Rupp told Pearman
him,
Perry Smith
confided
to undersheriff
Meier
that the book
would
contain
inacCapote's
handling
discovered
that
curacies,
saying,
that
persons
five
granted
The
only
one
erred
"read
it and
requested
such
see
for yourself."29
minor
wish.
changes
Capote
has admitted
"desperately,"
He did,
though
three
he
names.30
however,
change
to study Capote's
sources
was Philip
extensively
uncovered
four discrepancies.
The most serious
involve
first examiner
Tompkins,
who
Perry
Smith.
Although
Meier
heard
Smith
Capote
cry and
say,
recorded
that
"I am embraced
the
wife
of undersheriff
by shame"
(R: 308),
27Avedon'sphotographscan be foundin "Horror
Spawnsa Masterpiece,"
Life,January7, 1966, pp. 64-65;
and "ln Cold Blood. . . An AmericanTragedy,"p. 61.
28PhillipK.Tompkins,"InColdFact,"
assumedthat
Esquire,LXV(June1966), 125, 127, and 167. D. J.Enright
this inaccuratereportof the sale of Babewas a high point in Capote'sobjectivity.See D. J. Enright,"A Few
Dollarsand a Radio,"TheNew Statesmanand Nation,March18, 1966, p. 378 (NY:Oct. 16: 86. R; 271).
29Tompkins,p. 167.
30Plimpton,p. 39.
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CAPOTE'S
IN
Mrs.
absolutely
Meier
COLD
her.
questioned
pote."31
this
denied
insisted
She
ever
that
this disputed
Besides
533
BLOOD
she
"told
never
re-
Tompkins
such
to Ca?
things
at the execution
witnesses
scene,
when
happened
offered
different
None of the other reporters,
about Smith's last words.
opinions
or wire-service
recorded
that Smith said, as Ca?
editors,
representatives
"I apologize."
Detective
he was
told Tompkins
pote indicated,
Dewey
unsure
what
Smith
had
said.
did
Nor
he
know
how
Capote
got
his
information.
And yet Capote
told the scene through
Dewey's
eyes, tak?
in
his
artistic
to
do
so.
But
these
witnesses
ing pride
ability
agreed that
was out of earshot during Smith's final words.32 Capote
himself
Capote
has
said
that
was
"the
Smith's
last speaking
moments
all he could
hear
during
roar of blood in my ears."33 Later Capote stated that Smith was
that he didn't
"upset
all
multiple
couldn't
care
have
murderers
had
ever
that
with
involvement
Blood
Smith
the
Blood's
that the revisions
suggests
altitude
"they
concern?
is capable
fiction
of fact."36
was the chief
first reviewers
legged
pattern of Capote's
and thus grotesque,
tional.
He
other
detected
of reach?
Perhaps
Capote's
per?
for his extraordinary
reason
father-seeker
Golightly
like Joel
he
seeks
parallels.38
The
Knox
his
own
practice
how
Smith fit
"uncannily"
Like them he was short-
characters.
and
precocious
an eruption
represented
in Capote's
early stories.37
lineated
other
that
of alterations.
In Cold
into
that
never
pathetic
plea for sympathy
admission
that Smith did not feel the
virtual
in In Cold
he records
number
he noted
admitted
Smith's
the "poetic
ing Perry Smith contain
rather
than
"the
persuasiveness
ing"
sonal
interviewed
less."35
Tompkins'
discovery
and Capote's
occurred
apology
elsewhere
any conscience";34
he
from
He
of Other
morality.
seems
childlike,
the
"nocturnal
is a dreamer,
Voices,
Later
artistic,
Other
world"
irra?
de-
an androgynous
Rooms.
Like Holly
commentators
reasonable
and
since
Capote
suggested
has said
31Tompkins,p. 168.
32Tompkins,pp. 168 and 170.
33TrumanCapote,"Portrait
of Myself,"Cosmopolitan,July1972, p. 134.
34"PlayboyInterview,"pp. 59-60.
35Warhol,p. 32.
38Plimpton,p. 3.
37"InCold Blood . . . An American
Tragedy,"p. 60. See also Dupee, pp. 3-4, and Levine,p. 138.
38MelvinJ. Friedman,"Towardsan Aesthetic:Truman
Capote'sOtherVoices,"in IrvingMalin,ed., Truman
Capote'sInCold Blood:A CriticalHandbook(Belmont,California:WadsworthPublishingCompany,1968), p.
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534
a character
was
"Perry
that was
stepped]
right out of one
have also asserted
commentators
absolutely
But various
tion to Smith
Lee found
his ability to restrain
time Truman
looked
weakened
that
"every
and
of dis-affection
childhood"
was
accident-shrunken
Smith
self drew
to their
attention
of the
that
recurrent
"changeling's
dream,
enemies
in the
Truman
Persons.
Yet
guise
insists
Dupee
that,
Capote
from
Smith
by
"schizophrenic
have
and
explosion"
views,
Yurick
Capote's
connection
But this
leads
the emotional
argues, Capote
the real Smith
"created
not present
in his narrative,
becomes
his view
Capote
only able
with whom
even
of Smith
chose
creative
concern?
over
to suggest
that
he felt isolated
him
Capote
to
kill
while
in a
had come
Capote
of Capote-Smith
less
his
was
differ
and
understood
a hybrid
original
Tompkins
gap which
that Smith was
insisting
darkness."43
Thus, Smith,
be
and
on
name
to Capote's
fears or desires
Smith
that
himself
avenging
of the author's
finds
could
he could
though
the
rapport,"
"great
Tompkins
tions
to shorten
by using the same image,
and Smith.41 In a
himself
as
O'Parsons.
despite
And Tompkins
ing himself."42
the crucial
matter of violence.
labored
of faces
him?
And Capote
height.
to describe
is characterized
of Perry
is no "projection
Smith
figures,
Smith
rela?
that the
observed
Tompkins
Capote's
similarity
face,"
could
of my stories."39
own
that Capote's
his personal
vision.
Harper
at Perry he saw his own
rejection.40
nearly
BELLIS
. . . [he]
in my imagination
also
. . . [have
to
DE
JACK
forgiven.
So,
predisposiAl?
understandable."44
having
to convey
suffered
this
idea
a "brain
in inter?
the contexts
of Smith's confession
do not support it.45 Sol
though
remarked
that Capote
felt
that
he had to turn Smith
apparently
174. Friedmanparticularly
notes Smith'ssimilarityto Joel Knox.In the same book, see also RobertK. Morris,
"Capote'sImagery,"pp. 183-186. MorrisconnectsSmithto Capote'sothergrotesquechildrenin OtherVoices,
OtherRooms,concludingthatSmithbecomes,"inthelightofCapote'searlierwork,thetotalsymbolfortheexile,the
alienated human being, the grotesque, the outsider, the quester after love, the sometimes sapient,
sometimesinnocent,sometimesevil child."
39Nance, p. 211.
40"InCold Blood . . . An American
Tragedy,"p. 62.
41"In Cold Blood . . . An American
Tragedy,"p. 63. This self-characterization
originallyappearedin an
interviewon February24, 1952. See HarveyBreit,"TrumanCapote,"in The WriterObserved(CollierBooks,
1961), p. 153.
42Dupee, p. 4.
43Tompkins,p. 170.
44Tompkins,p. 171.
45Tompkins,p. 168.
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IN
CAPOTE'S
into
a "literate
535
BLOOD
COLD
hero
psychopathic"
evidence
of his senses
he might
produce
This way
he could
he could
because
him.46
about
not
accept
the
that Ca?
further
Tompkins
suggests
of getting
not be true to his basic intention
away from his
pote could
found
an imaginary
"own
vision
of
the
world."
had
Capote
particular
his scheme
so that
toad in his real Kansas garden and chose to convert
an apparently
give
real toad
the density
in an apparently
of reality
to images
real garden.
from
his noctur-
nal world.47
Capote
himself
has often
that "art and truth are not neces?
suggested
and that "when
is totally
bedfellows"48
compatible
something
In
.
.
.
it's
to
write
a
real
work
of
art."49
all
the
way
negative
impossible
as a strategy
"too
undertaken
to keep him from being
Cold Blood,
with . . . [his] particular
had
failed
to
become
a
obsessed
images,"
sarily
to a new
contribution
to "get
effort
the
outside
art form, despite
an extraordinarily
conscious
. . . [of his] own imagination
and learn to exist in
and lives of other
imaginations
Yet there is more to the story than
to Capote's
envelopment,
of his "daylight
bolic
gentry,"51
"the
nocturnal
world
of compassion
world
people."50
Perry Smith,
for he tended
world"
of "the
of safety."52
"representing
or conscience,"
and there
to conceive
good,
The collision
solid,
may be more
of Kansas
landed
of this world
as sym?
American
with
the
the dangerous
element,
psychotic
empty
If one
would
death.53
inevitably
produce
that Kansas represented
to speculate
im?
the South in Capote's
and
could
the
view
of
Smith
as
accept
agination
Capote's
doppelganger,
In Cold Blood
then becomes
the author's
upon the section
revenge
which
and nocturnal,
gave him the dual vision of his fiction,
daylight
wished
and
way
venge
which
prompted
of release
would
the extreme
tactic
of the "nonfiction
novel"
as a
from
his psychological
to the South. The re?
bondage
in such a way that the author bore no responbe depicted
46Sol Yurick,"Sob-Sister
Gothic,"Nation,CCII(February
7, 1966), 160.
47lhab Hassan,RadicalInnocence(Harperand Row, 1961), p. 255. Hassandescribes
Capote's"nocturnal
style"as a sea-greenworldof silenceandsuddenviolence;charactersvanishedandappearedin mystery;things
connectivesof motiveas of syntaxwere omitted."
happened,as it were, intransitively;
of Myself,"p. 131.
^Capote, "Portrait
49Warhol,p. 39.
50"PlayboyInterview,"p. 56.
51"PlayboyInterview,"p. 62.
52"TheFabulist,"Newsweek, December28, 1964, p. 58.
53"PlayboyInterview,"p. 56.
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536
This fantasy contains
ofthe child's
an element
his
But
the
upon
parents.
by recording
consequences
imagined
revenge
and Hickock,
for Smith
Capote
society's
recognized
right to selffor his fantacizing.
sibility
from
protection
a parable
about
it creates
visionaries
dangerous
or unwittingly
sciously
death
the
destroys.
Perhaps
he
then
in Smith's
saw
artist in America.
the serious
and
life
conand
Paradoxically,how-
of his own resentments
he had to purge himself
of the "world of
in
order
as
with
to
an
artist
conscious
control
safety"
develop
greater
and wider sympathies.
The story called
to him at rather deep levels.
ever,
Perhaps
of art"
"madness
solve
his
"I'm
still
book,
head.
about
The
possible?
der and
a total
its own
Clutters,
reasons,
conclusion."55
meaning
Capote's
its secrets.
told
had
he said ofthe
selected
"They
me."54The
of Capote's
need to
regardless
Little wonder
he would
admit,
stylistic
quadratic
equation.
haunted
I have finished
the
very much
by the whole
thing.
but in a sense I haven't
it: it keeps churning
finished
around in my
It particularizes
itself now and then, but not in the sense that it
brings
Blood,
this is why
reasons
If, however,
his fate is clear,
any lies about
kill me."56
What
total
conclusion
could
be
of the experience,
like Smith's motives
for mur?
for endless
never
revision,
may
fully disclose
he consciously
deceived
his public with ln Cold
for Capote
him he was
has stated,
going
to come
"Perry
back
always
from
said that if I
the grave
54"PlayboyInterview,"p. 58.
55Plimpton,p. 43.
58"InCold Blood. . . An AmericanTragedy,"p. 62.
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and