The Bookhive List: 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote

I used to think that true crime was not at all my bag but recently I've realized that it totally is -- I really enjoyed God'll Cut You Down and I've mainlined the entire 'Paradise Lost' documentary trilogy this year, and I just consumed an entire 12-episode run of the podcast 'You Must Remember This' on the Charles Manson murders. When I list all of these in a row, I suddenly worry that there's something seriously wrong with me...? Anyway, In Cold Blood is the Truman Capote book most people read, which is fine because it's undoubtedly his best, but I strongly endorse his novels and short stories as well. But the excellence of In Cold Blood is indisputable, and as tough as it was to get through, it was such an incredibly great book.

The Bookhive List: 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' by Truman Capote

Everyone knows the name Truman Capote, but most people haven't really read him, or if they have, they've read In Cold Blood, his true crime novel. I don't want to take anything away from that book, which besides being a really incredible feat of writing, is also going to appear on The Bookhive List; however, Other Voices, Other Rooms, Capote's debut novel, is my favorite work by Capote. Although it was eventually eclipsed by the tremendous success of In Cold Blood, it was really critically acclaimed in its own time and made a huge splash in part because of the youth of its author, aided by a very seductive, precocious author photo on the back cover of the novel.

Other Voices, Other Rooms is the semi-autobiographical story of 13-year old Joel Knox who is sent to live in the decaying mansion on his estranged father's plantation in Louisiana following the death of his mother. Thematically, the novel really hinges on Joel's coming-of-age and acceptance of his homosexuality which all plays out in the fruitless search for a connection to his father. It exemplifies everything I love about Southern Gothic writing and there is a really pervasive, almost kitschy sense of magical realism to the whole thing. So many of the characters and images from the novel have stuck with me and pop into my head at the strangest times, and the whole thing really lingers in the most incredible way.

The Bookhive List is a weekly recommendation of my all-time favorite, must-read books.

Books to Help You Cope with the 'Serial' Finale

It feels like everyone I know is listening to the 'Serial' podcast; more realistically, it's probably only a very small percentage of people I know, but sometimes Twitter can really skew your perceptions of reality (something like only 19% of adults are on Twitter. This is mind-boggling to me). If you haven't gotten into it yet, do so immediately. You will be instantly hooked; it has been characterized as this year's 'True Detective,' which I can't speak to because I never got around to watching that, but I remember the conspiratorial fervor with which people watched it. 

There are eight Serial episodes thus far, and we've been promised "a dozen or so" by creator/producer/host Sarah Koenig, which means we are in the final stretch before the true crime drama comes to a close. This is inevitably going to leave a big, homicide-shaped hole in your life, so the following are my suggestions for how to fill it.

'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. The greatest true crime story of all time and a piece of storytelling so masterful, it essentially ended the career of Capote, who was never able to produce anything like it ever again, and who delved very deeply into drugs and alcohol while awaiting the final verdict in the case. It is not easy to read. It is bleak and disturbing, but so, so rewarding. This is a nice way to get over 'Serial' because you will be sick of true crime after reading this.

'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn. Not a true crime story, but a really thrilling and suspenseful novel with as many twists and turns as 'Serial,' and a very similar approach to the audience. One of the things I love about 'Serial' is the way my perception of the case changes from week to week, and 'Gone Girl' achieves something very similar. Both are able to exist in an ambiguous. grey area between "guilt" and "innocence."

'Top of the Lake' directed by Jane Campion. Not a book, I know, but excellent and a worthwhile endeavor, nonetheless. Arguably even more difficult to stomach than 'In Cold Blood,' but equally as addictive and rewarding. I heard they are planning more episodes, which has me distraught because it is the perfect mini-series, and I desperately want more and yet never want to think about how it made me feel ever again.

'God'll Cut You Down' by John Safran. This was only just published and I'm still no the wait-list for a copy from the public library, and I'm growing very impatient. This will violate my adherence to #readwomen2014, but it is almost December and I have very little control over the library's request schedule, so I'm leaning into it. Like 'Serial,' it is a true crime story, with the writer himself functioning as a character; like Sarah Koenig, John Safran disappeared into his investigation of the story, and having a journalist serve as the reader's entry point into the story can be really effective.