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This is a very un-biased book and it's very nice to read. The pictures in this book are awesome, and this is only one of the books I have that I trust the facts on. Kudos to Mr. Smith!
It goes on to serve as an excellent study of a small business struggling to survive and then coping with its own success. I found it hard to put down. Even though I knew the outcome, I found myself carried along with the story. Enough "insider detail" is provided to reveal character and move the "plot," but not enough to bog the book down. The book also serves as the best biography of Leo Fender that I have read. He is revealed as an inspired man with significant flaws. Importantly, "revealed" is the operative word here. Smith generally does not preach or make pronouncements. He describes actions and quotes interviews. The reader is left to his own conclusions.
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The book chronicles the crime of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, who, acting upon information provided by one of Hickock's former fellow inmates, drive off to Kansas to pursue the contents of one Mr. Herbert Clutter's alleged home safe. Mr. Herbert Clutter, an immensely successful and humble Kansas farmer, and his wife, teen-aged son and daughter are spending a typical quiet Saturday evening at home. After the family retires for the evening, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock walk into the house to make their big score. Upon discovering that there is no safe and precious little cash at the Clutter residence, Smith and Hickock systematically murder each member of the family. Each of the victims is tied up and shot in the head. So ends the lives of a fine, decent American family and so begins the examination of the crime in the seamless, highly readable account by Truman Capote.
Truman Capote takes the reader with the murderers on their long journey to the hangman's noose in the most intelligent manner of any crime writer to date. He doesn't leave anything out of the events and lives of the murderers and yet there is nothing superfluous or gratuitous about the account.
In Cold Blood is quite a departure from Breakfast at Tiffany's, to say the least, but for anyone who has read Answered Prayers, it is easy to look back with that good old twenty-twenty hindsight to see that Truman Capote never shrinks from an unpleasant topic. He, in fact, embraces it with his customary gusto and stylish restraint. However, In Cold Blood, presents the reader with an array of issues to ponder and inspiration to learn more about the trial. Mr. Capote addresses the possibility that the two killers were denied a fair trial since the venue of the trial was right in the heart of the region where the Clutter family were known and loved by so many. There was serious questioning about the competency of the prosecution and defense attorneys, the impartiality of the judge. All kinds of good stuff to chew on, to this day, if you are a hard-core advocate of the rights of the incarcerated self-confessed murderer. There is also some rather toothsome stuff for those who fervently believe in capital punishment (but would be content with plain old punishment) in cases such as O.J. Simpson. There is a twisted form of satisfaction, a faintly amusing irony, to be derived from the notion that Perry Smith and Richard Hickock paid with their lives for the future celebrated murderers who got off Scot-free. I wonder how Perry Smith would feel about that? Could his twisted sense of justice make any sense of that concept?
In Cold Blood is deftly written to leave the determinations of the outcome of the case to the reader. It would have been so easy for Truman Capote to slide in his own sentiments about the case but he stuck to excellence in writing, in reportage, and creating another one of those "can't put it down" books of my summer of 1999.
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I wish that all such books were as good as this one-- including mine! Everything is laid out logically, with good pictures, so that it is very easy to quickly find your piece without knowing much more than "its an S&W". All the stats are there plus a lot of minutia, which might bore the average reader, but if you happen to have one of those things, you just can't get enough of it. Also, the irreverant writing style goes a long way towards offsetting the dry nature of a reference.
Supica and Nahaus also add information on many of S&W's other products; training aids, ammunition, police supplies.
While it has a few flaws, its excellent black & white photography and glossary of terms make it a must for just about any Smith & Wesson collector or afficionado.
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Smith also covers, for instance, social class, economics, religion and philosophy, art, literature, popular culture...an endless parade of the things mere histories rarely mention.
This is certainly the most interesting book I've read in a decade. I highly recommend it.
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I had some good laughs with this story and I cried. The characters became real; the development of the relationships from the choices the characters made portrayed a lot of depth about how we affect those around us and who we end up close to. I ended up really liking them! It was intriguing to peal away the layers of their personalities while solving the mystery. I loved connecting the events from one time and place to another. He created images I thoroughly enjoyed and could easily visualize. They are very vivid - even down to the flying lizard catching an eclipse moth for lunch! I would love to see this made into a movie!
Richard Neumann has woven an intricate story that crosses time and galaxies. It's done with humor and sensitivity to the proper nuances of "each" culture. It truly was fun reading! You'll want to visit again the very intriguing life of Adrian Smith, CPA. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to read more!! It was a great break from my day to day life!
After all, we in the US did invent Star Wars, Star Trek ... and Enron.
I thoroughly recommend this book as a very well written story, with great dialogue, memorable characters set in an interesting period of history (San Francisco's Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915 and the beginning of the First World War in Europe), and a very satisfying conclusion - opening the way for more Adrian Smith Chronicles?
This reader wants to see additional titles on Adrian Smith CPA's adventures at large in Richard Neumann's delightful universe.
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Ther are maps that section the city into easy to cover areas and color coding to help distinguish the variety of critiqued locations. Backround and history with many best fo lists by the knowledgable and famous citizens give excellent insights to getting around and geating the most from your visit. Concise examination of the many casino games help the novice may their way through a bewildering array of choices.
All in all perhaps the best book for the money of it's kind. The access line of books are all quite good.