:20:23
Good evening, New Yorkers...
:20:26
and thank you for coming
to the first public reading...
:20:30
the first offering of any kind...
:20:33
of Truman Capote's new work,
In Cold Blood.
:20:49
Hello. My name is Truman Capote.
:20:54
For this evening's program,
I'm going to read some passages...
:20:58
from the first three parts of my new book.
:21:07
"The village of Holcomb stands on
the high wheat plains of western Kansas...
:21:12
"a Ionesome area
that other Kansans call 'out there. '
:21:16
"Until one morning in mid-November, 1959...
:21:20
"few Americans, in fact, few Kansans,
had ever heard of Holcomb.
:21:24
"Like the waters of the Arkansas River...
:21:27
"like the motorists on the highway...
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"exceptional happenings
never stopped there.
:21:44
"Perry Smith's voice
was both gentle and prim.
:21:48
"A voice that, though soft...
:21:50
"manufactured each sound exactly...
:21:54
"ejected it like a smoke ring
issuing from a parson's mouth.