a sangre fría

Possibly, the noblest task – if such a thing exists – of both fiction and non-fiction is to aspire to reach the settings where things truly happen. Fiction drinks from verisimilitude, non-fiction from veracity. Capote reminded us of something we already knew: what happens when we mix drinks. It is the variety of wines, not their quality, that is to blame. At the same time, he made us dream of the possibility of a mythical distillate that could combine the best of varied and exquisite liqueurs without causing a hangover. It was an ambitious project carried out by a writer who was in full and tortuous possession of his gifts and at the peak of his fame. By drinking his cold blood I learned many of the things that can be done, and many of the things that cannot, in writing. And I came to realize that fiction, the novelized, was not the only superior artistic form that writing could adopt. Truman would end up traveling in the Rolling Stones' caravan on their '72 tour to tell the story. And Keith Richards, irreverent, would smear his hotel room door with ketchup, painting the phrase "In Cold Ketchup." A dressing job to receive a Capote.

Possibly, the noblest task – if such a thing exists – of both fiction and non-fiction is to aspire to reach the settings where things truly happen. Fiction drinks from verisimilitude, non-fiction from veracity. Capote reminded us of something we already knew: what happens when we mix drinks. It is the variety of wines, not their quality, that is to blame. At the same time, he made us dream of the possibility of a mythical distillate that could combine the best of varied and exquisite liqueurs without causing a hangover. It was an ambitious project carried out by a writer who was in full and tortuous possession of his gifts and at the peak of his fame. By drinking his cold blood I learned many of the things that can be done, and many of the things that cannot, in writing. And I came to realize that fiction, the novelized, was not the only superior artistic form that writing could adopt. Truman would end up traveling in the Rolling Stones' caravan on their '72 tour to tell the story. And Keith Richards, irreverent, would smear his hotel room door with ketchup, painting the phrase "In Cold Ketchup." A dressing job to receive a Capote.