There are some really neat things happening at the library during the month of February. The programs are free and everyone is welcome so I hope that you will find time to join us. All programs will be held in the Cooper Clark Meeting room in the library.

On February 12 th at 12 p.m., we will be holding our first "Library and Lunch" book discussion. The book to be discussed is The Devil in the White City : Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larsen. In this novel, Larsen describes the incredible events that surrounded the 1893 World's Fair. He tells the story of two men-Daniel Burnham, the architect who designed the fair and H.H. Holmes, a doctor who is also a serial killer. The book, which was released in February 2004, received excellent reviews and was on the New York Time Best Sellers List for many weeks. Extra copies of the book are available at the library. If you don't have time to read the book, please feel free to come to the discussion anyway.

On February 7 th at 7:00 p.m., we will be discussing the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote which is the Kansas Reads choice for 2008. Kansas Reads is a program sponsored by the Kansas Center for the Book, a department of the State Library of Kansas which encourages all residents of Kansas to read and discuss the same book during the year. Extra copies of the book are available at the library.

As many of you know, In Cold Blood is a book about the November 15, 1959, murders of Holcomb , Kansas residents Herb and Bonnie Clutter and their two teenage children, Nancy and Kenyon. The murders of this greatly respected and well-liked family surprised and saddened the community. Effects of this tragedy are still being felt in the communities of Holcomb and Garden City today.

Soon after the murders took place, writer Truman Capote and his friend, Nelle Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird , came to Kansas to do a story for the New Yorker magazine. After interviewing thousands of people, including the two murderers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, Capote decided he would write a book. Five years later, In Cold Blood was published and was an international bestseller.

On February 7th, in addition to discussing the book, we will be viewing pictures and newspaper articles about the Clutter case from a cd-rom and showing clips from the two most current movies about Truman Capote's life- Capote and Infamous. Capote was released in 2005 and was nominated for numerous Academy Awards. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Capote in the movie, won an Oscar for his performance. Infamous stars Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver and many other stars. Both movies deal with Capote's time in Kansas and his relationship with Perry Smith and Dick Hickock.

On Thursday, February 21 at 6:30 p.m. we will be showing the movie In Cold Blood . This 1967 movie stars Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as Smith and Hickock. The first part of the film details the search for the killers and the second, their capture and execution. The movie will be shown in the Cooper-Clark Room and popcorn will be provided.

If you are interested in reading more about the Truman Capote or the book In Cold Blood, I am including a bibliography of books and movies you may want to check out.

BOOKS

• Other Voices, Other Rooms (novel), 1948
• A Tree of Night and Other Stories (collection), 1949
• Local Color (European travel essays), 1950
• The Grass Harp (novella), 1951
• The Muses Are Heard (article collection), 1956
• Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories, 1958
• In Cold Blood, 1966
• A Christmas Memory (holiday gift book), 1966
• The Thanksgiving Visitor (holiday gift book), 1968
• Music for Chameleons (collection), 1980
• One Christmas (holiday gift book), 1983
• Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel, 2001
• The Complete Stories of Truman Capote (anthology), 2005
• Summer Crossing (Capote's first novel in 1943), 2005
• Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote (new collection) 2007

FILMS

• Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards, director), 1961
• A Christmas Memory (Frank Perry, director), 1966
• With Love from Truman (documentary short interview with Capote), 1966
• The Thanksgiving Visitor (narrated by Capote, Frank Perry, director), 1967
• In Cold Blood (Richard Brooks, director), 1967
• Laura (Capote-written television screenplay of classic Otto Preminger film), 1967
• The Great Gatsby (rejected screenplay for Paramount ), 1974
• Murder by Death (Capote in role of Lionel Twain, Neil Simon, writer, Robert Moore, director), 1976
• Annie Hall (Capote in uncredited cameo role), 1977
• The Doors (Paul Williams portrays Capote), 1991
• Tru ( PBS American Playhouse one-man show starring Robert Morse), 1992
• 54 (Louis Negrin portrays Capote), 1998
• Isn't She Great? ( Sam Street portrays Capote), 2000
• The Audrey Hepburn Story (Michael J. Burg portrays Capote) 2000
• Truman Capote: The Tiny Terror (documentary, A&E Biography), 2004
• The Hoax (Michael J. Burg portrays Capote) 2006
• Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman wins Oscar for Best Actor), 2006
• Infamous (Toby Jones portrays Capote), 2006

BOOKS ABOUT TRUMAN CAPOTE

• Clarke, Gerald. Truman Capote: A Biography (1988)
• Malin, Irving (ed.). Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (1968)
• Nance, William L. The Worlds of Truman Capote (1970)
• Parks, Ande. Capote in Kansas : A Drawn Novel (graphic novel) (2005)
• Plimpton, George. Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances,
  And Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career ((1997)
• Powers, Kim. Capote in Kansas : A Ghost Story (fiction) (2007)