Five of the best books that busted genre conventions

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well.

At B & N Reads Somers tagged five of the best books that busted genre conventions, including:

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

Convention Busted: Nonfiction and novels don’t mix

In Cold Blood was a monumental achievement—Capote was reportedly upset he didn’t win the Pulitzer Prize that year, and it’s easy to see why. In Cold Blood established a whole new genre, the nonfiction novel. In dazzling, masterful prose Capote tells the story of an actual murder, created from years of interviews and research (assisted by none other than his friend Harper Lee). Today it stands as his crowning achievement, and the first nonfiction novel in history.

Read about another book on the list.

In Cold Blood also appears on Allegra Frazier's list of five top books that started out as magazine serials, Claire Zulkey's list of six nonfiction books that will give you nightmares, Lauren Passell's top 20 list of peanut butter & jelly reads, Kit Whitfield's top ten list of genre-defying novels, Sarah Weinman's list of best true crime books, Catherine Crier's five top crime books list, Ann Rule's five best list of true-crime books, and Bryan Burrough's six best books list. Kansas' first poet laureate Jonathan Holden's chose In Cold Blood for The Great Kansas novel.

--Marshal Zeringue