10 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY photo : associated press T he Dashiell Hammett Award presented by the North American branch of the International Association of Crime writers specifies that the award is for “literary excellence in the field of crime writing.” It was created by novelist William Bayer and the IACW executive committee to recognize books that deal with the subjects and structures of traditional crime writing in innovative ways. Bayer, an accomplished and innovative novelist himself, argued that the award was not for popularity but for exceptional writing—writing that “pushes the envelope” in its prose or structure . In order to confirm this commitment to literary excellence, the final selection is taken out of the hands of the nominating jury and granted to a select committee of eminent judges who are not normally considered part of the crime-writing community. Margaret Atwood, for instance, and Frederick Barthelme have served as judges. Others include Lewis Lapham, Kevin Connolly, and Katha Pollitt. Exactly what constitutes “literary excellence” varies from person to person. What seems innovative to one reader may seem like self-indulRecognizing the Art of Nonfiction Literary Excellence in True Crime CRIME&MYSTERY INTERNATIONAL J. MADISON DAVIS Author Truman Capote stands in the living room of the Clutter ranch house where four members of the Kansas family were murdered in 1959. SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 11 gence or charlatanism to another. Longinus’s description of the sublime said that it demonstrated a certain excellence of expression, which sounds very “I know it when I see it.” However, this is not to say that excellence is entirely subjective. Given the two to three hundred books annually submitted to the reading committee , one would expect widely different favorites. But in my experience in chairing or participating in the process, it is fascinating that writers of widely divergent backgrounds and locations create such similar lists of finalists. Each reader has an oddball favorite or two, but there is a remarkable consistency. Writers know good writing, just as musicians know good music, and the elements of this seemingly intangible quality are much more specific than most people think. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Hammett consideration is the fact that nonfiction books are also eligible. Literary excellence is not limited to fiction, of course, but to judge the two together seems to be mixing apples and oranges. Many readers equate “true crime” with journalism, as something apart from literature. Never mind that most of what is written as “literature” turns out to be as ephemeral as an article about a three-car pile-up, and that some journalism is so well written that it comes to be recognized as literature. Tom Wolfe, Addison and Steele, John Hersey, Mark Twain, Lillian Ross, Grantland Rice: since the beginning of printing, innumerable authors have demonstrated the literary possibilities in nonfiction. In 2008 the Library of America recognized the heritage with its volume True Crime: An American Anthology, edited by Harold Schechter, containing pieces by writers as various as Cotton Mather and Dominick Dunne. The Everest of true crime writing is, of course, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (1966). It was the primary reason that Bayer and the others allowed nonfiction to compete for the Hammett. The brilliance of its portrayal of murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock is still stunning. Despite the monstrous brutality of the murder of the Clutter family, the insights into the character of the killers allow a reader to understand them as deeply damaged human beings, creating the profoundly unsettling feeling that real crime elicits . The Clutters are slaughtered for no reason. The long process of hunting down the killers, convicting, and hanging them cannot undo the crime and provides little comfort. Fiction usually achieves a feeling of resolution . It is what allows most readers to enjoy a good crime novel despite the often-hideous violence and cruelty at its core. Hanging a man is a cruel thing to do, even if what he did to deserve it is even crueler. No book has ever captured these disturbing feelings as well as In Cold Blood. Purists accuse Capote of taking liberties with some of the facts, but few readers do more than shrug at this...