American Tabloid: Underworld USA (1) (Underworld USA Trilogy, #1)

by James Ellroy

The internationally acclaimed author of the L.A. Quartet and The Underworld USA Trilogy, James Ellroy, presents another literary noir masterpiece of historical paranoia.

We are behind, and below, the scenes of JFK's presidential election, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination--in the underworld that connects Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, D.C. . . .

Where the CIA, the Mob, J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Cuban political exiles, and various loose cannons conspire in a covert anarchy . . .
Where the right drugs, the right amount of cash, the right murder, buys a moment of a man's loyalty . . .

Where three renegade law-enforcement officers--a former L.A. cop and two FBI agents--are shaping events with the virulence of their greed and hatred, riding full-blast shotgun into history. . . .

James Ellroy's trademark nothing-spared rendering of reality, blistering language, and relentless narrative pace are here in electrifying abundance, put to work in a novel as shocking and daring as anything he's written: a secret history that zeroes in on a time still shrouded in secrets and blows it wide open.

• ISBN10: 037572737X
• ISBN13: 9780375727375
• Publish Date: 24 April 2001 (first published 19 January 1995)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Vintage Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 592
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780375727375

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

It took me a while to get hooked, and then I was hooked, and it’s an American classic. I have no idea how I wound up caring about Pete Bondurant. And Kemper Boyd. And Ward Littell. It should not be possible. That’s Ellroy’s genius.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

At first I thought there were way too many characters and sides fighting against each other. It made it difficult to follow or to understand the characters. But then I realised, that is exactly what you want in a conspiracy/espionage novel; every side trying to setup or double cross each other, people playing a few sides in an attempt to achieve this.

The reason why I enjoy reading Ellroy books is simply because he knows how make it feel like I’m reading a book from the era. The way they talk, the way they act and especially the way Ellroy adds little bits of known truths into the book. In this book there was so much history added to the book, it almost made this book seem plausible. The bad blood between J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedy’s, Jack Kennedy been a really ladies’ man, the hatred toward Cuba and the Communists, etc. all these just added to the feel of the book.