false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171474661m/100998.jpg 100998 10 Before he began to remap the geography of the crime novel and venture out into the darkest <I>noir</I> night of them all with <I>L.A. Confidential</I>, <I>The Black Dahlia</I>, <I>White Jazz</I>, and <I>American Tabloid</I>, James Ellroy started his career with this powerful but basically straightforward book about Los Angeles private eye Fritz Brown. At first glance, the story of an investigation into a crooked golf tournament that opens up to include arson and murder could be just another work by any one of the dozens of good writers who have used Southern California as a metaphor for the decline and fall of civilization. But behind the terse prose, astute readers will soon begin to hear something else--the increasingly loud clamor of a cry of pain that will eventually become the barely manageable madness of Ellroy's later books. <I>--Dick Adler</I> 97377 1981 Brown's Requiem total:271|5:1|4:8|3:6|2:0|1:0| 271 923 341 13 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1991 Tue Dec 23 14:50:22 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 14:51:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 00:30:12 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 04:50:57 -0700 2009
I did find some of the characterizations slightly superfic...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 07:20:18 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 07:18:23 -0700 2008 Brown's Requiem is a pretty typical first novel. It's jam-packed with extraneous details that seem drawn from the author's life but that have little to do with the central plot (e.g., classical music, golf caddying, an alcoholic friend of the protagonist who lives with his mother, binge drinking, ea...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 06:30:28 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 06:37:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 14:32:24 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 14:34:12 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 01 10:30:34 -0700 2007 Tue May 26 05:23:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 07:51:27 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 06:32:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 13 10:12:44 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 10:44:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 12:18:09 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 13:06:28 -0700 2008
It is interesting to read Ellroy's descriptions of L.A. in the eighties, though.]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 21 11:04:56 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 12:44:58 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Nov 26 12:15:28 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 26 12:15:28 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Fri Jan 25 10:04:51 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 11 13:49:48 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 16 21:55:03 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 07:06:42 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Wed Nov 25 21:46:59 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 21:46:59 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 23 01:09:42 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 01:09:42 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Nov 22 17:43:50 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 17:44:05 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sat Nov 21 19:45:55 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 19:45:55 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Nov 19 09:31:48 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 09:31:48 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Nov 13 14:52:11 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 14:52:11 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Nov 13 10:20:12 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 10:20:12 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=100998