CHOSEN BY TIME MAGAZINE AS ONE OF
THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"ONE HELLISHLY EXCITING RIDE."
--Detroit Free Press
The '50... read full description
THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"ONE HELLISHLY EXCITING RIDE."
--Detroit Free Press
The '50... read full description
reviews
Feb 05, 2010
brian
rated it: 
to paraphrase kris kristofferson: if it sounds fucked up, man, that's because it is.
sometimes i chug coffee to the point where i'm glazed with sweat, red-eyed, about to crap my pants, and i throw my headphones on and blast either miles davis bitches brew or motorhead ace of spades. i sit down in front of the computer and write write write. and the result is exactly what you'd imagine from a mediocre writer w/a flair for the hyperbolic all hopped up on caffeine. not too good. imagine More...
sometimes i chug coffee to the point where i'm glazed with sweat, red-eyed, about to crap my pants, and i throw my headphones on and blast either miles davis bitches brew or motorhead ace of spades. i sit down in front of the computer and write write write. and the result is exactly what you'd imagine from a mediocre writer w/a flair for the hyperbolic all hopped up on caffeine. not too good. imagine More...
37 comments
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(47 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Greg
rated it:
Check out the prose. Dig the style. Raymond Carver looks verbose. Hemingway looks weak and fey.
Dig the streamlined story. 1500 pages of plot compacted into 576.
Dig the violence. The greed. The manipulations, the conspiracies.
Check out the Outfit. The Beard. The Cadre. Jimmy and the Klan. The Hair and Little Brother all gunning towards history like a hophead mainlining a speedball.
Check out the geek posing at writing this review.
Dig the streamlined story. 1500 pages of plot compacted into 576.
Dig the violence. The greed. The manipulations, the conspiracies.
Check out the Outfit. The Beard. The Cadre. Jimmy and the Klan. The Hair and Little Brother all gunning towards history like a hophead mainlining a speedball.
Check out the geek posing at writing this review.
11 comments
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(28 people liked it)
Jan 25, 2011
Kemper
rated it:
James Ellroy has called me a panty sniffer to my face. Granted, he calls everyone at his book signings a variety of colorful names, but I still like the idea that I’ve been personally mock-insulted by one of my favorite authors. And this is his greatest novel. I love this freaking book. It’s one of my all-time favorites. My internet alias is from a character in this book. I’ve got an autographed copy of it sitting on my shelf along with an autographed copy of the sequel, The Cold Six Thousa
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5 comments
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(11 people liked it)
Oct 24, 2011
Ian
rated it: 
On Tour
In 1996, Ellroy toured Australia with one of my favourite bands, the Jackson Code.
Ellroy did a number of readings from AT, then the band played and then he sang/narrated with the band.
It was a great night, although I am hazy on the detail.
It was an early date with my wife, and I didn't get as drunk as I would otherwise have done (and do now), but I am hazy nevertheless.
I don't know how they got the idea to do a gig like this.
I remember that Ellroy More...
In 1996, Ellroy toured Australia with one of my favourite bands, the Jackson Code.
Ellroy did a number of readings from AT, then the band played and then he sang/narrated with the band.
It was a great night, although I am hazy on the detail.
It was an early date with my wife, and I didn't get as drunk as I would otherwise have done (and do now), but I am hazy nevertheless.
I don't know how they got the idea to do a gig like this.
I remember that Ellroy More...
Dec 27, 2007
Jeff
rated it: 
while ellroy's chandler-on-crack routine is exhausting stylistically [mock sample excerpt: "this spic commie was a real cooze hound. dig his geeked-out arsenal: 20 30.06 shells, three silencer-rigged .45s, a rapemobile-mounted shotgun. agency/outfit sanctioned figured kemper boyd."], _american tabloid_'s dark reimagining of early-60s optimism as a cesspool of cynical political power plays underscored by mixed alliances, double- and triple-crosses, and the reduction of the era's most "
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2 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Oct 25, 2010
Gus
rated it:
Wow.
Yeah. Wow.
This was my first James Ellroy novel, and he did not disappoint. On the contrary, I developed a major hard-on for his hard-assed prose, and his dark, morally ambiguous characters - gotta say Pete Bondurant is now one of my favorite fictional characters ever.
I won't bore you with the details or the plot behind "American Tabloid", the first in a trilogy of works sketching out the nefarious doings of those in power, but if you love ficti More...
Yeah. Wow.
This was my first James Ellroy novel, and he did not disappoint. On the contrary, I developed a major hard-on for his hard-assed prose, and his dark, morally ambiguous characters - gotta say Pete Bondurant is now one of my favorite fictional characters ever.
I won't bore you with the details or the plot behind "American Tabloid", the first in a trilogy of works sketching out the nefarious doings of those in power, but if you love ficti More...
3 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Feb 28, 2009
Andy
rated it:
Great thriller about the Bay of Pigs-Kill Castro-JFK pissing off the Mafia and the CIA in one fell swoop story, which culminates in Dallas Texas on November 22, 1963. Although I didn't care for the Kennedys depicted as a bunch of effeminate spoiled brats in power - that's the POV that their weaselly conspirators had and it digests for us what follows soon after. Ellroy's last great book. It was all downhill after this.
Dec 27, 2011
C.
rated it:
What can I say about this book? It just topped 'LA Confidential' as my favorite James Ellroy novel.
Gritty, fast-paced, powerful. I LOVE Ellroy's unique style---as though he's jamming notes while ducking gunfire---and it's showcased beautifully in this work. So simple, so basic, yet with such a humongous impact.
Think 1960's---Bay of Pigs Invasion---the Mob---Jimmy Hoffa---JFK and little brother Bobby---the Rat Pack.
Add three fabulous, perfectly fleshed Ellroy More...
Gritty, fast-paced, powerful. I LOVE Ellroy's unique style---as though he's jamming notes while ducking gunfire---and it's showcased beautifully in this work. So simple, so basic, yet with such a humongous impact.
Think 1960's---Bay of Pigs Invasion---the Mob---Jimmy Hoffa---JFK and little brother Bobby---the Rat Pack.
Add three fabulous, perfectly fleshed Ellroy More...
Aug 22, 2011
Michael
rated it: 
This is the first Ellroy I've read, and it will likely be the last. Mostly because I find it impossible to take this seriously.
I don't doubt for a minute his portrayal of mobsters and G-men and teamsters run amok in the fifties and sixties; I'm sure they were just as violent and hellbent on mayhem as they're depicted here. His gloss on the Bay of Pigs jibes, too. There is one neat bit of business following a character's slow arc from soft-skinned do-gooder alcoholic into revenge-driven More...
I don't doubt for a minute his portrayal of mobsters and G-men and teamsters run amok in the fifties and sixties; I'm sure they were just as violent and hellbent on mayhem as they're depicted here. His gloss on the Bay of Pigs jibes, too. There is one neat bit of business following a character's slow arc from soft-skinned do-gooder alcoholic into revenge-driven More...
Jul 23, 2011
David
rated it:
James Ellroy may have an ego that outweighs his 600 page books (he has compared himself in crime fiction as Beethoven is to music and Tolstoy is to the Russian novel), but he writes with a swagger that you can't deny. This is the first of the Underworld USA trilogy, dealing with political events in the US from 1958 to 1973 and Ellroy's own creative conspiracy theories as to what could have happened. This book 1 deals with 1958 to 1963 featuring the battle between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoov
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Jun 12, 2011
Hood
rated it:
Bound: Re-Digging American Tabloid
SunPost Weekly April 14, 2011 | John Hood
http://bit.ly/gkb6Rc
50 Years After the Bay of Pigs, Ellroy’s Fiction Reads Like Mad Fact
‘Twas one of those weekends. I’d neither the time nor the inclination to hit the town, nor was I up to putting my nose to the ol’ proverbial grindstone. I wanted to get outta my head, and the wild world in which I live, even if only for one dogged day. Unfortunately I’d read every single work of fic More...
SunPost Weekly April 14, 2011 | John Hood
http://bit.ly/gkb6Rc
50 Years After the Bay of Pigs, Ellroy’s Fiction Reads Like Mad Fact
‘Twas one of those weekends. I’d neither the time nor the inclination to hit the town, nor was I up to putting my nose to the ol’ proverbial grindstone. I wanted to get outta my head, and the wild world in which I live, even if only for one dogged day. Unfortunately I’d read every single work of fic More...
Apr 11, 2011
Rincewind
rated it:
The second best thing in a 24-hour journey when someone else does the driving (flying) is that you get to catch up on books. After having got an Ellroy Itch from reading the blurb of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (only the blurb has an Ellroy connection, not the book), I settled on his Underworld USA trilogy.
After focusing on post-WW2 LA in his LA Quartet series, Ellroy digs into the next tumultuous period in American history - the Kennedy years. Starting a few years before Kennedy ge More...
After focusing on post-WW2 LA in his LA Quartet series, Ellroy digs into the next tumultuous period in American history - the Kennedy years. Starting a few years before Kennedy ge More...
Oct 11, 2010
Ian
rated it:
Through Film, I know who Ellroy is. Through the media, I know the events that forged him. This is the first time that I have read him.
The reason was the good reviews of Bloods a Rover and this is the first part of the trilogy, I thought I would start here.
This has been an exhausting read - 15 days is a long time for me. The style takes an incredible amount of time to get used to - short, sharp sentances - repetition with little description.
The lack of descr More...
The reason was the good reviews of Bloods a Rover and this is the first part of the trilogy, I thought I would start here.
This has been an exhausting read - 15 days is a long time for me. The style takes an incredible amount of time to get used to - short, sharp sentances - repetition with little description.
The lack of descr More...
Aug 15, 2010
Joe
rated it:
I wish everyone wrote like James Elroy, but I'm glad no one else writes like him, too.
The friend who lent me this book described it as "Harry Potter for conspiracy theories," which -- though I don't completely understand it -- is an apt analogy.
'American Tabloid' follows three rogue law enforcement agents of varying degrees of greed, violence, and ambition, through the muck and mud of the American Political Underbelly: a swamp that includes the Teamsters, the More...
The friend who lent me this book described it as "Harry Potter for conspiracy theories," which -- though I don't completely understand it -- is an apt analogy.
'American Tabloid' follows three rogue law enforcement agents of varying degrees of greed, violence, and ambition, through the muck and mud of the American Political Underbelly: a swamp that includes the Teamsters, the More...
Apr 23, 2010
Tim
rated it:
American Tabloid was James Ellroy's first volume in what would become his "American Underworld" series, an epic trilogy that amounted no nothing less than an alternative history of the Unites States from 1958-1973. The first volume follows the rise of John F. Kennedy from playboy senator through president and finally to martyr. Ellroy splits the narrative from the perspective of two FBI agents, one obsessed with breaking organized crime and the Teamsters union and the other following h
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 17, 2009
Krishna
rated it:
I read American Tabloid years ago as a student in Australia. I re-read it recently, largely to re-familiarize myself with the sleazy, murky world of Ellroy's USA Underworld Trilogy, before I tackle his just published 3rd and final installment Blood's A Rover.
Long time readers of Ellroy's books will quickly find out that the USA Underworld books are merely the author painting his hellish world view on a wider canvas; American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand are basically the crime a More...
Long time readers of Ellroy's books will quickly find out that the USA Underworld books are merely the author painting his hellish world view on a wider canvas; American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand are basically the crime a More...
Jun 11, 2009
Erik
rated it:
Merely to say this book is great is useless and redundant, so let me say two things:
1. Don DeLillo, in his novel LIBRA, which Ellroy claims influenced this novel, somewhere writes in that book, "History is the sum total of all the things they're not telling us." This book is that line--it's the sum total of all the things they've not told us about the JFK assassination, and that those things have been novelized cannot be denigrated. We now live in a society wherein the news More...
1. Don DeLillo, in his novel LIBRA, which Ellroy claims influenced this novel, somewhere writes in that book, "History is the sum total of all the things they're not telling us." This book is that line--it's the sum total of all the things they've not told us about the JFK assassination, and that those things have been novelized cannot be denigrated. We now live in a society wherein the news More...
11 comments
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(13 people liked it)
Sep 11, 2011
Daryl
rated it:
James Ellroy is to crime fiction what Tolstoy was to Russian literature. He says so himself. I'd never read Ellroy before; this was my first exposure. Loved it. He has moved beyond straight crime fiction here to political intrigue as well. This is an amazing story featuring J. Edgar Hoover, Jimmy Hoffa, Howard Hughes, and Robert and John F. Kennedy as major players. It's the late '50s/early '60s and we follow various members of the mafia, the FBI, Cuban exiles, and high-ranking political figures
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May 29, 2010
F.R.
rated it:
Re-reading ‘American Tabloid’ convinced me that after the obituary is published and we look back at James Ellroy’s career as a whole, it will probably be the LA crime novels which are seen as his greatest achievement.
Not that there isn’t a lot of excellence in this more “political” tome (for want of a better adjective). Starting in 1958 and leading to the Kennedy assassination, Ellroy gives us three men who play their parts behind the scenes and whose actions lead to that national tr More...
Not that there isn’t a lot of excellence in this more “political” tome (for want of a better adjective). Starting in 1958 and leading to the Kennedy assassination, Ellroy gives us three men who play their parts behind the scenes and whose actions lead to that national tr More...
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(3 people liked it)
Apr 15, 2008
Julius
rated it:
Kennedys- Plus
Debauchery- Plus
Casual Racism- Minus
Conspiracy Theories- Plus
Extreme Violence- Plus
Moral Subtext- Ehhh.
Great book. Ellory is becoming one of my favorites. Basically and interwoven story involving mafia hitman, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, 2 wayward FBI agents, Howard Hughes, and Jimmy Hoffa. Castro fits in there somewhere. It's a quick read, with very few chapters over 10 pages. The action stays consistent throughout.
Debauchery- Plus
Casual Racism- Minus
Conspiracy Theories- Plus
Extreme Violence- Plus
Moral Subtext- Ehhh.
Great book. Ellory is becoming one of my favorites. Basically and interwoven story involving mafia hitman, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, 2 wayward FBI agents, Howard Hughes, and Jimmy Hoffa. Castro fits in there somewhere. It's a quick read, with very few chapters over 10 pages. The action stays consistent throughout.
Nov 28, 2009
Jim
rated it:
I haven't read any Ellroy since I finished L.A. Confidential, and I've forgotten that the experience is akin to taking crystal meth with a Jack Daniels chaser. Short sentences hammer away at you as you relive the pivotal events of 1959-1963 through the twisted lenses of four psychopaths: Pete Bondurant, French-Canadian hit man; Kemper Boyd, smooth-talking Southern attorney with a good tailor; and Ward Littell, an FBI agent and boozehound.
Oh, and the fourth is author James Ellroy.
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Oh, and the fourth is author James Ellroy.
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Sep 29, 2009
Matt
rated it:
I can't decide if James Ellroy is the greatest living American crime writer, or a racist, misogynist, homophobic jerk. I guess both are possible.
His extremely stylistic narrative approach is on display here. Not as extreme as it was in White Jazz, but still. Dig this, feature that, machine-gun sentence fragments. It works if you let it.
Great premise--three warped, damaged men are responsible for pretty much every mishap in the Kennedy administration through a subtle nudge More...
His extremely stylistic narrative approach is on display here. Not as extreme as it was in White Jazz, but still. Dig this, feature that, machine-gun sentence fragments. It works if you let it.
Great premise--three warped, damaged men are responsible for pretty much every mishap in the Kennedy administration through a subtle nudge More...
Nov 15, 2011
Michael
rated it:
My first encounter with Ellroy, and I'm still working through what I think of it.
In many ways an ugly book full of ugly people doing ugly things. But after awhile Ellroy does get you to care for the protagonists, which is amazing given how few redeeming features they have. The book's relentless nihilism and brutality (both careless and random, and very, very intentional) overlaps with a dizzying skein of conspiracies and betrayals, and ultimately makes Don DiLillo's Underworld feel like a st More...
In many ways an ugly book full of ugly people doing ugly things. But after awhile Ellroy does get you to care for the protagonists, which is amazing given how few redeeming features they have. The book's relentless nihilism and brutality (both careless and random, and very, very intentional) overlaps with a dizzying skein of conspiracies and betrayals, and ultimately makes Don DiLillo's Underworld feel like a st More...
Apr 05, 2011
Trevor
rated it:
The style of this book is identical to that of The Cold Six Thousand: a brutal and stylish noir take on Americana, mixing reality with Ellroy's own hoods and thugs. Ellroy appears most comfortable when writing about the darkest parts of human nature; if America was a rock, all the seedy characters in this novel are the things you'd find crawling under it. That being said, he's a master of the noir epic, and I can't imagine anyone better suited to tackle the subject of JFK's assassination in a wa
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Oct 31, 2009
Nick
rated it:
It had some really memorable lines, but overall I dug The Cold Six Thousand more. We'll see how Blood's a Rover goes, but overall I'm thinking James Ellroy is something I'd enjoyed much more eight years ago. What's the point, Pete/Boyd/Wayne/Littell? For such multitalented, resourceful and industrious individuals, they sure seem to lack any meaningful weltanschauung of their own, content to play the part of vessels. Not a stride is broken upon the death of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX late in this firs
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Dec 24, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book, but it is very different from the types of book I've read in the past. Ellroy does not fuck around with any lengthy description, characters' psychological underpinnings, or any narration to tie bits together. He writes in short, rapid-fire sentences of 5-6 words that force the plot forward almost faster that you can follow – but it is a great plot. It's like reading a movie screenplay. You just can't wait to see what is going to happen next.
Here the plot More...
Here the plot More...
Feb 04, 2010
Matthew
rated it:
I'm not much of a genre fiction reader; but I really, really liked this book. The writing is clear, and controlled, and offers everything a reader needs to know about the story parsimoniously. There's not a spare detail anywhere in the book.
The characters are all great. I'm actually hoping The Cold Six Thousand is something of a sequel and I'll get to see Big Pete and Ward again. I definitely hope I'll get to see J. Edgar again, as he's one of the best characters I've ever read. Up More...
The characters are all great. I'm actually hoping The Cold Six Thousand is something of a sequel and I'll get to see Big Pete and Ward again. I definitely hope I'll get to see J. Edgar again, as he's one of the best characters I've ever read. Up More...
Nov 30, 2009
Alistair
rated it:
if you like conspiracy theory novels and paranoia then this is the book for you . it is set in us in the years leading up to the JFK assasination and weaves together the kennedy / mafia connection , the Castro communist revolution in cuba and the closing of the mafia controlled casinos , the CIA / mafia inspired plot to overthrow Castro , Robert kennedy's pursuit of organised crime and Jimmy Hoffa's mafia infiltrated union and ropes in Howard Hughes , Edgar Hoover the long time head of the FBI ,
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Nov 06, 2009
Alan
rated it:
I went to hear Ellroy speak two weeks ago. He was proud, profane and a little angry. He was most entertaining and read three excerpts from his latest book "Blood's a Rover". This latest book is the last of a trilogy that begins with "American Tabloid". Ellroy's such an interesting character, and he does a masterful job of reading his own staccato-style of writing that I decided to read the first book of the trilogy. An unusual writing style along with a hip urban vernacu
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Sep 10, 2010
Maciek
rated it:
I read the next book in the series, The Cold Six Thousand, before reading this, and now I'm going back and reading The Cold Six Thousand again after getting some context.
American Tabloid is an (and I think this is one of the few justified uses of the word on the Internet today) epic noir. It follows three main characters as their stories revolve around the mob, the CIA, the FBI, Cuba, millionaire eccentric Howard Hughes, and Robert and John Kennedy in the five years or so leading up More...
American Tabloid is an (and I think this is one of the few justified uses of the word on the Internet today) epic noir. It follows three main characters as their stories revolve around the mob, the CIA, the FBI, Cuba, millionaire eccentric Howard Hughes, and Robert and John Kennedy in the five years or so leading up More...
