Other cities have histories. Los Angeles has legends.
Midcentury Los Angeles. A city sold to the world as "the white spot of Am... read full description
Midcentury Los Angeles. A city sold to the world as "the white spot of Am... read full description
reviews
Jul 06, 2011
Caitlin
rated it: 
I picked up this book thinking it would be an interesting dissection of noir but instead found myself quickly immersed in an epic investigation of the history of Los Angeles and its relationships with organized crime and the LAPD. This is absolutely not the kind of book I ever read, not least of all because it had to do with organized crime, which is a topic that never fails to lose my interest (an opinion I recognize puts me in the minority of Americans). And yet I tore through this book in a
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Mar 04, 2011
Jack
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This is just a really good book, both entertaining and historically valid. Buntin, a journalist, spins a popular history narrative centered on two men that also sheds light on how the institutions of a modern city developed. In the early twentieth-century, LA, like many (probably most) major cities, was run by an urban political machine, meaning that the police force, the local government, and the local rackets were all to some extent parts of the same organization. But as the city grew and p
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Jul 29, 2010
Frank
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This is a dual biography that compares the life of Jewish mobster Mickey Cohen and LA Police Chief William Parker, both of whom supposedly "struggled for the soul" of Los Angeles during their heyday in the 1950s and 60s. Like most dual biographies, this structure seems to be little more than a conceit to cut a new book out of already well-trodden territory. Thankfully both Cohen and Parker lived fascinating lives that are vividly portrayed against LA's exciting backdrop, even if they
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Aug 11, 2009
Richard
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This was a good read, and an interesting history of L.A. through the lives of two of its more prominent denizens - the "good" police chief, and the bad guy gangster - but the title proposes an epic that just doesn't happen except in the length of history. There's no struggle for the soul of a city here, and there's nothing in the book that leads you to think L.A. is any more seductive than any other big city. What L.A. was, and probably is, is corrupt, but again, no more so than NY o
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Jan 29, 2011
Monica
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Kindle book: Readaloud for Dad, who lived through most of this story. Dad didn't remember the first bits, which start in the 19teens. Dad was born in 1917 (in Hollywood), so he really didn't remember much until we got into the thirties (he didn't pay much attention to politics when he was a kid). Basically it's a history of the Los Angeles Police Department and organized crime in L.A. It focuses on two major personalities: Police Chief William Parker and Mickey Cohen, a colorful (to say the leas
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Oct 26, 2010
Eric
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Great history of LA by way of its most (in)famous police chief, William Parker, and his nemesis, underworld crime boss Mickey Cohen. If you've ever wondered why the LAPD seems to be on a level separate from most any other American police dept, with a reputation for both back-room corruption and bureaucratic detachment, this book goes a good way toward an explanation.
Sep 14, 2011
Michael
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A double biography of LAPD chief William H. Parker and gangster Mickey Cohen. Some interesting background information for fans of real LA Noir, but mistitled in the sense that -- well, let's see, the seminal LA Noir crime, for instance, the Black Dahlia Murder, is not even mentioned at all. Raymond Chandler's name is only mentioned once. Granted, many of the situations which wound up in Chandler's work are illuminated here (particularly the Rex, a gambling ship operating outside of US territo
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Jan 16, 2012
Xander
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Wow! Who knew that Los Angeles was so dark, corrupt and murderous? I read in the New York Times the other day that this book has been optioned for a new cable series. And I can see why. This book has a fascinating cast of characters, murders, gambling, sex and sunshine. Alongside the dream factory of Hollywood there existed a gangster culture that rivaled anything found in New York or Chicago. Mickey Cohen, Bugsy Siegel and William Parker are all part of history that should be required rea
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Oct 26, 2010
Hood
rated it:
Bound: The City of Shady Angels - SunPost Weekly July 15, 2010
http://bit.ly/9k8i3U
John Hood
If cities are chicks – and if a city’s worth anything, it better be a chick – then L.A. is one shady lady. You might also say she’s a chick in heat. Wanton, insatiable, and faithful only as far as the next kiss, she’s the kinda chick a man will fall for, kill for and even die for, even as she’s walking out the door.
L.A. is also a city of deep and often creepy secrets. Li More...
http://bit.ly/9k8i3U
John Hood
If cities are chicks – and if a city’s worth anything, it better be a chick – then L.A. is one shady lady. You might also say she’s a chick in heat. Wanton, insatiable, and faithful only as far as the next kiss, she’s the kinda chick a man will fall for, kill for and even die for, even as she’s walking out the door.
L.A. is also a city of deep and often creepy secrets. Li More...
Aug 21, 2011
CD
rated it:
A well done sharply focused work about the rise of the modern political world of Los Angeles. With the backdrop of several shady characters and selected criminal activities of Organized Crime, L.A. Noir is a very readable political history and biography of primarily LAPD Chief William Parker and the criminal Mickey Cohen.
John Buntin stays on track and with a few minor exceptions resists temptation to stray off onto the many juicy sub-plots that was L.A. from the Roaring twenties unt More...
John Buntin stays on track and with a few minor exceptions resists temptation to stray off onto the many juicy sub-plots that was L.A. from the Roaring twenties unt More...
Dec 12, 2009
Liza
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I had really been looking forward to this book. The time frame discussed in the work included corrupt cops, mobsters, prostitutes, film glamor, tabloid journalism, violence, blood, and lots of guns.
It was so dry. I almost fell asleep in the prologue. The prologue attempted to give background for the text. It felt disjointed and like the reader was being rushed through too much history. For a time and place that evoke a ton of drama, this was completely without.
Once I More...
It was so dry. I almost fell asleep in the prologue. The prologue attempted to give background for the text. It felt disjointed and like the reader was being rushed through too much history. For a time and place that evoke a ton of drama, this was completely without.
Once I More...
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May 29, 2011
P.A.
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A fantastic book on a look at the history of the Los Angeles during the days of William H. Parker and Mickey Cohen. Parker was the LAPD Chief of Police who changed the face of his police force, turning it into a paramilitary organization. Mickey Cohen was the east coast prodigy of Al Capone in Chicago. He was sent to Los Angeles by Meyer Lansky and Lou Rothkopf to watch Bugsy Siegel. Parker and Cohen became rivals for the soul of Los Angeles.
Jun 17, 2010
Tony
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Very interesting book. It gives the history of L.A. from the early 1900s to Rodney King through the world of the Chief Parker of the LAPD and the underworld most notably Mickey Cohen. Being a native Angeleno I found this book, for the most part, to be fascinating. There were some "oh wow" moments. There were a few sections that were slow. But overall it was an interesting read.
Jan 11, 2009
Ron
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(to be published later in 2009). A dual biography of LA police chief William Parker and colorful hoodlum Mickey Cohen, this is the book for people who think that James Ellroy makes things up about LA for his novels. From the dark days of prohibition to the sixties, Buntin paints a solid picture of the corruption of power and the corruption of a city.
Mar 25, 2011
Eileen
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Mickey Cohen adds what little color there is to this book, making various guest appearances in what is really the history of the modern-day L.A.P.D. From James "Two Gun" Davis to Daryl Gates' resignation, and focusing particularly on William H. Parker, the department's relationship to the city of L.A. takes fascinating if not exactly the gaudy form promised. Though Buntin may not have intended it -- the book is at its best outlining the L.A.P.D.'s troubled history with racial minorit
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Apr 04, 2010
Mike
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Lots of interesting tidbits where Micky Cohen's life intersected various famous individuals; in particular, it was interesting to learn of the efforts of a young Billy Graham to convert him (Cohen got an appearance fee for appearing at his NYC crusade, and was offered a "signing bonus" if he converted). But the book just tries to cover too much material, and the portrait of Chief Parker that comes through is muddled: Is he a straight-arrow determined to clean up the LAPD, or an unaba
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Jul 06, 2011
Jazmin
rated it:
Required reading for anyone interested in learning about the LAPD and how it's shaped the political landscape of the City of Angels. Fascinating and entertaining look at Mickey Cohen's life, but weaving his and Bill Parkers' stories as foils is harder to sustain as their stories diverge. Excellent read though.
Jan 30, 2010
jeff
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interesting for being a biography of two interesting men, whose lives intersected by virtue of being on either side of the law in los angeles, but even more interesting for its educational story of the race problem in l.a. good to know that it's surprising that there haven't been more race riots other than watts and the rodney king riots, as l.a. has been pathetically underpoliced (with the added bonus of institutionalized racism) since the 1950s. that, coupled with the arrogance of the chiefs o
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Sep 11, 2010
Ron
rated it: 
Thought it was disappointing. A rather dry book. While it was an interesting story on how the LAPD evolved from a very corrupt organization based on the leadership of William Parker. What I didn't think worked was trying to establish Mickey Cohen as an antagonist, which felt like a stretch.
Jun 03, 2010
Mark
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These are fascinating stories about L. A.'s sordid past. Somehow the prose makes them a bit less interesting than they should be. Despite my fascination with the subject matter, I was never able to lose myself in the book.
Oct 26, 2009
Lucasgonze
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Really enjoying this so far, at about the halfway point. Something about it is riveting.
It's a story of the gangster underworld. It's about organized crime, police corruption, and bare knuckle local politics.
It's a story of the gangster underworld. It's about organized crime, police corruption, and bare knuckle local politics.
Feb 06, 2012
Mark
rated it:
Interesting book, gives a lot of good background to stories that were in the L.A. set of books by James Ellroy. I would have thought Johnny Stompanato would have had a bigger part in the book, especially in the chapters about Mickey Cohen, but still good.
May 09, 2011
Michael
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This is a very good book, well written and accurate. I thought this was a fiction when I bought it, but soon discovered that is non-fiction. If you like reading Los Angeles history, this is a book for you.
Oct 26, 2010
Hugh
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Thoroughly researched, tremendously detailed account of the LAPD's evolution from the corrupt & compromised 1930s, through the Dragnet 50s, to the aftermath of the Rodney King riots of the early 1990s. Framing the story with the parallel lives of noted lawman William Parker & gangland legend Mickey Cohen, John Buntin does a commendable job of providing a history class's worth of information without drowning the reader in a deluge of data. "LA Noir" reads like a novel (in the best sense
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Jul 18, 2011
Kathy
rated it:
New book @ the true story of the Mob vs. the LAPD and the transformational relationship between the two, starting in the 1920's and running through the 1950's.
Now I'm interested in the L.A. Quartet series written by James Ellroy.
Fascinating book........
Now I'm interested in the L.A. Quartet series written by James Ellroy.
Fascinating book........
Sep 11, 2010
Ken
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You would think a nonfiction book written about crime in L.A. would have to be fascinating. Yet somehow L.A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America's Most Seductive City manages to be as dry as dust.
I was bored at some points and merely struggled through it I felt like the book had such an interesting set of characters and material that it could have done more. The characters ended up too flat, and although it attempts, at times, to establish a plot of major conflict between Mickey Co More...
I was bored at some points and merely struggled through it I felt like the book had such an interesting set of characters and material that it could have done more. The characters ended up too flat, and although it attempts, at times, to establish a plot of major conflict between Mickey Co More...
Jan 18, 2010
Christine
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I actually stopped reading this book after about 75 pages because (1) it isn't written very well and jumps around so much that I had trouble following it and (2) it just wasn't that compelling or interesting. I found myself wondering how on earth the author was going to come up with another 250+ pages about this subject matter. I rarely stop reading a book, but I just couldn't take any more of this one!
Mar 09, 2011
Mnear
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Well written acount of organized crime bosses and their relationship to the LAPD. Compelling to read and interesting history of LA.
Jan 18, 2011
King Dinösaur
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As convoluted as one of Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels, "L.A. Noir" presents the twisted history of one of America's most fascinating cities, complete with Hollywood stars, Mafia crime bosses and corrupt cops. Think Dragnet meets China Town with a dash of Hollywood Babylon thrown in for good measure.
Sep 30, 2009
Tim
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The dual biography / Angels With Dirty Faces angle fell the tiniest bit flat, but mostly because in a surprise upset the LAPD/Chief of Police Parker half ended up being way more interesting than the Mickey Cohen gangster story. It was a lot of fun seeing characters from Ellroy novels pop up in real life historical settings, though.
