Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: The most outstanding thing about this novel is not the plot or the basic structure, but the way Ellroy can make you believe in these characters and the motivations for what they are doing. You never feel as if the characters or the story seem unrealistsic (they are), they always seem well within the scope of the characters. When you are introduced to Kemper Boyd he seems infallible and Ward Littell seems on the verge of collapse, but the changes they go through are both logical and meaningful. This book doesn't give us one anti-hero, but three with a supporting cast more disturbing and vile than our three main characters. It is also refreshing the way each chapter deals with one person at a time. Read this and enjoy the moment!!!I also recommend "A Tourist in the Yucatan" interesting thriller/mystery/adventure. it has some rough spots but overall a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: One of the best books I read last year. Ellroy is a master of the "three-man structure." We follow three main characters and how their lives intersect one another. Highly plausible JFK theory, although it doesn't assume to answer the questions of "who" and "how" the assassination is finally committed. Instead, we follow the assassination that almost was. Yes, the ugly event occurred, but in this story the men who are trying to bring it together -- fail. I think it was the of the reasons that the story succeeds on so many levels. One of my favorite Ellroy novels. It is extraordinary.
Rating:
Summary: read it!
Review: American Tabloid is the best book i have ever read. If anyone asked me to recommend a book this would be the book. It is more than a book, it is a work of art...read it.
Rating:
Summary: A History Lesson
Review: LA CONFIDENTIAL (the book and the movie) got a lot of hype and deservedly so. But Ellroy shows he can work nimbly OUTSIDE of his Los Angeles milieu, covering the gamut of American History upside down and inside out. They didn't teach you THIS STUFF in school. Thick with plot, heavy with atmosphere, and light in style, this is a CRIME SAGA worth a few sleepless nights.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but just misses greatness
Review: Ellroy is certainly a master of his medium - that is never in dispute. However, this book is in daanger of losing the reader with all of the subplots and supporting characters. Also, the characterisation is a bit sketchy. Perhaps I'm rating more against what I would have expected as opposed to how good the book actually is. Again, as with all Ellroy novels - it's worth reading for the payoff and seeing each character trying to redeem themselves before it's too late. Not bad, certainly an interesting view of recent American history. Definately worth a read - but the LA Quartet was far superior
Rating:
Summary: Perfect title
Review: It reads like a long tabloid. I've never read any of Ellroy's books but I liked the movie LA Confidential. I had seen a program featuring Ellroy and didn't think much of him...but he can write. In this book there is a huge amount of violence/action, but so..so repetitious. And there are no good guys. Really. I kept putting it down, picking it up, putting it down... It's not horrible, but there's really nothing to reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: American history - Ellroy style
Review: "American Tabloid" left me ambivalent. It moves jaggedly between greatness and mediocrity, two qualities which seem to offset one another proportionately throughtout the piece. So much ground is covered that it becomes difficult to believe the three main characters could be crucial to all of the historical events that take place. And yet, it's fascinating to see history through an Ellroylian lense. Likewise, some of the leaps the characters take (I don't see how a man that killed Tony Iannone would be so easily cowed by Ward Little) seem far-fetched, but they are very compelling characters nonetheless. And lastly, Ellroy's smattering of big words and laconic declarations is often pretentious, but the overall prose is powerful and fascinating. So alas, "Tabloid" is a novel of contradictions in both style and plot: none of its characters are what they appear, the events that take place are acts of expedience and evil disguised as acts of patriotism and civility, and its sophisticated style and form sometimes come across as being a bit gimicky. But what makes it an absolute must read is the plight of the three main characters, specifically Pete Bondurant. A ruthless killer and extortionist, Bondurant is one of the most compelling characters to grace the pages of modern fiction. He's male American ambition throttled to a dangerous extreme. He's self-loathing, angry, ambitious, and in incredible pain; a totally compelling center to a read that endlessly stretches for greatness and sometimes reaches it.
Rating:
Summary: That style...!
Review: Ellroy's style is not original, but paradoxically enough... it's unique. The prose here suggest Burroughs, Ginsberg, Kesey, Hemingway, Crane, and Henry James. It's tempting to dock off a couple of points for the sensationalistic approach to the theme, but that itch is counterbalanced by Ellroy's knack for creating goon-types (L.A. Confidential's Bud White comes to mind), such as Big Pete Bondurant. Bondurant is the axis upon which "American Tabloid" rotates, though Kemper Boyd might be the most attractive character of all. I caught myself hoping this would get to be made into a movie, just so I would see who would get cast, yet the cinematic medium would actually limit the story by depriving it of its biggest sensory weapon: Ellroy's staccato, battering-ram style.
Rating:
Summary: Camelot Debunked !
Review: Decimated! Defoliated! Destroyed!...OK, maybe not. But Ellroy DOES provide an electric and wickedly entertaining alternate history to the Kennedy Years. It smacks of authenticity, and radiates violence. Ellroy paints, with a garish brush, a dizzying and utterly believable historical backdrop. Against it, his characters--sometimes engaging, sometimes flawed, alternately romantic and repellent-- sideswipe (or are blindsided by) some of the most recognizable icons of the modern age (JFK, Jimmy Hoffa, Howard Hughes). Outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: masterpiece
Review: I read all of his books, so I was certainly aware of what Ellroy is capable of. But in my wildest dreams did I not expect that. Is it possible to top this? Only Ellroy could, I guess. After reading American Tabloid I'm almost convinced that this was the real story of JFK and the lead-up to his assasination. Absolutely believable. I can't wait for the follow-up. Ellroy rules.
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