Rating: 
Summary: Amazing.
Review: This was the first Ellroy book I read and has made me an Ellroy junkie. Compelling. Brutal. Intriguing. It made me develop an interest in the political goings on of that era after I had read it. Leaves you thinking for a while after.
Rating: 
Summary: Too hardboiled for its own damn good
Review: This novel is fun for a couple of hundred pages, but Ellroy gets lost somewhere along the way. The plot took so many twists and turns that I decided to just go along rather than make myself seasick trying to keep the big picture in mind. One of the book's best points, the fact that it puts a human face on the mythology of the Kennedy era, is also a weakness: who cares what happens to these scumbags? Ellroy's perspective is interesting and his (near-)complete lack of moral judgment is impressive. It's too bad his self-indulgent badass style gets in the way; some sections are so clunky, they come off as self-parody. Still, if you don't let these things bother you, it's not a bad ride.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Doesn't Matter
Review: I have no idea how much of this book is based on truth and how much is heavily garnished. But it is one of the most satisfying and entertaining books I've read in months. Yes, it's gory, cynical, and full of twisted, vile characters. Yet the plot and characters are just complex and intelligent enough to leave you compelled to keep reading.I read Ellroy's books because they are imaginative, full of larger-than-life characters and intelligent. A perfect temporary diversion from my often mundane and irritating life problems.
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: This was the first James Ellroy novel I read, and I was hooked from the beginning. Ellroy's creative usage of pieced-together, sometimes incoherent thoughts of the characters accompany his descriptive yet to the point writing perfectly. "American Tabloid" is one of the best novels that I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best.
Review: I agree totally with this comment: I enjoyed this book immensely for around 200 pages. Many of the characterizations, particularly Hoover and JFK, were dead-on, and Ellroy's perspective was compelling. About halfway through, however, the book starts to unravel. The plot becomes baroque and ultimately incoherent and the violence is so routine and excessive that it is ultimately cartoonish. In fact, I think it's fair to say that this book is essentially a cartoon version of Libra.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best crime writers ever delivers again!
Review: James Ellroy is easily one of the most imaginative crime writers in contemporary fiction and his books never fail to deliver the goods. "American Tabloid" is a comprehensive guide to the late 60's, JFK, Castro, J.Edgar Hoover, Bay of Pigs and every other thug from Tiger-srtipped taxi drivers to destructive detectives bent on revenge. Ellroy writes like a cyclone, he pierces us with his bold pen and his razor sharp dialogue. He is a clear sign of everything good in crime fiction and here's hoping he continues for a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: MYTH DEBUNKING 101
Review: James Ellroy's searing, brilliant L.A. Quartet were blistering deconstuctions of our shared delusional view of the 1950's. They pealed away the dross of nostalgia and idealization to reveal the corruption and power abuse beneath it. What makes AMERICAN TABLOID the crowning achievement of his career is the fact that it does more than shred our conceptions of the zeigeist, but it demolishes the very people and systems that are the foundations of this hallucination. In brutally clipped sentences that cut like wheated blades, Ellroy takes us into the backyard of Camelot and shows vividly how little 'innocence' there was to lose when JFK was killed. Beyond that, the vivid characterisations of Little, Bondurant and Boyd make the book more than a mere expose. This is even more admirable considering the paucity of words he utilizes. Many authors pontificate endlessly about character movitvation and emotion. Ellroy has the singular ability to cut to the bone of his bad men with a few violent sentences. Furthermore, as a speculation on the Kenndedy assassination, it beats Don Delillo's LIBRA in plausibility, craftsmanship and overall quality.
Rating: 
Summary: A good introduction to the fiction of Ellroy
Review: Not as brutal as his earlier books; Black Dahlia or White Jazz, but also more intricate in detail, American Tabloid is the perfect introduction to the twisted fiction of James Ellroy. Here he concentrates on three disctinctivly different main characters, Pete Bondurant, Ward Littel and Kemper Boyd. Bondurant previously appears in Ellroy's LA Cycle of books, but is center stage here. This book is the perfect companion to the recently produced HBO movie The Rat Pack, and also Don DeLillo's Libra. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Huge, monumental and straight into my top ten.
Review: American Tabloid will leave you reeling with the enormity of the author's achievement. Taking the Kennedy administration and the Cuban crisis as its backdrop -Ellroy infiltrates the dark side of American powerbroking in the early 60s. All the big players/themes are thrown into the melting pot - FBI, Mafia, Howard Hughes, anti-communism, CIA, personal ambition. Written in relentless Ellroy speak AT is simply unputdownable. The novel races you through from criminal subterfuge to ruthless realpolitik and despite the complexity of the tale - Ellroy keeps the reader on board. Many talk of Ellroy as the 'greatest crime/noir writer ever' etc. - I don't know about that, being new to the genre but what a book to pop my noir cherry on.
Rating:
Summary: strap yourself in for a wild ride.
Review: "American Tabloid" is James Ellroy at his nastiest and most compelling. The best living noir writer has honed his wordplay to frighteningly effective levels. Get ready for a wild trip through the late '50s and early '60s and leave the Kennedy mystique behind. This book grabs you on the first page and won't let you go. Reading this book requires some effort - there are seemingly hundreds of names, places and events coming at you at breathtaking speed. But hang in there; it's a ride worth taking. Ellroy's earlier Los Angeles books - "The Big Nowhere," "The Black Dahlia," "LA Confidential" and "White Jazz" - are intense reading experiences, but with "American Tabloid," he has taken his razor-sharp style to its maximum. Where can he go from here? It's hard to imagine. But it will be great stuff, i'm sure.
|
