Rating: 
Summary: FANTASTIC!
Review: This book is tremendous -- I'm so glad that I decided to pick up "L.A. Confidential" (my first Ellroy novel) a few months ago. Since then, I've read six more, including "American Tabloid." I have to say that it runs a CLOSE second to "L.A. Confidential," which I'm partial to probably only because it was my first experience with Ellroy. "American Tabloid" was fascinating to me, partly because (since I'm only a teenager) I'm unfamiliar with most of the events of the 1950s that the book refers to. This gave me a crash course in recent American history and made it a hell of a lot more exciting, jaded, cynical, and distorted than any textbook possibly could. "American Tabloid" shows us a view of the Kennedys that sharply contrasts the reverent adoration of today's America. The other reason I was fascinated by "American Tabloid" was because of Ellroy's great characters -- the three main characters (Ward, Kemper, and Pete) undergo drastic transformations throughout the novel, making them alternately despicable and likable. Like his other works, the character development is this novel's greatest strength! This is a fantastic read -- absolutely unforgettable and compelling. It's a must-read for the Ellroy fan! If you liked his take on L.A., you'll definitely like his take on the great U.S.A. I can't wait for the next two of this trilogy!!!
Rating:
Summary: Devastating..spectacular..stunning..outrageous...fantastic!
Review: A stylistic, linguistic, and historic eruption without peer -- almost hard to believe Ellroy had this in him (that ANYONE could have). I was shattered and spent at the end of this huge, devastating book. I can't recommend many modern books higher than this one. Buy, read and be prepared to breathlessly recommend to everyone you encounter.
Rating:
Summary: American Tabloid
Review: American Tabloid is one of the finest crime fiction novels in my library. Ellroy is a master of blending actual events with plausible and frightening characters. "Big Pete" Bondurant is a fierce animal that no sane man would want to face in a confrontation. Walt Borchard shines as an idealistic failure. I liked American Tabloid so much I bought the hardback and intend to read it again. This book isn't for the faint of heart - don't leave it laying around unsupervised children.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: As a reader of primarily non-fiction (history/economics), I am no expert on popular authors. However, after reading American Tabloid, it is clear that James Ellroy is a cut above the bestseller-writing hacks. The story is fascinatingly complex, and focuses on recent history as seen through the eyes of three very different lead fictional characters. Ellroy reminds one of Gore Vidal in his tendency to use fictional characters and their perceptions of what is going on around them to express his own historical interpretations. Since much of his historical interpretations are conjecture involving conspiracies, the novel is the perfect writing medium for Ellroy. He turns actual historical figures into peripheral characters in the lives of the fictional ones. Ellroy's distortions of history are amusing, entertaining, and fairly harmlesss. Readers who were put off by Ellroy's esoteric writing style in previous novels (White Jazz, L.A. Confidential) need not worry. This time around, he is a bit more reader-friendly. Above all, the story is top-notch. This is a rather lengthy book, but you will breeze through it. It is a pleasure to read.
Rating:
Summary: Savage, Dark, Awesome!
Review: Ellroy's "American Tabloid" takes the Kennedy-Bay of Pigs era and throws it in the shredder, hacking through the Golden Age myths of Camelot and the reader's pre-conceptions about the JFK presidency. America has never looked so seedy or corrupt. In a work that should be accompanied by a Quentin Tarantino-selected soundtrack, Ellroy spins a tale of duplicity, false alliances, and mutual interest that alternately unites and tears apart the men of the CIA, the FBI, the Mob, the Teamsters, and teven he insane Howard Hughes. The trio of anti-heroes who drive the story forward, Pete Bondurant (hand-cuff snapping hired muscle), Kemper Boyd (Kennedy wannabe from the CIA), and Ward Littel (fallen FBI angel) rub shoulders with the Kennedys, J. Edgar Hoover, and other infamous movers and shakers from the period. One hopes that Ellroy's exhilirating tale is not historically accurate, but Ellroy weaves enough historical detail that you feel as if "you are there, live!" If even one tenth of Ellroy's tale *is* true, then we are reminded how fragile and savage our American experiment with democracy really is.
Rating:
Summary: Savage, Dark, Awesome!
Review: Ellroy's "American Tabloid" takes the Kennedy-Bay of Pigs era and throws it in the shredder, hacking through the Golden Age myths of Camelot and the reader's pre-conceptions about the JFK presidency. America has never looked so seedy or corrupt. In a work that should be accompanied by a Quentin Tarantino-selected soundtrack, Ellroy spins a tale of duplicity, false alliances, and mutual interest that alternately unites and tears apart the men of the CIA, the FBI, the Mob, the Teamsters, and teven he insane Howard Hughes. The trio of anti-heroes who drive the story forward, Pete Bondurant (hand-cuff snapping hired muscle), Kemper Boyd (Kennedy wannabe from the CIA), and Ward Littel (fallen FBI angel) rub shoulders with the Kennedys, J. Edgar Hoover, and other infamous movers and shakers from the period. One hopes that Ellroy's exhilirating tale is not historically accurate, but Ellroy weaves enough historical detail that you feel as if "you are there, live!" If even one tenth of Ellroy's tale *is* true, then we are reminded how fragile and savage our American experiment with democracy really is.
Rating:
Summary: America's Defining Moment Through a Jaundiced Eye
Review: Ellroy's scattered, machine gun prose and deeply flawed characters can alienate a casual reader, but his work remains a rewarding experience for those willing to dig in and wallow in the mire his creations exist in. American Tabloid takes that most sacred moment in history, Camelot, and cuts it open along the belly. From the point of view of three men in the know and behind the scenes of that times power brokers, Ellroy shows that the difference between crime and politics is razor thin and often fatal. Lacking the holy self-righteousness of Oliver Stone's JFK, American Tabloid is another fictional telling of the rise and fall of the Kennedy Administration, but not only does Ellroy have the canvas to widen his lens considerably (encompassing Cuba, Vegas, Washington and more), his film-noir filter paints a more believable, and much darker picture of that time in history. It's not idealism vs. power-mongering, it's simply power vs. power, with a healthy dose of vengeance, double-crosses, and outright hate coming down on all sides. If you're already an Ellroy fan, it's beautiful leap from his L.A. novels, containing a more coherent story-line with less wandering than L.A. Confidential. If you're not already a fan, it's 600+ page length and slang heavy rapid-fire prose might be daunting at first, but determined readers will be sucked in completely.
Rating:
Summary: Years Later This Book Haunts Me
Review: I am not going to recap the book because after 110 reviews I am sure that has been done to death. I am just going to give you my opinion on this book I read about ten years ago.
When I was in college I picked up this book completely as a fluke. It looked interesting, I am big into history and the book jacket peaked my interest. From the first moment I started to read I couldn't put it down. I carried it to the kitchen five hours later while I threw together a sandwich and read while the bread toasted. I read all night and into the next day. I blew off my classes. I didn't do anything else but read. When I was done that afternoon I was not exhausted as one would think. I was exhilarated. This book is so well written, so complex, so dark, so funny, so much more than the average book I was physically excited.
Over the next few months my friends read it and each one read it with the same kind of fervor I did. People who hated to read loved this book.
READ IT! BUY IT! Do not hesitate. If you love a good book then you will completely flip out over this one! It is truly an amazing book and one of the best pieces of fiction ever. I cannot tell you strong enough how wonderful this treasure is for someone who loves to read. It is a perfectly written novel.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing, epic, and mind blowing...
Review: I'm beyond words. It is pulp fiction at it's most riveting. It is history and conspiracy turned upside down. It is humanity in criminals and criminality in heroes and lots in between. I love Ellroy's style. This first bit of fiction of his that I have read and I can't wait to read the rest of his novels. He is amazing. The story is complicated, but you never get lost. It is "What if.." history. It is fact and lots of fiction, but it works. Just read it. If you love Ellroy, crime fiction, historical fiction, or just a good book...this is it.
Rating:
Summary: A Master at the Top of his Game
Review: In "American Tabloid", James Ellroy achieves what few authors ever accomplish. He flawlessly writes his own characters into the political and mob world of the late 1950's and early 1960's, and he makes his plot believeable. As you read conversations that include, JFK, RFK, Sam Giancanna and other famous mob bosses, you have to wonder "this IS fiction, isn't it" "American Tabloid" focuses on the mafia's role in the election of JFK, the Bay of Pigs, and the JFK assasination. As in all of Ellroy's books, no one gets away clean. Pete Boudurant, mob bagman and muscle; Kemper Boyd, FBI agent, CIA operative, looking out only for number one; and Ward J. Little, an FBI agent with a bizzare love/hate obsession with the Kennedy's. These ruthless men and their dealings provide the framework for one of the most brutal, ambitious novels ever written. Ellroy has finally perfected his staccatto prose that he dabbled with in "LA Confidential" and experimented with openly in "White Jazz". The effect is like a literary high, as the book manages to develop several complex charchters with 50's/60's slang and short sentances. The book picks up quickly and never lets up. This book turned me onto the world of James Ellroy, and any reader with an interest in crime fiction needs to read this. Ellroy's second masterpiece, after "LA Confidential".
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