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".
Rating: 
Summary: BORING !!
Review: Incredible!! Seven hundred pages of violence, nasty words, treason, murders, knives in the back, despisable characters... That's all you've got here. This was the greatest waste of time in my entire life. I believe in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy. I thought it was very intelligent in Ellroy's part to mixture real and inmaginary characters. But I just don't need to poison my brain with all this junk.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty, Tough and Excellent
Review: The plot of "American Tabloid" is too complex to sum up in one paragraph or in five paragraphs. Basically the story is about the mob, the Kennedys, the FBI, the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa and every important person in the American scene from 1958 through 1963. Each character is carefully drawn out and excellently written. The three main characters Kemper Boyd, Ward Littell and Pete Bondurant are fascinating...Each one has his own strengths and weaknesses, each one is amazingly realistic. You can on and on about the plot, but the true story are the characters. You have the squealers, the enforcers and the mob wannabe types, everyone has an agenda and they all are on the make. I admired Ellroy's style of short sentences, short paragraphs and short chapters. I enjoy smart characters and quick plots. Furthermore, I like being challenged by a writer. You have to pause when you read "American Tabloid", Ellroy serves up so much detail in one chapter that it would take some authors half a book and they still wouldn't cover it as well. Each chapter moves the story forward and all of characters serve a purpose. Rarely have I enjoyed a story more. This is my first James Ellroy book and it will not be my last. I hope they are all this good.
Rating:
Summary: American deathtrap
Review: The subjets covered in this book are both sensitive and explosive: the mafia, the teamsters, the FBI, the CIA and the Kennedy's. James Ellroy leads us through a maze of plans, counter plans, murder and mayhem. The three leading characters, all with very few redeeming traits, mixed together conspire and execute one of the crimes of the century.
When i finished reading this book i felt as if i had gone 15 rounds in the boxing ring. Exhausted, emptied by the speed and emotion of the narrative employed, the words leapt at me, it was impossible to put the book down , everything else i had read paled into nothing and dissapeared into the haze without trace. READ IT AND SEE WHAT I MEAN!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing! Every character is not worth a penny!!
Review: Unbeliavable! Ellroy wrote a book where 99,9% of all characters are vile and mean, totally indecent and immoral, including the ones with real names! Kemper Boyd and Pete Bondurant are pure killers and even when Ellroy talks about the background of these characters, we simply can not care about their welfare: we just despise them. Ward Littel begins with a little more possibility of being a good man, but soon is also lost to "evil"... Totally original here is the courage to introduce real life characters as Hoover and the Kennedy brothers and insert dialogues in their mouths freely. Amazing technique, it works wonderfully! This is a great book, but don't go for it expecting to find nice words or poetry..it's about a society nasty, cheap and corrupt. By the way, even before reading this book, is there someone else out there that still thinks that Lee Oswald acted alone...?
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