Ellroy crossbreeds the detective novel, historical, and gothic horror; so we get an analysis of the impulses and pathology behind historical events anEllroy crossbreeds the detective novel, historical, and gothic horror; so we get an analysis of the impulses and pathology behind historical events and figures, a Boschian canvas of human depravity, a crackerjack plot, and three unlovable but compelling protagonists living on the edge. The plot involves Red Scare intrigue (and its connection to Hollywood greed) and very disturbing serial killer. Also features Howard Hughes, Mickey Cohen, bestiality, teamsters, wolverines, necrophilia, heroin, blackmail, and lots of corruption. Filled with outrageous black humor and delivered in Ellroy’s newsman on meth prose. ...more
Consider my review for the Big Nowhere but more so; a meditation on violence like McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, a Shakespeare tragedy with smut rackets, Consider my review for the Big Nowhere but more so; a meditation on violence like McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, a Shakespeare tragedy with smut rackets, prostitutes, crooked cops, serial killers, heroin (and a villain equal to Iago or Richard the Third), a parable of omniscient corruption, a history lesson of Hell’s dark latitudes. Ellroy’s prose a combination of Beat gutter poetry and a meth addled newsman. And for the record, the movie and the book only bear superficial similarities. ...more
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