American Tabloid
First American Edition Hardcover
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| Author | James Ellroy |
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| Cover artist | Chip Kidd |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Underworld USA Trilogy |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
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Publication date
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February 14, 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 31607613 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3555.L6274 A8 1995 |
| Followed by | The Cold Six Thousand |
American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy. The novel chronicles three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958 through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI, CIA, and the Mafia, which eventually leads to their involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination. James Ellroy dedicated American Tabloid "To NAT SOBEL."
American Tabloid was Time's Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy, followed by The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover.
American Tabloid is divided into five sections, is exactly one hundred chapters long (many are less than a page in length), and covers exactly five years. The narration eschews both exposition and lengthy dialog exchanges.
All chapters begin with the chapter number, the location (usually the name of the city), and the date ("MM/DD/YYYY"). The action of the book is completely sequential.
Each chapter has a limited third person narrative voice from the point of view of one of the three main characters. Interspersed between the chapters are "document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls. Flashbacks occur, but only in the present tense memory of the protagonists.
"Shakedowns" covers just 26 days, introducing the three principal characters, and establishing their relationships, history, and career trajectories. Pete Bondurant is a former LASD deputy; he presently works for billionaire Howard Hughes and runs small-time shakedowns. (Bondurant is also an associate of Jimmy Hoffa.) Kemper Boyd is a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, a southerner, and a man who covets wealth and power. Ward Littell is also an FBI agent and Boyd's friend and former partner. Although assigned to monitor Communist Party activities, his abiding hatred of organized crime leads him to vie for a spot on the Bureau's Top Hoodlum Squad.
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Wikipedia