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Shakedown: Freddy Otash Confesses
James Ellroy is an American original of the most profane order. The bestselling author of the noir classics "L.A. Confidential," "The Black Dahlia," and "The Cold Six Thousand," he has been hailed by the "Los Angeles Times" as "one of the best writers of our era." In his latest short fiction, "Shakedown," he is as frenetically depraved as ever, minting an antihero who is a cad for the ages.
Meet Freddy Otash: corrupt cop turned sleaze hustler, extortionist, pimp, and an actual historical figure who made the 1950s magazine "Confidential" the go-to source for the sins of the rich and famous. In his prime, Freddy raised hell, and in the pages of "Shakedown" he finds himself in purgatory—literally—waiting for a transfer. Will he make it to heaven, or is his fate trending south? Promised redemption if he confesses, Freddy writes a tell-all peopled by Hollywood greats like Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and Gary Cooper (to name a few), who are up to all sorts of wrong. Threesomes, foursomes, men’s room misadventures—anything goes in this licentious world.
"Shakedown" explodes the postwar America of June and Ward Cleaver and breathes randy new life into the man who whetted our national appetite for sex and scandal and whose lack of scruples makes today’s gossip culture seem almost innocent. What’s true and what’s fiction? Ellroy’s not telling.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Ellroy is the author of the groundbreaking Underworld USA Trilogy of novels—“American Tabloid,” “The Cold Six Thousand,” and “Blood’s a Rover.” His L.A. Quartet novels—“The Black Dahlia,” “The Big Nowhere,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “White Jazz”—were international bestsellers. “My Dark Places,” his memoir, was a “Time” Best Book of the Year and a “New York Times” Notable Book in 1996. His novel “The Cold Six Thousand” was a “New York Times” Notable Book and a “Los Angeles Times” Best Book for 2001. Ellroy lives in Los Angeles.
PRAISE FOR “SHAKEDOWN”
Need paint peeled? Skin flensed? Zombies repelled? Expose the problem to Ellroy’s scabrous, excoriating look behind the curtains of golden-era Los Angeles and presto—solved. … Most definitely not nice, though if you like your language salty enough to float on without ever hitting water, then this is just the thing. —Kirkus Reviews
PRAISE FOR JAMES ELLROY
“Ellroy rips into American culture like a chainsaw in an abattoir.” —Time
“Bold, electrifying. … Ellroy strips prose to its raw, gleaming bone. … James Ellroy is an American original, a sophisticated primitive as smooth as the snick-snick! of a pump shotgun and as subtle as the inevitable blast.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Ellroy’s characters are drawn with a firm brush, he has an excellent line in flinty, sardonic dialogue, and you terribly want to know how the whole thing is going to work out in the end.” —The New York Times
“More than any other contemporary author, Ellroy gets inside the skull of the sadistic psychopath. … A true original.” —Jonathan Kellerman
Meet Freddy Otash: corrupt cop turned sleaze hustler, extortionist, pimp, and an actual historical figure who made the 1950s magazine "Confidential" the go-to source for the sins of the rich and famous. In his prime, Freddy raised hell, and in the pages of "Shakedown" he finds himself in purgatory—literally—waiting for a transfer. Will he make it to heaven, or is his fate trending south? Promised redemption if he confesses, Freddy writes a tell-all peopled by Hollywood greats like Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and Gary Cooper (to name a few), who are up to all sorts of wrong. Threesomes, foursomes, men’s room misadventures—anything goes in this licentious world.
"Shakedown" explodes the postwar America of June and Ward Cleaver and breathes randy new life into the man who whetted our national appetite for sex and scandal and whose lack of scruples makes today’s gossip culture seem almost innocent. What’s true and what’s fiction? Ellroy’s not telling.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Ellroy is the author of the groundbreaking Underworld USA Trilogy of novels—“American Tabloid,” “The Cold Six Thousand,” and “Blood’s a Rover.” His L.A. Quartet novels—“The Black Dahlia,” “The Big Nowhere,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “White Jazz”—were international bestsellers. “My Dark Places,” his memoir, was a “Time” Best Book of the Year and a “New York Times” Notable Book in 1996. His novel “The Cold Six Thousand” was a “New York Times” Notable Book and a “Los Angeles Times” Best Book for 2001. Ellroy lives in Los Angeles.
PRAISE FOR “SHAKEDOWN”
Need paint peeled? Skin flensed? Zombies repelled? Expose the problem to Ellroy’s scabrous, excoriating look behind the curtains of golden-era Los Angeles and presto—solved. … Most definitely not nice, though if you like your language salty enough to float on without ever hitting water, then this is just the thing. —Kirkus Reviews
PRAISE FOR JAMES ELLROY
“Ellroy rips into American culture like a chainsaw in an abattoir.” —Time
“Bold, electrifying. … Ellroy strips prose to its raw, gleaming bone. … James Ellroy is an American original, a sophisticated primitive as smooth as the snick-snick! of a pump shotgun and as subtle as the inevitable blast.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Ellroy’s characters are drawn with a firm brush, he has an excellent line in flinty, sardonic dialogue, and you terribly want to know how the whole thing is going to work out in the end.” —The New York Times
“More than any other contemporary author, Ellroy gets inside the skull of the sadistic psychopath. … A true original.” —Jonathan Kellerman
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2012
34 people are currently reading
365 people want to read
About the author
James Ellroy
138 books4,192 followersLee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black Dahlia (1987) and L.A. Confidential (1990).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
August 30, 2021
Ho letto quasi tutto di J.E... Mi e' piaciuto quasi tutto di J.E... Sono diventati troppo numerosi questi libretti paraculi di J.E... La cristallina classe del distopico diavolo di L.A. non e' morta e mai morira', ma si e' sterilizzata stancamente in un arido esercizio di stile. Speriamo in qualcosa di meglio.
July 8, 2016
So only the other day I was forced to have a quiet word with Stephen King about inserting himself into the narrative, and now I catch James Ellroy doing exactly the same thing. I shake my head with these guys, I really do.
Fred Otash is clearly a figure with greater cultural currency in The States than this side of the pond – as such my knowledge of him is largely derived from Google. It seems he was a private detective who was huge as a scandal-raker in the 1950s, apparently supplying the magazines of the time and bugging everyone who was anybody. If there was dirt then Fred Otash knew about it. This is of course grist to James Ellroy’s seedy little mill, and he puts his 1950s LA cop scene hat back on and goes wild. What we have is a counterpoint to ‘L.A. Confidential’, ‘The Black Dahlia’, ‘The Big Nowhere’ and ‘White Jazz’ – the source of all that A-grade, A-list, A-bomb Hollywood gossip which runs in the background throughout the books.
And the result is a lot of fun, but totally and ludicrously salacious. I don’t want to come over as some kind of prude here, but really? Was Hollywood in the 1950s so full of bisexual stars who would do anything with anyone – as well as animals, vegetables and minerals? It’s like Kenneth Anger’s ‘Hollywood Babylon’ run to lewd and nonsensical extremes. We all know that Rock Hudson was gay, I don’t think that news will surprise anyone, but surely that tale about Katharine Hepburn is not true? And surely James Dean never worked as a gopher for this kind of stuff or made his own porn movies? Really, you’re just making this up now – aren’t you, James?
Ellroy’s popping and fizzing, delirious prose style just adds hyperbole, but it also makes it seem utterly ridiculous. By the time we’re narrating threesomes between Otash, Liz Taylor and various nubile young lovelies, it just feels like some big, gaudy masturbation fantasy. It also reads like complete nonsense. There’s just so much mud thrown against the wall you can barely see the wall anymore, let alone the individual bits of mud. The whole thing comes across as a wild fantasy, salaciously libelling a bunch of dead film stars for little more than rude, over the top kicks. It’s fun undoubtedly, but probably quite inconsequential and fairly easy to dismiss.
Fred Otash is clearly a figure with greater cultural currency in The States than this side of the pond – as such my knowledge of him is largely derived from Google. It seems he was a private detective who was huge as a scandal-raker in the 1950s, apparently supplying the magazines of the time and bugging everyone who was anybody. If there was dirt then Fred Otash knew about it. This is of course grist to James Ellroy’s seedy little mill, and he puts his 1950s LA cop scene hat back on and goes wild. What we have is a counterpoint to ‘L.A. Confidential’, ‘The Black Dahlia’, ‘The Big Nowhere’ and ‘White Jazz’ – the source of all that A-grade, A-list, A-bomb Hollywood gossip which runs in the background throughout the books.
And the result is a lot of fun, but totally and ludicrously salacious. I don’t want to come over as some kind of prude here, but really? Was Hollywood in the 1950s so full of bisexual stars who would do anything with anyone – as well as animals, vegetables and minerals? It’s like Kenneth Anger’s ‘Hollywood Babylon’ run to lewd and nonsensical extremes. We all know that Rock Hudson was gay, I don’t think that news will surprise anyone, but surely that tale about Katharine Hepburn is not true? And surely James Dean never worked as a gopher for this kind of stuff or made his own porn movies? Really, you’re just making this up now – aren’t you, James?
Ellroy’s popping and fizzing, delirious prose style just adds hyperbole, but it also makes it seem utterly ridiculous. By the time we’re narrating threesomes between Otash, Liz Taylor and various nubile young lovelies, it just feels like some big, gaudy masturbation fantasy. It also reads like complete nonsense. There’s just so much mud thrown against the wall you can barely see the wall anymore, let alone the individual bits of mud. The whole thing comes across as a wild fantasy, salaciously libelling a bunch of dead film stars for little more than rude, over the top kicks. It’s fun undoubtedly, but probably quite inconsequential and fairly easy to dismiss.
November 1, 2023
Freddie Otash is a devilish dude who made his living documenting Hollywood’s most deliciously scandalous stories in compelling and complex narrative in the magazine confidential. This novella was perpetually plagued by a lack of plot and confuddling confusion surrounding the nature of events. James Elroy whilst still writing with his renowned purple lyrical prose didn’t do Freddie justice in the confidential themed novella.
In summary; Debauchery documented most disjointed.
In summary; Debauchery documented most disjointed.
May 4, 2014
Only James Ellroy could take an unscrupulous scandal-monger like Fred Otash and make him an entertaining character. For those familiar with Ellroy’s decadent dialect, this book serves up a fictionalized version of history. Fascinated with the sleaze of 1950s Hollywood, Ellroy uses Shakedown to plum the same territory as his most famous novels. It’s scandal rags, salacious behavior, and smutty situations. It’s also a good read with the kind of characters one can be simultaneously repulsed by and engrossed with.
One of the joys of reading Ellroy is his language. The man adores alliteration. Ellroy’s verbose vernacular almost begs for vocalization. Otash uses language in much the same way Ellroy envisions all his prime characters use it, with an eye for say harsh words in eloquent ways. The language is coarse and bawdy, frank and obtrusive, a literary device with the subtly of a sledgehammer.
To read the rest of this review (and others like it), please visit The King's Crier: Book reviews at http://kingscrier.blogspot.com/2014/0...
One of the joys of reading Ellroy is his language. The man adores alliteration. Ellroy’s verbose vernacular almost begs for vocalization. Otash uses language in much the same way Ellroy envisions all his prime characters use it, with an eye for say harsh words in eloquent ways. The language is coarse and bawdy, frank and obtrusive, a literary device with the subtly of a sledgehammer.
To read the rest of this review (and others like it), please visit The King's Crier: Book reviews at http://kingscrier.blogspot.com/2014/0...
December 17, 2012
I kind of enjoyed SHAKEDOWN (with the emphasis on "kind of"). James Ellroy took on a library of new challenges trying to write a novella AND new material at the same time and it's almost a bull's eye. SHAKEDOWN reads like a love letter to Freddy Otash, one of his favorite mid-century L.A underworld character, who sold secrets about the Hollywood stars to gossip magazines. It was a little too "out there" for my tastes, with the afterlife gimmick and the Ellroy character. The great cohesive nature Ellroy's novel usually have is absent here and therefore it handicaps immersion. I can still command Ellroy's sheer boldness and this could develop to be an interesting path for the future, but everything in SHAKEDOWN is embryonary.
February 11, 2015
easy 1950s L.A setting. a lot of name dropping and celebrity stories real and fake. Fred Otash is the crooked L.A cop turned P.I turned scandal monger and shakedowner.
The short novella is entertaining. Could be longer with more depth to characters and setting.
The short novella is entertaining. Could be longer with more depth to characters and setting.
November 27, 2018
It's like if all of the seedy nasty shit in the LA Quartet were cut into their own story. Left me wanting more Ellroy though.
August 9, 2024
I've spent the two days since finishing this desperately trying to figure out what this was actually meant to be.
Being written Ellroy and taking place in the 50s the logical assumption would be thriller, but this features little plot or crime.
There's a few stabs at the "giving birth to the modern age" stuff other authors of the historical fiction genre like to use, but not with much passion or sincerity.
There's the strange author self-insertion, but even that doesn't actually lead to more than two pages Ellroy talking at the reader.
All that seems left is Ellroy's hypnotic style in service of nothing but itself, which perversely is still better than THIS STORM's desperate urge to press the last 30 years of Ellroy's output into direct continuity, but not by much.
Being written Ellroy and taking place in the 50s the logical assumption would be thriller, but this features little plot or crime.
There's a few stabs at the "giving birth to the modern age" stuff other authors of the historical fiction genre like to use, but not with much passion or sincerity.
There's the strange author self-insertion, but even that doesn't actually lead to more than two pages Ellroy talking at the reader.
All that seems left is Ellroy's hypnotic style in service of nothing but itself, which perversely is still better than THIS STORM's desperate urge to press the last 30 years of Ellroy's output into direct continuity, but not by much.
November 7, 2018
Gros gros kiffe avec Extorsion !!! Une dose d'adrénaline à l'état pure avec cette déferlante d'informations qui vrillent le cerveau !!!
Fred Otash autant que les plus grands noms d'Hollywood des années 50 sous les feux des projecteurs fictifs de James Ellroy et ce dernier s'acquitte parfaitement bien de la tâche. Il les met à nu, expose tous leurs travers et fait exploser leurs moindres petits secrets.
Haletant ! Un court roman réellement haletant !
Fred Otash autant que les plus grands noms d'Hollywood des années 50 sous les feux des projecteurs fictifs de James Ellroy et ce dernier s'acquitte parfaitement bien de la tâche. Il les met à nu, expose tous leurs travers et fait exploser leurs moindres petits secrets.
Haletant ! Un court roman réellement haletant !
June 29, 2022
Ellroy goes off the rails a bit…which he does too often in his later books. Uses the letter K to a fault (watch his YouTube’s to understand). Centers around a real dude named Otash…very hush hush!
January 11, 2025
The first 60 pages or so of Ellroy’s later work “Widespread Panic”, a really gripping book about Freddy Otash having to write his life story from Hell and confess all his sins through some shmuck writer named James Ellroy (who would’ve thought?).
Really great stuff, I just wish the full book was as consistent and fantastic as this.
Really great stuff, I just wish the full book was as consistent and fantastic as this.
October 2, 2014
Fred Otash! Ellroy takes on the legendary PI sleaze miester in an over-the-top fictionalized memoir. And, he takes on himself as well as well. He knows the game.
I'm old enough to remember Confidential. For some reason my dad had a collection of them (it's there I learned that Hank Williams committed suicide with a Russian Roulette game with H called Clock. Who knows? But to this day whenever I think of Hank Williams that's the first thing that comes to mind I also remember a bizarre short piece which claimaead the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor kept a toilet in their living room. But I digress.
Yes, for people who wonder if 1950s Hollywood was full of sleaze due to post-war social repression, it was. As crazy as Ellroy makes Otash, he's captured the essence.
A fun read from the demob dog.
PS I recently saw Fred Otash in the film The Executioner (it has another title, too) on Turner's Sunday night "art" film show. By the end of the film at least 177 people had been knocked off.
I'm old enough to remember Confidential. For some reason my dad had a collection of them (it's there I learned that Hank Williams committed suicide with a Russian Roulette game with H called Clock. Who knows? But to this day whenever I think of Hank Williams that's the first thing that comes to mind I also remember a bizarre short piece which claimaead the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor kept a toilet in their living room. But I digress.
Yes, for people who wonder if 1950s Hollywood was full of sleaze due to post-war social repression, it was. As crazy as Ellroy makes Otash, he's captured the essence.
A fun read from the demob dog.
PS I recently saw Fred Otash in the film The Executioner (it has another title, too) on Turner's Sunday night "art" film show. By the end of the film at least 177 people had been knocked off.
January 1, 2013
I think Mr. Ellroy may have reached that period in a Bestselling author's life where no one is really putting any quality control on his work and, frankly, his career apogee occurred in the mid-90s with "White Jazz" and "American Tabloid". I have wondered for years how he gets away with writing such horrendous gossip on historical figures (I know, there's a kernel of truth to all these cases--still hard to justify the hyperbole) but, with "Shakedown" it dawned on me that James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Liz Taylor are all dead now, so maybe that figures into the equation. "Shakedown" juxtaposes this trend with a weird protagonist speaking from Purgatory and allusion to the author's feelings about the 2012 Election. I think I'm done running down to the premium bookstore to pick up this author's works in hardcover as soon as they're released and glad I Kindled this one; in fact, I just made a New Years' Resolution regarding his future releases.
October 23, 2014
Freddy Otash is in purgatory. To earn a ticket out he needs to tell all. What follows is a list of sleazy Hollywood tales behind Otash’s Confidential magazine. As well as encounters with the stars, Otash also meets up with James Ellroy to pass on his life story.
The whole thing seems to have its tongue firmly in its cheek. Though there are some nice moments and a sprinkling of stunning phrases, there isn’t really a strong centre. It spins from low life act to exposé like a machine gun turret gone wild and because of this it never really finds traction.
There’s also a very deliberate and slightly irritating alliteration that I could have done without entirely.
It may well be that I missed the point of all this. That the book has a meaning or a subtext that I’ve not been able to grasp. For that reason, I’d suggest you read a range of reviews. That way, you might catch the opinions of someone who has the inside line on the jokes and references.
Not really for me.
The whole thing seems to have its tongue firmly in its cheek. Though there are some nice moments and a sprinkling of stunning phrases, there isn’t really a strong centre. It spins from low life act to exposé like a machine gun turret gone wild and because of this it never really finds traction.
There’s also a very deliberate and slightly irritating alliteration that I could have done without entirely.
It may well be that I missed the point of all this. That the book has a meaning or a subtext that I’ve not been able to grasp. For that reason, I’d suggest you read a range of reviews. That way, you might catch the opinions of someone who has the inside line on the jokes and references.
Not really for me.
December 17, 2013
Ellroy writes with a crudeness that's meant to shock and offend. His protagonist, Fred Otash, is a man with little conscience and unapologetic greed. His life of manipulation and scams has landed him, after his death, in purgatory. It is here that the reader is invited to join in on Fred's reminiscence of the past; his goal is to expose his past deeds (the same way he exposed the dirty secrets of those around him) in order to gain access to heaven. Whether this is just some cruel trick that the devil is playing on him is left to the reader to decide at the end.
March 14, 2017
Tantalising re-introduction to James Ellroy after falling out with him over Blood's A Rover. This very short but punchy novella is a reminder of how even the likes of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are not beyond Ellroy's historical slander, in this case by disgraced ex-cop and professional sleaze, Freddie Otash. Written in the highly alliterative Hush-Hush style, it's Ellroy at his disgracefully dirty, demon dog best. Good fun.
August 3, 2017
Simply unbearable. Judging from this, Ellroy seems to think that good writing is all about pointedly packing one's prose with as much pointless alliteration as possible. That, and he over-relies on profanity in giving his story that "hard-boiled" feel.
July 3, 2023
Titolo Libro: Ricatto
Autore: James Ellroy
Casa Editrice : Einaudi
Opinione Personale:
A distanza di mesi torno a leggere un libro di Ellroy. A differenza degli altri libri di Ellroy questo è davvero breve, poco più di 70 pagine. E se si pensa alla mole dei libri dell' autore statunitense (soprattutto degli ultimi) è davvero inusuale.
Ma nonostante ciò Ellroy riesce perfettamente a descrivere e a raccontare un personaggio come Freddy Otash, ex poliziotto della Omicidi.
Ambientato negli anni '90, nei quali il protagonista racconta la propria vita ad un certo autore, che vuole scrivere uno sceneggiato per la televisione, di nome James Ellroy, con flashback degli anni' 50.
Storia ambientata nell' arco narrativo della saga di L. A scritta da Ellroy stesso. Infatti si ritroveranno dei personaggi conosciuti in quella serie di libri.
Detto ciò, Ellroy racconta i vari retroscena della vita e della carriera di questi nuovo personaggio. Da poliziotto a informatore per un tabloid scandalistico.
Tramite questo personaggio Ellroy racconta una Hollywood bella all' apparenza ma che in realtà nasconde scandalo e depravazione.
Con il suo stile di scrittura, il suo modo di raccontare personaggi machi (e non solo) Ellroy non delude neanche questa volta, neanche se sfrutta pochissime pagine.
Ellroy è una garanzia per gli amanti di questo genere di racconti/romanzi.
Un mondo sporco, crudo e crudele, ricco di violenza e giochi di potere. Insomma l' Hardboiled che ogni amante cerca.
Probabilmente è il libro meno conosciuto dell' autore, ma merita comunque una lettura. Soprattutto da chi vuole conoscere lo stile dell' autore e vuole cimentarsi con il genere.
Gl amanti del collezionismo e dell' ordine saranno felici di sapere che anche questo libro è stato pubblicato da Einaudi, che pian piano sbra voler ristampare tutti i libri (o quasi) dell' autore.
Fatemi sapere nei commenti se vi incuriosisce, se avete già letto qualcosa di Ellroy o se volete iniziare a leggere Ellroy o se volete provare a leggere Hardboiled.
Autore: James Ellroy
Casa Editrice : Einaudi
Opinione Personale:
A distanza di mesi torno a leggere un libro di Ellroy. A differenza degli altri libri di Ellroy questo è davvero breve, poco più di 70 pagine. E se si pensa alla mole dei libri dell' autore statunitense (soprattutto degli ultimi) è davvero inusuale.
Ma nonostante ciò Ellroy riesce perfettamente a descrivere e a raccontare un personaggio come Freddy Otash, ex poliziotto della Omicidi.
Ambientato negli anni '90, nei quali il protagonista racconta la propria vita ad un certo autore, che vuole scrivere uno sceneggiato per la televisione, di nome James Ellroy, con flashback degli anni' 50.
Storia ambientata nell' arco narrativo della saga di L. A scritta da Ellroy stesso. Infatti si ritroveranno dei personaggi conosciuti in quella serie di libri.
Detto ciò, Ellroy racconta i vari retroscena della vita e della carriera di questi nuovo personaggio. Da poliziotto a informatore per un tabloid scandalistico.
Tramite questo personaggio Ellroy racconta una Hollywood bella all' apparenza ma che in realtà nasconde scandalo e depravazione.
Con il suo stile di scrittura, il suo modo di raccontare personaggi machi (e non solo) Ellroy non delude neanche questa volta, neanche se sfrutta pochissime pagine.
Ellroy è una garanzia per gli amanti di questo genere di racconti/romanzi.
Un mondo sporco, crudo e crudele, ricco di violenza e giochi di potere. Insomma l' Hardboiled che ogni amante cerca.
Probabilmente è il libro meno conosciuto dell' autore, ma merita comunque una lettura. Soprattutto da chi vuole conoscere lo stile dell' autore e vuole cimentarsi con il genere.
Gl amanti del collezionismo e dell' ordine saranno felici di sapere che anche questo libro è stato pubblicato da Einaudi, che pian piano sbra voler ristampare tutti i libri (o quasi) dell' autore.
Fatemi sapere nei commenti se vi incuriosisce, se avete già letto qualcosa di Ellroy o se volete iniziare a leggere Ellroy o se volete provare a leggere Hardboiled.
January 6, 2023
Un très court roman (135 p.) assez incroyable, très original dans sa construction - l'auteur lui-même se donne un rôle dans lequel il se fait copieusement insulter par le narrateur - et qui se lit d'une traite ou presque. Situé en majeure partie dans les années cinquante, il fait la part belle aux stars de l'époque, leur attribuant les pires défauts et turpitudes. Le narrateur, Fred Otash, est un odieux personnage, et c'est ça qui est réjouissant tout du long. S'il n'y a pas grand-chose à sauver chez lui (il a cependant deux lignes rouges qu'il ne franchit pas : commettre un meurtre et travailler pour les communistes), son parcours de vie, ici raconté par épisodes et sans respect complet de chronologie, est fascinant. C'est une lecture qui dénonce la presse de caniveau de l'époque, et nous nous y complaisons avec bonheur, c'est honteux, mais tellement grisant... Si vous idolâtrez Liz Taylor, Marlon Brando ou James Dean, sachez que leur image se trouvera clairement entachée après avoir découvert ce qu'ils sont censés avoir fait dans leur vie. Libre à nous, lecteurs, de croire la fable de James Ellroy.
March 16, 2018
"I stuck his knife hand in the grease and french-fried it. I thought of all the Japs i would have killed if i hadn't spent the war stateside.
He screamed. It was brigades of torched Japs on Saipan. I held his hand in the grease and burned it to the bone. Spatters hit my London Shop shirt.
I dropped his hand. I walked to the locker, grabbed the pictures, and flipped through them. Liberace Goes Greek-Kodacolor prints and negatives.
Sanchez screamed and careened through the kitchen. He overturned a dish rack and spastic-bounced off the walls. His hand was charbroiled. I saw flesh fall off the fingers."
Freddy Otash confesses; and James Ellroy goes Gonzo in this short story, inserting himself into the narrative as Freddy's confessor. Otash is an ex-cop, disgraced and turned procurer of sleaze for the gossip mag, Confidential. Only Otash is dead at 70 and Ellroy steals Otash's diaries with a view to exposing Otash's sleazy past.
A quick little diversion for fans of Ellroy's fiction.
He screamed. It was brigades of torched Japs on Saipan. I held his hand in the grease and burned it to the bone. Spatters hit my London Shop shirt.
I dropped his hand. I walked to the locker, grabbed the pictures, and flipped through them. Liberace Goes Greek-Kodacolor prints and negatives.
Sanchez screamed and careened through the kitchen. He overturned a dish rack and spastic-bounced off the walls. His hand was charbroiled. I saw flesh fall off the fingers."
Freddy Otash confesses; and James Ellroy goes Gonzo in this short story, inserting himself into the narrative as Freddy's confessor. Otash is an ex-cop, disgraced and turned procurer of sleaze for the gossip mag, Confidential. Only Otash is dead at 70 and Ellroy steals Otash's diaries with a view to exposing Otash's sleazy past.
A quick little diversion for fans of Ellroy's fiction.
June 15, 2020
Un ancien flic pourri arrive au purgatoire, et relate ses souvenirs d’un Hollywood peuplé de stars débauchées craignant le scandale.
Je suis déçue par cette œuvre d’un auteur que j’apprécie beaucoup. C’est plus une nouvelle qu’un roman : 135 pages, et encore… Avec des marges très très larges !
On commence à peine à entrer dans l’histoire, à repérer des fulgurances dans le texte… que c’est fini ! C’est frustrant, surtout pour un écrivain de romans noirs.
J’ai bien vu, après ma lecture, des commentaires indiquant qu’il s’agissait en réalité un écrit parodique de l’auteur destiné à être diffusé par un ami sur internet, et non à être publié comme roman.
Mais voilà, c’est vendu comme un roman. Aucun élément sur la quatrième de couverture ne permet de comprendre ce contexte. Peut-être est-ce la faute de l’éditeur et non de l’auteur, mais toujours est-il qu’il n’y a aucun moyen de le savoir en abordant simplement le livre comme un lecteur ordinaire. Mon sentiment de déception ne disparaît pas, même si le texte comporte de très belles perles.
Je suis déçue par cette œuvre d’un auteur que j’apprécie beaucoup. C’est plus une nouvelle qu’un roman : 135 pages, et encore… Avec des marges très très larges !
On commence à peine à entrer dans l’histoire, à repérer des fulgurances dans le texte… que c’est fini ! C’est frustrant, surtout pour un écrivain de romans noirs.
J’ai bien vu, après ma lecture, des commentaires indiquant qu’il s’agissait en réalité un écrit parodique de l’auteur destiné à être diffusé par un ami sur internet, et non à être publié comme roman.
Mais voilà, c’est vendu comme un roman. Aucun élément sur la quatrième de couverture ne permet de comprendre ce contexte. Peut-être est-ce la faute de l’éditeur et non de l’auteur, mais toujours est-il qu’il n’y a aucun moyen de le savoir en abordant simplement le livre comme un lecteur ordinaire. Mon sentiment de déception ne disparaît pas, même si le texte comporte de très belles perles.
August 4, 2022
Review Summary: Short and sweet.
Shakedown does not read like a straightforward novella with a straightforward narrative. It flirts with metafiction narrated by the real life cop/PI/no gooder Freddy Otash and surprisingly Ellroy himself, as a vessel. It reads like a gossip rag, complete with the lingo but with the quality of one of our favorite Ellroy novel - LA Confidential.
What’s the difference from his normal novels then? You might ask...this as mentioned early on does not beholden to a narrative. It’s Ellroy’s love letter to the gossip rag he read all those years ago and the tales from such magazine came straight from the horse’s mouth. Short stories upon short stories without any sense to its structure. It only works because of how short it was. Anything more than a novella with more than a hundred page, it would become a chore to read .
Shakedown does not read like a straightforward novella with a straightforward narrative. It flirts with metafiction narrated by the real life cop/PI/no gooder Freddy Otash and surprisingly Ellroy himself, as a vessel. It reads like a gossip rag, complete with the lingo but with the quality of one of our favorite Ellroy novel - LA Confidential.
What’s the difference from his normal novels then? You might ask...this as mentioned early on does not beholden to a narrative. It’s Ellroy’s love letter to the gossip rag he read all those years ago and the tales from such magazine came straight from the horse’s mouth. Short stories upon short stories without any sense to its structure. It only works because of how short it was. Anything more than a novella with more than a hundred page, it would become a chore to read .
October 3, 2018
Non c'è una storia ma solo una lunga sequela di personaggi celebri della Hollywood di qualche decennio fa, che si scopre essere tutti dei depravati. Ah sì, Freddy Otash è un ex-sbirro e li tiene tutti per le palle in quanto informatore del giornale scandalistico Confidential. Più che un romanzo un racconto lungo...
April 3, 2021
A very weird alliteration fueled novella that is kind of vulgar and crude but enjoyable. A piece of this novella felt like I was on a weird drug trip fantasy with how fast the pacing and word play was, and I docked another star for the not so subtle racism Ellroy often exploits to give characters personality.
November 26, 2024
It's a bit weird, even for Ellroy
It's a bit weird, even for Ellroy but it did completely change my conception of Otash. The interplay between the character and the writer is very funny.
It's a bit weird, even for Ellroy but it did completely change my conception of Otash. The interplay between the character and the writer is very funny.
March 14, 2018
Good quick read from Ellroy.
October 28, 2018
Breve, assurdo, però divertente.
May 30, 2020
Great short story! Ellroy does a great job telling a tale that the devil himself would enjoy.
April 6, 2022
The schtick is getting stale. His earlier works are more lived-in and absorbing. This is more style than story.
January 7, 2024
Classique James Ellroy. Très sombre et divertissant. Son seul défaut est que c'est un peu trop court. Sinon c'est un bon Roman noir typique de l'écrivain.
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