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LAPD '53
James Ellroy, the undisputed master of crime writing, has teamed up with the Los Angeles Police Museum to present a stunning text on 1953 LA. While combing the museum’s photo archives, Ellroy discovered that the year featured a wide array of stark and unusual imagery—and he has written 25,000 words that illuminate the crimes and law enforcement of the era. Ellroy offers context and layers on wild and rich atmosphere—this is the cauldron that was police work in the city of the tarnished angels more than six decades ago. More than 80 duotone photos are spread throughout the book in the manner of hard-edged police evidence.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2015
80 people are currently reading
851 people want to read
About the author
James Ellroy
138 books4,193 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 65 reviews
September 26, 2015
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a dual personality book. It's photographs contain fairly sanitized versions of the crime scene with some very Dragnet looking detectives following procedures. No problem.
What makes this book special is the author's control of the prose. It's Beat, its scatological, it's noir, it's THEN. This element juxtaposed with the stark, sanitized photos just works.
This is a must for LAPD historians, noir lovers and anyone interested in taking a quick down and dirty look at crime in LA in '53.
This is a dual personality book. It's photographs contain fairly sanitized versions of the crime scene with some very Dragnet looking detectives following procedures. No problem.
What makes this book special is the author's control of the prose. It's Beat, its scatological, it's noir, it's THEN. This element juxtaposed with the stark, sanitized photos just works.
This is a must for LAPD historians, noir lovers and anyone interested in taking a quick down and dirty look at crime in LA in '53.
May 30, 2023
Well, for me, James Ellroy almost totally spoiled the book there. Being interested in early to mid 20th Century crime photography and having quite liked Ellroy's Black Dahlia novel (and still intending to read the rest of the LA Quartet) I had higher hopes for this book. However, Ellroy's hard-boiled prose goes beyond an authentic era touch into a bombastic, sometimes eyebrow-raising peculiar, parody which soon irritates. Also I cannot tell whether the bigoted jibes peppered about here and there were meant to be a wry sign of the times THEN or an indication of his own prejudices NOW. Either way it was an unnecessary and unpleasant distraction. When his fictional characters speak that way it's descriptive of their character; it's disturbing when he is the narrator himself.
Also his strange references to THEN and NOW written in italics became annoying as did the habit of slipping his childhood self weirdly into the narrative. It read as if it was written on a cocktail of speed and hard liquor or something. It's a shame as there's some good photos (but not the best collection of era crime shots) and some interesting stories when he wasn't showboating and just relayed what happened.
I don't like writing negative reviews but here I just felt like it had the potential to be so much better and it's disappointing and irksome that, for me, it sabotaged itself somewhat.
Also his strange references to THEN and NOW written in italics became annoying as did the habit of slipping his childhood self weirdly into the narrative. It read as if it was written on a cocktail of speed and hard liquor or something. It's a shame as there's some good photos (but not the best collection of era crime shots) and some interesting stories when he wasn't showboating and just relayed what happened.
I don't like writing negative reviews but here I just felt like it had the potential to be so much better and it's disappointing and irksome that, for me, it sabotaged itself somewhat.
May 10, 2022
I thought this was my cup of tea, ...noir descriptions of Los Angles police dept., with accompanied crime photos to add context... unfortunately did not like the book very much. Ellroy is a respected crime writer and clearly spent a lot of effort in research. But for me i did not enjoy. while Ellroy's flourid dialogue like "he rolled the dice and came up double zeros" is different at first, and sets the mood...i found it wearisome after a few chapters. too pithy for me. Just one man's opinion.
June 16, 2015
James Ellroy's characters do not walk. They run. They dash. They freak. They electrify. That is how Ellroy writes. His career has mostly involved Los Angeles crime stories, garnished with some autobiographical nightmares and a clutch of frenzied crime stories built on a larger stage--which always involves LA.
In "LAPD '53" we have a collection of police photographs taken in that pivotal year accompanied by page long reflections on the scene or the person. All high-octane stuff. Either you dig Ellroy or you don't. Either you can find intrigue or insight in the photographs or you can't.
Glynn Martin, a former LAPD officer and now curator of the LAP Museum, contributes perspective and background.
From the LAPD came "Dragnet", followed in good time by "Hill Street Blues", which evolved and culminated in "The Wire". Uncounted offspring sprang up in the movies and the small screen and in the beginning on the radio. Here we have in black and white, often flash bulb lit, the still life---or death---which informed the films, videos and books about crime during the last 52 years. We should learn.
Recommended.
In "LAPD '53" we have a collection of police photographs taken in that pivotal year accompanied by page long reflections on the scene or the person. All high-octane stuff. Either you dig Ellroy or you don't. Either you can find intrigue or insight in the photographs or you can't.
Glynn Martin, a former LAPD officer and now curator of the LAP Museum, contributes perspective and background.
From the LAPD came "Dragnet", followed in good time by "Hill Street Blues", which evolved and culminated in "The Wire". Uncounted offspring sprang up in the movies and the small screen and in the beginning on the radio. Here we have in black and white, often flash bulb lit, the still life---or death---which informed the films, videos and books about crime during the last 52 years. We should learn.
Recommended.
November 9, 2017
Almost the first half of this book is dedicated to lionizing police chief Bill Parker, and though Ellroy makes it clear that he's aware of the man's contradictions (righteous reformer/racial oppressor) and states that he's writing in an "absurdist right-wing" manner to evoke the dominant spirit of the times, the book winds up glorifying Parker in a non-ironic way, so judge that as you will.
What works though, is the pairing of Ellroy's tabloid be-bop with the rest of the crime scene photos, each giving you a short, hot pop of fact and speculation; a drive-by thrill ride through the underside of LA '53.
What works though, is the pairing of Ellroy's tabloid be-bop with the rest of the crime scene photos, each giving you a short, hot pop of fact and speculation; a drive-by thrill ride through the underside of LA '53.
September 24, 2016
The Demon Dog has a blast scribbling in this scrapbook. It's William H. Parker's town. We just commit crimes in it.
Cheers.
Cheers.
June 1, 2019
This was such an irritating read that the text almost cancelled out the value of the photos that were supposed to be the core of the book. Ellroy does not seem to get that beyond a certain density level, the stilted bebop expressions in his ultra-noir writing style obscure the meaning of what he is trying to say. What does come through is that this guy is very nostalgic, not for the year he turned 5 but for all the hideous, tragic things that were happening around him that year. He makes it sound as if he knew all about it as it was happening and was thrilled by every minute of it -- unlikely! This was 5 years before his mother's murder and does create a compelling picture of the background and underpinnings of that terrible event. This might be worth your time if you have a high tolerance for ersatz jive talk.
October 14, 2024
This is Ellroy letting off whatever was fermenting under that dome of his, so the text can turn pretty rancid at times. I was actually revolted by some sentiments expressed, but hey, First Amendment and the innate assholery of the Rightists, so there. The pictures don't have the intended impact when viewed on a Kindle, either. Still, acceptable to a completist (with an iron stomach). (Oh, and I laffed when, in lauding Joe Wambaugh, Ellroy only listed his early novels - because the late ones are irredeemably crappy, for many of the same reasons this one can stink).
September 22, 2018
This is a great book, I'm really loving it. It's a major hoot, but the language is a little artsy fartsy for me. And I find myself laughing in spite of myself, on a regular basis. I'm wondering if Ellroy meant it to be that way. But the fact is, Ellroy is trying too hard. Trying too hard to sound poetic, academic and learn-ed. He repeats certain words constantly like "interdicted" or "interdicting" along with "interdiction." The word interdicted generally means to prohibit or forbid and generally, (in the old days) meant someone had been "interdicted" from drinking alcohol in a certain establishment.
"I cayn't serve ya no more Bill, ya been interdicted!"
The book details the crime from a very busy year in LA, during 1953. Ellroy goes on and on about his perceptions, some of which are really interesting and he can be very funny, but the language is florid and a little out there, in terms of his excessive first person hard boiled detective voice. Ellroy was never a cop but probably wanted to be more than anything. He's definitely a fender lizard and his tone really conveys his love of LE, which I find endearing. He also grew up in LA and is very familiar with many of the areas mentioned in the book.
The photos, of which he spends a great deal of time explaining why they are so important and amazing are really not that great. Scenic for sure, some being great long shots of hidden crime scenes but they're nothing special as crime scene photos go. I've seen far better in my years studying crime. Still, its a great book, with lots of photos, not very long but it takes a few pages to get into Ellroy's particular groove. Great book on crime though, but certainly not the best I've ever read.
"I cayn't serve ya no more Bill, ya been interdicted!"
The book details the crime from a very busy year in LA, during 1953. Ellroy goes on and on about his perceptions, some of which are really interesting and he can be very funny, but the language is florid and a little out there, in terms of his excessive first person hard boiled detective voice. Ellroy was never a cop but probably wanted to be more than anything. He's definitely a fender lizard and his tone really conveys his love of LE, which I find endearing. He also grew up in LA and is very familiar with many of the areas mentioned in the book.
The photos, of which he spends a great deal of time explaining why they are so important and amazing are really not that great. Scenic for sure, some being great long shots of hidden crime scenes but they're nothing special as crime scene photos go. I've seen far better in my years studying crime. Still, its a great book, with lots of photos, not very long but it takes a few pages to get into Ellroy's particular groove. Great book on crime though, but certainly not the best I've ever read.
June 4, 2024
James Ellroy has a unique style and a way with words encompassing the film noir era of the 1950s. At the age of five in 1953, he sat with Lenny Bruce at a movie theater. The film was "Crime Wave."
William Parker was the police chief at the time and Ellroy worshipped the hard drinking, Catholic crime fighter. His literary mentor was Joseph Wambaugh and I am also a fan of the author of "The Onion Field," a great book and movie.
Crime scene photographs accompany the descriptions and both the Barbara Graham and Carryl Chessman cases make the book. The gas chamber with the cyanide pellets being dropped into sulphuric acid are painted by Ellroy with eloquence. "The wages of sin are death," is a phrase appropriately repeated several times throughout the book.
I recommend this work along with "My Dark Places" as excellent true crime reads.
William Parker was the police chief at the time and Ellroy worshipped the hard drinking, Catholic crime fighter. His literary mentor was Joseph Wambaugh and I am also a fan of the author of "The Onion Field," a great book and movie.
Crime scene photographs accompany the descriptions and both the Barbara Graham and Carryl Chessman cases make the book. The gas chamber with the cyanide pellets being dropped into sulphuric acid are painted by Ellroy with eloquence. "The wages of sin are death," is a phrase appropriately repeated several times throughout the book.
I recommend this work along with "My Dark Places" as excellent true crime reads.
January 27, 2022
I honestly don't think the LA Police Museum received the good end of the deal by collaborating with Ellroy on this too-small-to-be-a-coffee-table-souvenir-book. The photos are excellent, but the narrative (e.g., Ellroy's fantasies about being a five-year-old in a bar rubbing elbows with the era's heavy hitters) is over the top and stupid. Readers can get the good end of the deal by picking up a used copy of "American Tabloid" or "White Jazz" off eBay, or maybe watching "LA Confidential" again, rather than wasting money on this particular work.
February 2, 2018
https://librinpantofole.blogspot.it/2...
Si ritiene di solito che ogni città abbia il dipartimento di polizia che si merita. È proprio così, e Los Angeles ne è la prova. [...] Così la città più provocatoria d'America si è meritata la forza di polizia più provocatoria d'America.
Inizia così questo lungo viaggio a ritroso nel tempo, agli anni in cui era Whiskey Bill Parker a dominare la città e i suoi cattivi ragazzi del LAPD. William H. Parker III, che faceva infuriare i paladini delle libertà civili con le sue maniere forti, ma si sa gli sbirri sono sbirri e devono sentirsi liberi di prendere a calci in culo chi se lo merita.
È un James Ellroy davvero al vetriolo a parlare e dal re del noir, dal cane sciolto di Los Angeles non ci si poteva aspettare niente di diverso. Basta leggere la sua biografia per capire quanto il LAPD abbia significato nella sua vita. Così ecco che Ellroy si fa voce del Los Angeles Police Museum pronto ad accompagnare con le sue parole gli scatti più crudi e crudeli tratti dai suoi archivi: I grandi scatti della polizia sono potentemente espliciti e perfetti. I grandi scatti della polizia lasciano agli osservatori ampio spazio di immaginazione, invitandoli a inventare una didascalia.
E di didascalie ce ne sono tante: didascalie che descrivono efferati omicidi, sparatorie in fumosi locali o luridi vicoli, suicidi sospetti. Storie forti, spaventose, come i corpi impietosamente catturati dai flash. I numeri sono quelli del codice penale: art. 211 rapina, art. 459 furto con scasso, e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Un anno al vetriolo non è un libro da prendere a cuor leggero, turba, colpisce allo stomaco ma soprattutto ci racconta una Los Angeles oscura, violenta, Allora (era il 1953) come Ora. James Ellroy ci presenta il Bandito della Luce Rossa e l'assassino di Ruth Hilda Fredericks ma anche Harry Hansen, ovvero Mr Omicidi, il sergente che per primo si occupò del caso della Dalia Nera e la "Squadra dei cappelli", la squadra antirapine del LAPD che collezionava banditi ammazzati come fossero cappelli di paglia. E ancora un viaggio a 360° nella Los Angeles del '53, una Los Angeles impazzita e in piena espansione e accelerazione negli anni che seguirono la guerra. La Los Angeles dei locali di bebop e del cinema noir. Ho viaggiato con Ellroy tra Bunker Hill e Laurel Canyon fino a Hollyweird come ama chiamarla l'autore losangelino ed è stato un viaggio tutt'altro che tranquillo, in cui finzione e realtà si sono mescolate senza soluzione di continuità e dove a dominare è stata comunque l'efferatezza e la violenza umana.Lo stile di Ellroy è come una fucilata in pieno petto, diretto, irriverente, talvolta disturbante e nonostante tutto terribilmente affascinante: Sono sempre a caccia, sempre in agguato. Ho visto tutto quel che stai per vedere tu in questo volume. Sono precocemente precoce. Pazzo per il crimine. Invisibile, mi insinuo nelle fessure della follia nel mio mondo cento per cento L.A.
Un libro molto particolare che mi sento di consigliare agli appassionati del noir, agli stomaci forti, a chi non ha paura di arrischiarsi tra le tenebre del Pueblo Grande...
Si ritiene di solito che ogni città abbia il dipartimento di polizia che si merita. È proprio così, e Los Angeles ne è la prova. [...] Così la città più provocatoria d'America si è meritata la forza di polizia più provocatoria d'America.
Inizia così questo lungo viaggio a ritroso nel tempo, agli anni in cui era Whiskey Bill Parker a dominare la città e i suoi cattivi ragazzi del LAPD. William H. Parker III, che faceva infuriare i paladini delle libertà civili con le sue maniere forti, ma si sa gli sbirri sono sbirri e devono sentirsi liberi di prendere a calci in culo chi se lo merita.
È un James Ellroy davvero al vetriolo a parlare e dal re del noir, dal cane sciolto di Los Angeles non ci si poteva aspettare niente di diverso. Basta leggere la sua biografia per capire quanto il LAPD abbia significato nella sua vita. Così ecco che Ellroy si fa voce del Los Angeles Police Museum pronto ad accompagnare con le sue parole gli scatti più crudi e crudeli tratti dai suoi archivi: I grandi scatti della polizia sono potentemente espliciti e perfetti. I grandi scatti della polizia lasciano agli osservatori ampio spazio di immaginazione, invitandoli a inventare una didascalia.
E di didascalie ce ne sono tante: didascalie che descrivono efferati omicidi, sparatorie in fumosi locali o luridi vicoli, suicidi sospetti. Storie forti, spaventose, come i corpi impietosamente catturati dai flash. I numeri sono quelli del codice penale: art. 211 rapina, art. 459 furto con scasso, e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Un anno al vetriolo non è un libro da prendere a cuor leggero, turba, colpisce allo stomaco ma soprattutto ci racconta una Los Angeles oscura, violenta, Allora (era il 1953) come Ora. James Ellroy ci presenta il Bandito della Luce Rossa e l'assassino di Ruth Hilda Fredericks ma anche Harry Hansen, ovvero Mr Omicidi, il sergente che per primo si occupò del caso della Dalia Nera e la "Squadra dei cappelli", la squadra antirapine del LAPD che collezionava banditi ammazzati come fossero cappelli di paglia. E ancora un viaggio a 360° nella Los Angeles del '53, una Los Angeles impazzita e in piena espansione e accelerazione negli anni che seguirono la guerra. La Los Angeles dei locali di bebop e del cinema noir. Ho viaggiato con Ellroy tra Bunker Hill e Laurel Canyon fino a Hollyweird come ama chiamarla l'autore losangelino ed è stato un viaggio tutt'altro che tranquillo, in cui finzione e realtà si sono mescolate senza soluzione di continuità e dove a dominare è stata comunque l'efferatezza e la violenza umana.Lo stile di Ellroy è come una fucilata in pieno petto, diretto, irriverente, talvolta disturbante e nonostante tutto terribilmente affascinante: Sono sempre a caccia, sempre in agguato. Ho visto tutto quel che stai per vedere tu in questo volume. Sono precocemente precoce. Pazzo per il crimine. Invisibile, mi insinuo nelle fessure della follia nel mio mondo cento per cento L.A.
Un libro molto particolare che mi sento di consigliare agli appassionati del noir, agli stomaci forti, a chi non ha paura di arrischiarsi tra le tenebre del Pueblo Grande...
April 28, 2020
3.5. The description tells how the great James Ellroy got involved in this project. He explains the history of the LAPD (and L.A.) in straight-forward language. Then when talks about a crime, he moves into the hepcat, crime-noir speak. He shows how 1953 was a turning point in the path of a city. How it went from a spread-out area with growing dreams. To ‘53 when the first superhighway was built, a menacing police chief ran the city and was instrumental in creating strong ethnic sections, and growing dreams. To the cesspool it has become — still with growing dreams, just for handouts and sanctuary now.
A fun read (as far as real murders and suicides go), though it got dull toward the end — used up the best stories early, I guess.
Other than a few gruesome photos at the beginning, it was not gory, with a lot of sheets and distant shots. And in B&W. Ellroy called them “beautiful” a few times. I would call them sort of artistic. A lot of inclusion of buildings and crowds in the background, with several with detectives and policemen with interesting looks and approaches. No close-ups.. But mildly disturbing, nevertheless.
A fun read (as far as real murders and suicides go), though it got dull toward the end — used up the best stories early, I guess.
Other than a few gruesome photos at the beginning, it was not gory, with a lot of sheets and distant shots. And in B&W. Ellroy called them “beautiful” a few times. I would call them sort of artistic. A lot of inclusion of buildings and crowds in the background, with several with detectives and policemen with interesting looks and approaches. No close-ups.. But mildly disturbing, nevertheless.
August 6, 2021
What a score!!!! Like a 1:1M longshot coming in. I had it on my ThriftBooks wishy-washy list, but I was def NOT holding my breath. Coming home from the Post Office night shift (natch), I got an alert that a Wish List book was available. Ho hum. Yeah, let's see what's on offer. HOLY S**T!!! I glommed onto this non-Library edition (the rarest of birds) mos kwikee! Gimme, gimme, gimme. Gimme some more!
There are a few adages at play in this tome:
1. The past is a foreign land.
2. You can't go home again.
3. Men are visual.
3a. Men look at women, women look at other women.
This book is both visual & visceral & yours truly would have it NO other way. Man, I totally dug the juxtaposition of The Devil Dog's elucidations with the hard-hitting accompanying photos. He gives us the groove while the pics give us the jolt. I didn't need the Glossary (& if you really wanna get hip, read "Straight Outta the Fridge, Dad", but I also stuck around for the parting shot, just like I do for the rolling credits while most around me file out too early. Take a gander.
What a score!
There are a few adages at play in this tome:
1. The past is a foreign land.
2. You can't go home again.
3. Men are visual.
3a. Men look at women, women look at other women.
This book is both visual & visceral & yours truly would have it NO other way. Man, I totally dug the juxtaposition of The Devil Dog's elucidations with the hard-hitting accompanying photos. He gives us the groove while the pics give us the jolt. I didn't need the Glossary (& if you really wanna get hip, read "Straight Outta the Fridge, Dad", but I also stuck around for the parting shot, just like I do for the rolling credits while most around me file out too early. Take a gander.
What a score!
December 23, 2024
L.A. Confidential is one of my absolute favorite crime movies. The best noir since the golden age of noir. And yet, I've never read a James Ellroy novel, not even L.A. Confidential, and if his prose style is always as annoyingly florid as what I just read in LAPD '53, then I never will read an Ellroy novel. The problem with the prose in this book is that it is written in a relentless 1950s tabloid style, but pretentiously literate as well. The worst of all worlds. It is such a self-conscious style that it builds a wall of unreality between you and the human protagonists of all the little dramas that this book is composed of. Humanity is sterilized by the relentlessly mannered prose. Terrible.
The pictures are interesting though. Gruesome sometimes. Often sad. But if you were considering writing a crime novel set in the 1950s in L.A. you would want to look at every one of them in detail. America has created a weirdly sanitized vision of the 1950s, and this book offers a harsh corrective in the form of dozens of black and white images. Crime is ever with us.
The pictures are interesting though. Gruesome sometimes. Often sad. But if you were considering writing a crime novel set in the 1950s in L.A. you would want to look at every one of them in detail. America has created a weirdly sanitized vision of the 1950s, and this book offers a harsh corrective in the form of dozens of black and white images. Crime is ever with us.
December 22, 2024
"LAPD '53" is a phenomenal non-fiction photographic history presented by crime author James Ellroy, known for "LA Confidential" and "the Black Dahlia." All of the information and photographs come from the LAPD museum in Highland Park, CA. The year 1953 is widely considered one of the LAPD's most wildest years, one of rampant crime and change within the LAPD itself as the department worked to meet the demands of an expanding LA metropolitan area. The reader should be warned that the book talks at length about sexual assault, suicide, and murder. Despite its focus on the macabre, the book is an excellent look at a police department in transition, from the wild rough and tumble early history of the LAPD to the newer more disciplined department. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Ellroy's voice and writing style as it shows through in the narrative language of the book, as well as anyone interested in police procedurals or mystery books.
September 22, 2017
LAPD´53 es un libro de fotografías recopilado para promocionar el Museo de la Policía de la ciudad de Los Ángeles. Por tanto, no hay crítica. Una de las primeras fotografías está tomada desde una altura considerable. Es de un suicidio en el Hotel Biltmore, el 3 de Julio de 1953. Todas las imágenes pertenecen a ese año porque fue "curioso". Hay varios automóviles, tres patrullas y dos de incógnito. El cadáver está tapado con una sábana blanca y rodeado de policías. Hay pocos curiosos, desde arriba. Solo tres. Una camilla se acerca para recoger el cuerpo. No rueda sola. Encima de toda la escena hay una revista, en un hueco, abandonada.
Todas las fotografías están comentadas por James Ellroy. Por él compré. Por él leí. Por él escribí. Y gracias a él escribo como si viviera en un telegrama. Porque su rutina es contagiosa.
Todas las fotografías están comentadas por James Ellroy. Por él compré. Por él leí. Por él escribí. Y gracias a él escribo como si viviera en un telegrama. Porque su rutina es contagiosa.
August 31, 2021
A missed opportunity. Long a treasured author of mine, Mr. Ellroy has worn thin. He is so tangled in jargon, so impressed with himself, that he's forgotten - or doesn't care - that anyone else is listening. The cover of the book plus the promise of a commentary by James Ellroy was an irresistible combination. But inside, nearly every page left me wanting more. I found Ellroy's notes at times nearly unintelligible, often lazy. It was disappointment mixed with frustration from beginning to end.
November 7, 2017
Wow. The photos are brutal and gorgeous. Ellroy's commentary helps you appreciate them.
The man himself provides an exemplary summary in the closing pages of this work:
Los Angeles cops are the greatest oral historians and bullshit artists in world annals, and LAPD '53 is fully intended to express the right-wing absurdist world-view that so often informs their stories. Death and yuks a heartbeat apart. You've gotta look and you've gotta laff.
The man himself provides an exemplary summary in the closing pages of this work:
Los Angeles cops are the greatest oral historians and bullshit artists in world annals, and LAPD '53 is fully intended to express the right-wing absurdist world-view that so often informs their stories. Death and yuks a heartbeat apart. You've gotta look and you've gotta laff.
July 28, 2020
Not Ellroy's greatest work by a long shot, but a short, entertaining read.
Ellroy displays his mastery of prose and use of street slang from back in the day. Unfortunately he wields it more as a Warhammer and not a rapier here. The reader is literally pounded in the head with the hip lingo of the hep cats.
The pictures did make a nice noir feel to the book, and his absurdist praising of the greatness of Chief Parker borders on a psuedo apologist vein.
Ellroy displays his mastery of prose and use of street slang from back in the day. Unfortunately he wields it more as a Warhammer and not a rapier here. The reader is literally pounded in the head with the hip lingo of the hep cats.
The pictures did make a nice noir feel to the book, and his absurdist praising of the greatness of Chief Parker borders on a psuedo apologist vein.
September 7, 2020
the photos are interesting, as i'm sure are the stories behind the photos, but the narrative is ridiculous.. it's so over the top it's comical.. everything is a metaphor in speculation.. it's not even worth reading the text, for such fantasy BS.. how many ways can the writer try to shock us with his tough, street, gangster attitude? sad..
but i gave it 3 stars, because i am deeply interested in the criminal mind, photography and forensics..
but i gave it 3 stars, because i am deeply interested in the criminal mind, photography and forensics..
April 29, 2023
This was not quite what I've expected.
After a short introduction you are exposed to several photographs of crime scenes in LA in the year 1953.
I've read some stuff by Ellroy before and know that he has a barebones prose and tries to invoke the language of the 50's and 60's but this time it grows tiresome fast.
To my taste he shoots over the top and his use of language is degrading and offensive against racial minorities and social outcasts.
After a short introduction you are exposed to several photographs of crime scenes in LA in the year 1953.
I've read some stuff by Ellroy before and know that he has a barebones prose and tries to invoke the language of the 50's and 60's but this time it grows tiresome fast.
To my taste he shoots over the top and his use of language is degrading and offensive against racial minorities and social outcasts.
August 13, 2025
A series of annotated crime-scene photos from Los Angeles in 1953, a pivotal year between the "old" noir-identified L.A. and the boom years to come. At least according to the author's thesis.
The photos are interesting, as most crime scene pictures are. And if you can take Ellroy's contrived bebop hepcat jazzy writing style, he does make some interesting points about the L.A. he grew up loving and the L.A. he's forced to put up with now. Otherwise not really much of a book.
The photos are interesting, as most crime scene pictures are. And if you can take Ellroy's contrived bebop hepcat jazzy writing style, he does make some interesting points about the L.A. he grew up loving and the L.A. he's forced to put up with now. Otherwise not really much of a book.
December 29, 2024
reminds me of Joel-Peter Witkin and the controversy around his work. I read this book from a photographer’s perspective and wondered what draws the line from a aesthetically visual image versus an image used for public record and police evidence
February 23, 2025
A collection of police/crime scene photos from 1953 Los Angeles. The accompanying text is by James Ellroy. You'll enjoy it if you like Ellroy's style; you won't if you don't. The photos are interesting in and of themselves.
March 2, 2025
Ellroy’s hard-boiled noir writing style here is almost unreadable. And the e-book presentation is not conducive either - pictures and relevant text are sometimes widely separated. One of very few books I’ve ever left unfinished after starting.
December 10, 2017
The pictures are facinating. I'm not sure if Ellroy's caption are ridiculous or perfect. They are certainly intriguing.
January 9, 2018
Gruesome subject matter, high velocity writing.
June 2, 2019
I love Ellroy's writing but I don't think it adds much to the already engaging pictures, and feels quite disconnected.
August 26, 2019
Writing over the top and annoying. Pictures largely underwhelming. Expected more but was very disappointed.
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