April 14, 2004
Little Book Reviews
American Tabloid - James Ellroy
Gritty, pulpy, vivid pre-Kennedy assassination account of backroom dealings, strange bedfellows and more. Simply incredible. Ellroy weaves together mob hijinx, Kennedy skirt chasing, high rolling rogues and low-crawling double agents. Intriguing, well researched, makes you feel like you were there, runnin' from the thugs, smugglin' the drugs and searching out J. Edgar Hoover's bugs.
Little Scarlet - Walter Mosley
Got excited about this after reading Mosley's answers to 10 questions posed to him by the NY Times Magazine on 2/8/04 and got my hands on a review copy.
Scarlet is a fast paced, lean whodunnit set during 1965 Watts riots. The violence is palpable, the air is thick with humanity and Mosley has mastered the art of turning out a sly line here and there. Moreover, Easy Rawlins is an endearing character, but expected suspense lingers a bit too long, and the colorful story, historical angles don’t quite make up for the waiting around.
One passage is quite share-able:
I recommend:"That's Easy Rawlins," a woman in a blue checkered dress said. She looked like a well stacked pile of black pears held in place by a farmer's tablecloth."
Mao II – Don Delillo
Armies of the Night – Norman Mailer
Among the Thugs – Bill Buford
Any good reads lately? Comment below.
Posted by Neil at April 14, 2004 09:58 PM | TrackBack
Comments
I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that your reviews are some the most patiently insightful attempts to unravel and understand the weave of motivations and challenges, histories and presents that hide within the pages of any book. In other words, your reviews basically cause me to hop up and down in my chair, to use a rather Sillimanian image. Thanks for giving us them.
fantastic writing, the entry is great!
Posted by: Dish Network at March 26, 2005 11:10 PMnice blog and good post
Posted by: Gloryhole Girls at March 27, 2005 09:57 AMPost a comment