White Jazz: A Novel

One of the greatest novels I have ever read! It's been 15 years and I still think of Ward Littel and Kemper Boyd and Big Pete Bondurant.

L.A. crime fiction perfected.

Typical Ellroy, but stream of consciousness.

Super story with the first of Ellroy's most flawed characters. We are introduced to Pete Bonduraunt, a bad, bad man. This is more like it. Ellroy is just short of hitting his stride. We are introduced to Pete Bonduraunt who will loom large in the next two novels.

Out of the L.A. Quartet, this was the most difficult to jump into. It was difficult to follow Klein's inner monologue at first but once I got used to it, I started to enjoy the story immensely.WHITE JAZZ was terrific because you had the ultimate crooked cop, David Klein, trying to outsmart both Edmund Exley and Dudley Smith, both with their own shady pasts. This was an intense study into...more

Out of the L.A. Quartet, this was the most difficult to jump into. It was difficult to follow Klein's inner monologue at first but once I got used to it, I started to enjoy the story immensely.WHITE JAZZ was terrific because you had the ultimate crooked cop, David Klein, trying to outsmart both Edmund Exley and Dudley Smith, both with their own shady pasts. This was an intense study into good and evil.    hide

Perhaps the best prose ever in a crime novel.

Classic Ellroy.

Stream-of-consciousness ultra-Noir thriller sporting one of the least likable protagonists since Genghis Khan.

I haven't delved very deep into Ellroy, but this is one of the best things I've read of his. The stream-of-consciousness, fever dream narrative can be hard to get the hang of at first, but ultimately, it's worth it. The novel is narrated by Lieutenant Klein, and follows him through his dealings with crime and drugs while attempting to dodge murder charges in 1950's L.A. I'm a big fan of the...more

I haven't delved very deep into Ellroy, but this is one of the best things I've read of his. The stream-of-consciousness, fever dream narrative can be hard to get the hang of at first, but ultimately, it's worth it. The novel is narrated by Lieutenant Klein, and follows him through his dealings with crime and drugs while attempting to dodge murder charges in 1950's L.A. I'm a big fan of the pulpier side of crime fiction, and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone that shares said interest. This is probably the most stream-of-consciousness narrative I've ever read. And it's a really kick-ass crime story, to boot. Nobody writes bad cops you can't help but drool over like Mr. Ellroy does.   hide