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| Plot Summary of American Tabloid |
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"AMERICAN TABLOID, the first part of the Underworld U.S.A. trilogy has been published in 1995.
Ellroy alternates three different points of view describing the 1958-1962 period. There's Kemper Boyd's, a FBI agent sent by Edgar G. Hoover into the Kennedy's family circle in order to get informations about the intentions of John and Robert Kennedy. Kemper Boyd becomes a fervent admirer of the new President and has some difficulties to reconcile his task for the Minister of Justice Robert Kennedy, his ties with the bosses of the american mafia and his C.I.A. engagement among the anticastrist groups.
There's also the point of view of Pete Bondurant, a canadian hitman who's sharing the esteem of Jimmy Hoffa and the main figures of the mob. He's hired by Kemper Boyd to train the men who will be the heroes of the Bay of Pigs' affair. He'll convince the mob to finance this operation for the C.I.A. in order to get back the Havana casinos.
Finally, there is Ward Littell, a close friend of Kemper Boyd who desperately hopes to rejoin the Kennedy clan he's always admired. He'll steal the hidden accounting books of the mafia but is broken by Edgar G. Hoover who describes him as an alcoholic to Robert Kennedy. Dreaming of revenge, he'll become then the lawyer of the main figures of the american mob."
Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of American Tabloid |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 50%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- very upbeat
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- power struggle within govt between two factions
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is....
- commit white collar fraud or con
Crime Thriller
Yes
Who's the terrorist enemy here?
- evil subgroup in own govt
Mostly a criminal POV story
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- breaking up mobsters
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a tremendous amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
The antagonists are:
- US mafia
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- druggie/wino disease
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- Southeast
- Deep South
- California
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- The Caribbean
- Central
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
- dangerous
- rude people
- Washington D.C.
- Miami
- Chicago
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths?
- 8 or more
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- licking
- actual description of sex
- descript. of breasts
- descript. of other female areas
- descript. of male nudity
Unusual forms of death
- boiling
- diced
- flamed
- decapitated
- perforation--bullets
- perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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