About this title: This work is set during Christmas of 1951. Los Angeles is a city where the police are as corrupt as the criminals. Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. For the three L. A. P. D. detectives involved, it will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers.
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Description: New York: Random House (1997) audio book 3 hours, abridged, 2 audio cassettes in plastic tray & cardboard sleeve CONDITION: FINE, an excellent copy, fine condition. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First Edition/First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Date Published: 1990-06-01
ISBN-13:9780892962938ISBN:0892962933
Description: Acceptable. Some damage to the cover but integrity still intact, binding slightly damaged but integrity still intact, possible writing in margins, possible underlining and highlighting of text. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date Published: 1997-09-01
ISBN-13:9780446674249ISBN:0446674249
Description: Fair. The cover art is different than from what is shown. Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Warner Books
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780446674249ISBN:0446674249
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. No writing; tight binding; edge wear; cover has creases at edge. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 500 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Audiobook Cassette
Publisher: Bantam Audio, Des Plaines, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780553702446ISBN:0553702440
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. This is an audiobook with 2 cassettes. Abridged. Approx 3 hours. Read by David Strathairn. read more
Binding: Softcover; Third Printing
Publisher: Warner Books, New York
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780446674249ISBN:0446674249
Description: Good with no dust jacket. 9780446674249. 1.42 x 7.8 x 5.2 Inches; 496 pages; Soft Cover Paperback, No Dust Jacket, Shows Little Wear. read more
"The never-ending parade of homogenous macho cops; the weak, dependable women - perfect victims for any crime; the overwhelmingly complex story line, sub-plot within sub-plot, twist upon twist - all that delivered in a flat, dry style. That's an Ellroy novel for you.
I know that it's supposed to add up to this intricate, dark story interwoven with sex and violence and thus gripping, like nothing else. But I, frankly, was bored to death. The scheming was a tad too elaborate for my taste. After a while I stopped caring when yet another layer to the story was revealed; there's only so much dry plot that I can take. Plot on itself won't keep me on the edge for long. A list of names straight out of phonebook won't do it for me either. Violence and sex will keep me interested for a little while, but unless it's happening to a well fleshed-out character that too will eventually start to disappoint. And that's what happened. I've ended up being disappointed. I wanted to like this book, I loved the movie, and I do get the appeal of this gritty, brutal writing. But despite some enjoyable moments, getting through L.A. Confidential felt like a chore. So I cannot say that I liked it. Hence the 2 star rating."
"L.A. Confidential is my favorite film of all time so I was curious to see the differences between the book and the film. While I enjoyed the book, I think I prefer the film. I felt the moral depravity of almost every character was too much to take. However, Ellroy is such a master storyteller so I was able to accept the story and its differences."
"Reading this made me appreciate just how good a job the screenwriters did when adapting it for film. Don't get me wrong, the book is good--suspenseful, expansive, a proper *big* novel--but it feels, particularly at the end, like everything including the bloodied kitchen sink has gone into it. Drugs? Check. Prostitution? Check. Child molesters, women haters, police corruption, organised crime, Los Angeles highway system? Cheeeeck. Also, a few of the characters feel like near-carbon copies of each other: Inez Soto and Lynn Bracken are nearly interchangeable, Ed Exley and Jack Vincennes are both defined by a terrible secret they've been concealing. It's a very enjoyable read, but once it's done, it's entertainment. It doesn't stick with me as speaking to the human condition--and that's fine, except I think Ellroy intended it to be more profound, and more lingering, than it is."
"This is definitely on my shortlist of all-time favorite books. It's marvelously constructed. I saw the movie first and really like that; the book is even better, but I do have to say that the film is one of - if not the - best book-to-film adaptations I've ever seen. There's a lot more in the book than makes it into the film, but the film is still extremely rich. The book is more complex and ends differently than the film, so it's still very much worth reading, even if you've seen the film."
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