Novels about Organized Crime in the United States (Study Guide) - The Godfather, American Tabloid, Underworld, Omerta, Underworld USA Trilogy (Paperback)

This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The Godfather, American Tabloid, Underworld, Omerta, Underworld Usa Trilogy, the Last Don. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy. The novel chronicles three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958 through November 22, 1963. Each becomes involved in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI, CIA, and the mafia, which eventually lead to their involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. American Tabloid was Time magazine's Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel of a three-part series informally known as the "Underworld USA" trilogy, followed by The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover. American Tabloid is written in a very stylized and deliberate structure. The book is divided into five sections, is exactly one hundred chapters long (many are less than a page in length), and covers exactly five years. The narration eschews both exposition and lengthy dialog exchanges. All chapters begin with the number of the chapter, the location of the action's beginning, usually the name of the city, and the date of the action's beginning ("MM/DD/YYYY"). The action of the book is completely sequential. Each chapter has a limited third person narrative voice from the point of view of one of the three main characters. Interspersed between many chapters are "document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls. Flashbacks occur, but only in the present tense memory of the protagonists. Largely an introductory passage, "Shakedowns" covers just 26 days, introducing the three principal characters, and establishing their relationships, history, and career trajectories. Pete Bondurant is a former LAS...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=38804