Play Audiobook Sample
White Jazz: A Novel Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.01) - 3,140 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
The internationally acclaimed author of the L.A. Quartet and The Underworld USA Trilogy, James Ellroy, presents another literary noir masterpiece of historical paranoia. Los Angeles, 1958. Killings, beatings, bribes, shakedowns--it's standard procedure for Lieutenant Dave Klein, LAPD. He's a slumlord, a bagman, an enforcer--a power in his own small corner of hell. Then the Feds announce a full-out investigation into local police corruption, and everything goes haywire. Klein's been hung out as bait, "a bad cop to draw the heat," and the heat's coming from all sides: from local politicians, from LAPD brass, from racketeers and drug kingpins--all of them hell-bent on keeping their own secrets hidden. For Klein, "forty-two and going on dead," it's dues time. Klein tells his own story--his voice clipped, sharp, often as brutal as the events he's describing--taking us with him on a journey through a world shaped by monstrous ambition, avarice, and perversion. It's a world he created, but now he'll do anything to get out of it alive. Fierce, riveting, and honed to a razor edge, White Jazz is crime fiction at its most shattering.
Download and start listening now!
"Listened to the audiobook of this. Scott Brick was an excellent reader for what had to be a difficult assignment. The style of this book is very staccato, but it works well in this noir 50s-era tale of corruption and intrigue. A complicated, but fun romp. Indulge your dark side vicariously through the main character."
— BigJohn (4 out of 5 stars)
White Jazz Listener Reviews
-
" Love. That's all. I love it. "
— C.D., 2/13/2014 -
" In my opinion, this is Ellroy's best. "
— Ellen, 1/30/2014 -
" I didn't finish it. Ellroy chose a stream of consciousness style of story telling and it really got in the way for me. Had parts of it been in that vein, I think it would have been more successful as a book. I am sort of curious as to how it all shook out, but the style got to be too much for me and I have to walk away. "
— Mark, 1/30/2014 -
" His books are a challenge, but I enjoy them nonetheless. "
— Jim, 1/29/2014 -
" Even burning the dross off of prose leaves something haunted. The menace in Ellroy's streets is a puzzling presence, certainly along the likes of Mieville and Sinclair as it detours into origins and auras, Merleau-Ponty's flux made manifest in gridded streets and contained populations and vices. Ellroy slipped some going into the final act: hyperbole infected his plot and pus reigned supreme. Why have a voyeur/killer plot with incest overtones when one can fashion a virtual tribe of such, all of whom are bereft of conclusive geneology. "
— Jonfaith, 1/21/2014 -
" Conclusion to the L.A. quartet--Get through the first 3/4 to reach the end: Exley vs. Dudley Smith. "
— Letterswitch, 1/19/2014 -
" I liked this less than other titles by this author. I found the choppy style hard to follow sometimes and I didn't connect with the characters - found I didn't care about them. "
— Lynn, 1/14/2014 -
" Too jive for my tastes. Unsettled and unsettling, but OK. "
— John, 1/10/2014 -
" This is classic Ellroy, imperfect people in an imperfect world with perfect intentions. Written with an unparalleled energy and force that hurts your head. "
— David, 1/9/2014 -
" "White Jazz" should be read, if only for the joy of language, and style. Ellroy writes like a jazz musician, a technique utilised with "The Cold Six Thousand" as well. "
— Sean, 12/21/2013 -
" Quel claque ce quatuor de Los Angeles ! "
— Loac, 12/20/2013 -
" Hated the beginning. Enjoyed from middle to end. Not my favorite Ellroy novel. "
— Mary, 12/10/2013 -
" The strength of this book is a fine plot which is hung onto the sleaziest, drug fuelled LA Cops you have ever come across. I love the snatches of 1950s Hollywood gossip. I love the driven characters, running on booze and pills. Excellent. "
— Graham, 12/8/2013 -
" I'm such an Ellroy fan... what a voice. Wish he liked more description, that's the missing star. // No, it ends super strongly, I'm giving him the fifth star. Gorgeous. Love all the alliterative '50's tabloid writing. Looking forward to the new one coming out in Sept. "
— Janet, 11/11/2013 -
" I love Ellroy but this venture into a new style is simply unreadable "
— Bxdoc, 3/23/2013 -
" This book took a while for me to get into because of the clipped/staccato language employed. But that style grew on me and the pacing, plotting and ending make this one of Ellroy's finest. "
— Chris, 1/4/2013 -
" I've tried to like James Ellroy and I have failed. The short narrative sentences are great at first and then... the opposite. "
— Fwdecker, 12/27/2012 -
" Ellroy is a crazy genius. And I'm not using crazy in the "it's crazy how much of a genius" sense, though that's true. That guy just ain't right. "
— Tim, 9/21/2012 -
" all that jazz, 4 sure... "
— Caio, 6/22/2012 -
" I enjoyed White Jazz, though it was very complex and confusing at times. Ellroy gives life to the characters and plot. An engrossing and twisted tale from the "demon dog of American crime fiction". "
— Ryan, 6/16/2011 -
" I liked this less than other titles by this author. I found the choppy style hard to follow sometimes and I didn't connect with the characters - found I didn't care about them. "
— Lynn, 1/21/2011 -
" Conclusion to the L.A. quartet--Get through the first 3/4 to reach the end: Exley vs. Dudley Smith.<br/><br/> "
— Birdlashes, 12/18/2010 -
" Ellroy is a crazy genius. And I'm not using crazy in the "it's crazy how much of a genius" sense, though that's true. That guy just ain't right. "
— Tim, 12/14/2010 -
" Brilliant book. Chalenging in everyway. Kind of of like Ullyses with a kick to the nards. "
— Brian, 12/8/2010 -
" Should've been kept in its original form. Instead, we're treated to half a story. "
— Matthew, 9/16/2010 -
" this is one deranged book (violence, corruption, drugs/prostitution, more violence), and you can't help being completely sucked into it. the style/slang is really challenging but worth the patience. this is the last book in the series and i'll probably read the other three. "
— Slawa, 7/20/2010 -
" Too jive for my tastes. Unsettled and unsettling, but OK. "
— John, 7/12/2010 -
" Good book, enjoyed the conclusion to several of the big characters stories. "
— Ross, 7/10/2010 -
" I love Ellroy but this venture into a new style is simply unreadable "
— Bxdoc, 5/30/2010
About James Ellroy
James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His LA Quartet novels—The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz—were international bestsellers. American Tabloid was Time’s Novel of the Year for 1995, and his memoir My Dark Places was a Time Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Notable Book for 1996. He lives on the California coast.
About Scott Brick
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.