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White Jazz (Abridged): A Novel Audiobook
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(3.01) - 3,147 listener ratings
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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.
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"Like the rest of the LA Quartet it takes a bit of time to get used to the style of the prose but at some point reading it becomes natural and the story has kicked in to take you on a ride through one man's obsession with a crime in a growing and corrupt 50's LA. Well worth reading"
— Nilesh (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“This is far and away his best book yet…Always master of painting the dark portrait, Ellroy put down his broad brush for a shark pen…He’s stripped down the language to a hard cutting tool.”
— Associated Press -
“Compelling and intense…Sizzles with realism and detail. White Jazz is filled with heat—and is Ellroy at his best.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer -
“An undeniably artful frenzy of violence, guilt, and unappeased self-loathing. Ellroy’s crime fiction represents a high mark in the genre.”
— Newsday -
“A sweet fix for addicts. Ellroy cuts the extraneous, chiseling everything to the bone. Klein’s first person account dovetails perfectly with the characters’ dialogue, creating a sealed world of hipsters and criminals where light rarely enters. And the tempo is way beyond snappy; it’s frenetic.”
— New York Daily News -
“Rapid-fire storytelling.”
— Village Voice -
“This is the ugliest, rawest, grimiest piece of work you’ll read in a long time. You’ll want to wash your hands after many of the chapters. But you won’t want to stop reading.”
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution -
“White Jazz makes previous detective fiction read like Dr. Seuss.”
— San Francisco Examiner
White Jazz Listener Reviews
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" 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, 2/15/2014 -
" The final chapter of Ellroy's LA series reads like a kick in the gut. "Knucks upstairs/knucks downstairs/serious fear of god time." "
— Aaron, 2/13/2014 -
" A completely outrageous crime tale, with Ellroy's dirtiest cop of them all. Tough to follow and probably impossible without reading LA Confidential, but a richly rewarding read. "
— Rhune, 2/10/2014 -
" 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, 2/7/2014 -
" Two days straight through. Reading. Nothing but this. A bullet to the eyes. Ellroy wrote before this but this was where he began to be himself. The Devil Dog. Terse like Hammett. Brutal like Spillane. Obscene and compelling as only Ellroy. "
— Jesse, 2/4/2014 -
" 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, 2/2/2014 -
" 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, 1/27/2014 -
" Love. That's all. I love it. "
— C.D., 1/20/2014 -
" Quel claque ce quatuor de Los Angeles ! "
— Loac, 1/14/2014 -
" Experimental prose meets corrupt LAPD procedural in the final installment of James Ellroy's L.A. quartet. More impressive for technique than innovation within the series. "
— John, 12/26/2013 -
" Good book, enjoyed the conclusion to several of the big characters stories. "
— Ross, 12/21/2013 -
" Highly recommend all four of the L.A. Quartet novels to anyone interested in hard-boiled crime fiction. Ellroy's machine-gun style of prose is on full display in this one, which may unsettle some readers and takes some getting used to. "
— Brian, 12/18/2013 -
" all that jazz, 4 sure... "
— Caio, 12/3/2013 -
" After American Tabloid, Saint James' Greatest. "
— Eric, 12/2/2013 -
" Raw, pulpy LA drama, dirty cop centered, hollywood, junkies, the LAPD, the public, the press, all in the same pocket. Really liked it might try LA Confidential later "
— Adam, 12/27/2012 -
" In my opinion, this is Ellroy's best. "
— Ellen, 8/26/2012 -
" Noir as fever dream with corrupt cop Dave Klein becoming entangled in a web of murder and deceit. "
— Stuart, 6/1/2011 -
" Neo-noir too in love with the moral & formal excesses allowed by the genre, making for a cold read that feels more like an exercise in boundary testing than an engaging narrative. I'm a big fan of brevity but one word sentences don't impress me. "
— Matt, 4/18/2011 -
" 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.