“By the early 1920s, Los Angeles had become a Shangri-la of vice,” writes John Buntin. And in L.A. Noir Buntin explores the corruption and vice that provided Raymond Chandler and a host of crime writers with much of their material. Gangster Mickey Cohen (“I never killed anybody who didn’t deserve it”) becomes the focus of Buntin’s storyline along with Police Chief William Parker. At times, L. A. Noir takes on the aspects of an overstuffed sausage. There’s almost too much story for Buntin to cope with. The gangsters take a backseat to the civil rights struggles of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. This is the closest you’re going to get to a one-volume contemporary history of La La Land. GRADE: B
We just bought this as a gift for one of Phil’s students who loves politics and the mob. Sounds like we bought him the right book.
L. A. Noir is a terrific book, Patti. My only reservation is that author John Buntin is sometimes overwhelmed by all his material. L. A. Noir would make a great gift!
Pieces of this ran in the L.A. Times last year, and it looked pretty interesting. The photos alone told some pretty interesting stories.
I really enjoyed L. A. Noir, Rick. It really should be two volumes.