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L.A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America's Most Seductive City (2009)

by John Buntin(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0307352072 (ISBN13: 9780307352071)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Crown

review 1: This book is interesting and enjoyable in that I learned things about L.A. (and William Parker) that I did not previously know. But it is more defined but what it isn't than what it is. It isn't really a history. Histories are more analytical and employ a wider range of sources than LAPD files and newspaper articles. It isn't really a biography of William Parker or Mickey Cohen. Biographies cover the lives of people more thoroughly than Buntin did. And it isn't really was it says it is, a recounting of the "struggle for the soul" of Los Angeles, nor does it make a believable connection between its content and it's title, which refers mainly to a certain style of fiction and cinema.And it isn't really a book either. It reads more like a massively extended piece of in... morevestigative journalism. There's nothing wrong with that, unless one is expecting more than that, which I was.
review 2: I really wanted to love this book and it started out strong. Being a current resident of downtown Los Angeles it was great to get a feel of the city as it once was. Although the second half of the book was interesting, it lacked the narrative punch and drama that early chapters had. Still an interesting study of LA and its relationship with police. Worth reading of crime and history are of interest. less

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